Economy

2004-05 UPDATE - Market Snapshots of the WEB

[COMMENT 2004-05. During the recent lean years enterprises trimmed their work force, and on the one hand settled additional responsibilities onto the survivors, and on the other hand invested in new training and tools for the key workers. Both these measures created undoubted worker-productivity gains. Many workers with enhanced skill-sets are now worth more than their current levels of pay, but this only becomes a dynamic factor when the market is hiring.]

May 2004. Companies began hiring again finally in March and April, and economists predict increasing employment opportunities. Employment agencies report that those people who have held onto their jobs through the recession are not happy about the increased workloads and stagnant levels of pay. Employees observed how employers cut their workforce more ruthlessly in this recession than in any before, and employees feel almost no loyalty to their employers. Only 1.7 percent of employees voluntarily left their employment in March, this "quit rate" is the index to watch, and has not yet begun to show increase.
-source: Newsweek

March 2004. Two in five of California business decision-makers surveyed said they were planning to move out of the state (citing the state's anti-business political climate). Texas was the most common target for relocation.
-source: Bain & Company

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