Three new recruiting campaigns I thought I'd mention today ... Microsoft, which we recently said is kicking off a campaign to showcase (and increase) its diversity, has launched a new site at youatmicrosoft.com. Despite the lame cliches and generalities ("diversity is critical," "the best thing about Microsoft is the people," etc.), the design is great, and who doesn't love baby pictures? ... Speaking of new sites, Spirit's new careers page features the tagline "Dream Big, Make it Fly" -- check it out with your sound on for full "whooshing-sound" effect. Spirit's being helped out by its new RPO vendor The RightThing ... Lastly, General Dynamics is touting its "Jobs That Rock" and is hiring engineers, particularly because of a big contract it got from the military to work on the Warfighter's Information Network.

Word on the recruiting street has it that Austin Cooke, the VP of recruiting for VistaPrint, is getting promoted to VP of HR for all of North America.

Here's a mini-clip from Cooke, talking at ERE's Spring Expo about paying non-employees for referrals.

And, another clip, this one of Cooke on why money can be overrated in a referral program.

For the whole Cooke presentation, check out http://www.ereexpoblog.com/video.

Four hours of driving to and fro last night's HR Strategy Forum was worth it, because the HRPS affiliate serves you up a higher-level audience than the annual swag-a-thon. The Forum's audience is a lot like the Journal audience, but not as recruiting-centric.

One attendee is Debbie Rocco of Amylin, a fast-growing bio-pharma that's hiring for many of the positions you'd expect as well as for an Ohio manufacturing facility. Interestingly, and fairly unsually, it also has a link to recruiter information on its website.

Amylin is a lot like a startup, and is just starting to do such things as "capacity planning." It's finding, for example, that in the past it hired a lot of specialists and needs to either hire more generalists or do more training to give people a broader background needed to start a new project when their last one ends.

Rob Reindl's here from Edwards, a company that once received Workforce Management's Optimas award. Every time you hear him talk, and I've hung out at his HQ with him, you can't help but think about how special the work is that his firm does. It's easy to convince candidates that a job at Edwards would "make a difference"; it would save lives.

There's a recruiting job open at Edwards, which the company's website bills as a "great opportunity for 3rd party recruiters looking to 'break in' to corporate recruiting." Indeed, Edwards likes to recruit in-house, not with agencies, when it can. It also likes the "time-to-fill" stat -- one that's not a Sullivan favorite. Reindl pooh-poohs the idea that his hirers would compromise quality just to put a warm body in a seat quickly.

Not everyone here's growing in the 20% range like Amylin; one HR leader from a large packaging firm says the economy's been real slow, and for a really long time. Like all year, and then some. That's both bad and good news. Bad news for them, of course, but good news in the sense that with the average recession lasting somewhere in the range of one year, maybe less, it means that if we're even in one, it may already be more than half over.

If you know any good foodies or druggies, today is their lucky day.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced on Thursday that it has plans to hire more than 1,300 people.

The FDA needs to fill openings for medical officers, consumer safety officers, chemists, nurse consultants, biologists, microbiologists, health/regulatory/general health scientists, mathematical statisticians, epidemiologists, pharmacologists, pharmacists, and veterinary medical officers.

Most of the jobs are located in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area, where the FDA oversees human and veterinary drugs, biological products, medical devices, food, cosmetics, and products that emit radiation. The FDA needs to protect the country in numerous areas, and as such, also will be expanding at more than 179 resident posts and the newly created FDA offices overseas.

(Of course, protect can be interpreted many ways.)

As part of this multi-year hiring initiative, the FDA hopes to fill 600 new positions and hire about 700 others to fill older positions. The FDA says this is nearly triple the number of people hired from 2005 to 2007.

While it's always a challenge to find quality candidates with science and medical backgrounds, the FDA is banking on a couple of things to get the job done.

First, the Office of Personnel Management has granted Direct-Hire Authority to the FDA, an operating division of the Department of Health and Human Services. Direct-Hire Authority can expedite the hiring of qualified candidates during "critical" times and have them on the job within three weeks.

Second, the FDA will be participating in and holding job fairs throughout the country.

If someone's looking for a job right now, they'd probably not want to be looking in Michigan, a state infamous for its high unemployment. Nor would they want to target the mortgage and related industries.

So a mortgage company in Michigan seems like a double negative.

Then again, maybe not.

Robert Rahal, president of the southeastern Michigan company Shore Mortgage, which specializes in government loan products, says he's looking to hire about 100 people for underwriter, loan officer, and support jobs. That's about a third the size of the whole company as it now stands.

"We've been known to do FHA loans," Rahal says. "The market moved in that direction in the last two to three months. Banks had become more conservative. Ultimately things fell in our direction, frankly."

Shore's running a multimedia recruiting campaign: press releases, TV ads, print media, and online recruiting.

You'd think there'd be tons of people in struggling Michigan who fit the bill.

Maybe not.

"It's skilled work," Rahal says. "You have to have the experience, and the more experience you have, the better off. This is very labor-intensive work that requires hands-on knowledge. It's not the automated type of loan process that people have become accustomed to."

To recruits, Rahal plays up the private firm's family atmosphere. "We're not the type of institution that's going to hire people and fire them," he says. "That's not our formula. We're very conservative. We could probably grow double [our size], but we're not looking to bulk up and lay off. That's too arduous a process for us."

Retail sales turnover, according to Rahal, is about 60%, which he says is "better than the national average" and puts him in the 26th percentile." High turnover, he says, "is just the nature of sales." Conversely, Shore turnover among the administration jobs runs in the single digits.

The U.S. Labor Department says people will have up to eight separate careers in their lifetimes.

"Why not have all of them at FedEx?" asks FedEx's John Leech, speaking at the ERE Expo right now in San Diego. Leech says an employee can do everything from IT to metereology to security to sports marketing (because of the company's sponsorships) and more, all without quitting.

Indeed, the FedEx careers website (though not perfect ... searching for the terms "CEO of large company marketing experience master's degree" in the resume box at left apparently didn't produce any results, and a few postings are on the drier side) sells you on the company, not just the job. Some postings play up a potpourri of good company benefits. Many other postings play up the ability to get a promotion.

"It's not all planes, trains, and automobiles," Leech says. "It takes a a whole company to ship one package."

Reigniting the "emotional attachment" with customers or brewing resentment among loyal employees?

This is something Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz has had to grapple with, and he stated his opinions publicly on Thursday. He sent a letter to all employees, a note he called his "most difficult communication to date" but necessary in order to improve the current state of the company and reinvigorate sales.

The gist of his open letter is that Starbucks is cutting about 600 positions, a move that is not surprising in some circles. This includes the elimination of existing positions and open headcount, as well as the reduction of its current workforce. Within this context, Schultz notes that approximately 220 partners have separated from the company, and that nearly all were U.S. partners serving in non-retail support roles.

In an attempt to "step up to the challenge of being strategic as well as nimble," Schultz adds that the company will reorganize from two divisions to four (Western/Pacific, Northwest/Mountain, Southeast/Plains, and Northeast/Atlantic). Each division will be led by a senior vice president, reporting directly to the U.S. president. Within each division, partners supporting store development, marketing, partner resources, and finance will report directly to their respective functions while still being accountable for results at the divisional level.

In other Starbucks news, the company is doing away with its lackluster warmed breakfast sandwich idea, and is also offering free Wi-Fi in stores this spring. 

Despite a painful slowdown across multiple sectors in the building and construction industries, Caterpillar is inching along.

The Peoria, Illinois-based manufacturer of iconic yellow tractors may hire hundreds of engineers and designers to work in a planned 100-acre research and development facility and manufacturing plant in Raleigh, North Carolina. The new facility would develop prototype products for the Caterpillar line of machines and engines.

The company may also boost its 700-strong North Carolina workforce by hiring at the Cary, Clayton, and Sanford locations.

In addition, Caterpillar has plans to open a parts distribution center in Waco, Texas, while closing two small distribution centers in Dallas and Kansas City by early 2009. The company will hire about 180 people to work in the new 500,000-square-foot Waco facility. According to Caterpillar spokesperson Rachel Potts, the company is moving the work to the Waco facility to meet warehouse and transportation needs.

Economic Soft Landing?

"The combination of what the Fed has done -- a little late maybe, but very aggressively addressing the softening economy and what the federal government has just done with the stimulus package -- kind of assures that we're going to have a soft landing," Caterpillar chairman and chief executive officer Jim Owens recently told Reuters.

"Whether it's a mild recession or just a significant slowdown is not so important to me," he said. "But the re-acceleration of growth later in the year going into '09, '10, I think, is a likely occurrence now."

Owens pointed out that despite a soft U.S. economy, international growth matters most right now for the national economy.

Caterpillar, which manufactures construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, and industrial gas turbines, brought in over $44 billion in 2007. For 2007, Caterpillar exported more than $12.676 billion of products from the United States, a 20% increase compared to 2006 exports of $10.539 billion.

The company has more than 100,000 workers worldwide. It also has plants in Lafayette, Indiana; Aurora, Illinois; and China.

Few are likely to give pause before biting into a giant chocolate bar on Valentine's Day. Instead, most will carelessly toss the foil wrapper and not realize that what they are holding is a piece of history, a previous day's work for a factory employee, and a job that no longer exists.

Take the workers at perennial boxed-chocolate favorite Russell Stover Candies. The company has announced plans to eliminate the second shift and lay off about 150 workers at a production facility that staffs 480 people in Montrose, Colorado, effective April 1. These workers include maintenance staff, packaging staff, and supervisors. Russell Stover's three other U.S. manufacturing plants will also see layoffs, according to the company.

Although its biggest competitor, Hershey provides some raw materials to Russell Stover. With Hershey's plan to move some production to a plant in Monterrey, Mexico, along with inflation and increasing dairy costs, Russell Stover says these cuts – albeit "temporary" according to executives – are necessary to stay afloat.

Meanwhile, Hershey is gearing up for its move to Mexico and will close six plants in the United States and Canada and lay off more than 3,000 workers. The layoffs were first announced in April 2007. The first and second round of layoffs hit the company's Oakdale, California, plant in July and September. The final cut will happen on Friday, February 15. The facility, which once made Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and Hershey's Kisses, will be vacant by the end of the month. The company's Connecticut plant will lose 200 workers, while another 1,300 will be let go in Pennsylvania. Hershey's Canadian plants will lose about 1,400 workers.

February is shaping up to be a bad month for shopping fans but an interesting one for retail recruiters, as a rash of layoffs and store closings point to weaker-than-expected January retail sales and a pessimistic outlook for the future.

William Dreher, a Deutsche Bank research analyst, wrote in a report last week that as the economy begins to improve in the second half of 2008, "we expect several of our department store shares could do very well, including Kohl's and Macy's, though we are not pounding the table here yet." In fact, the report upgraded the department store and mass merchant sector to neutral from cautious.

But on Wednesday, Macy's Inc. announced its plans to slash 2,300 management jobs across three regional divisions to reduce costs and boost sales while adding 250 in-store positions to enhance product offerings in specific regions. The company will cut approximately 950 positions at the Macy's North headquarters offices in Minneapolis, 850 positions at the Macy's Midwest headquarters offices in St. Louis, and 750 positions at the Macy's Northwest headquarters offices in Seattle. It is also consolidating several divisions, though all current store locations will remain in place. The company's Miami-based Macy's Florida and New-York based Bloomingdale's divisions are not affected. The Cincinnati-based retailer said the consolidation will be complete in the second quarter of 2008.

This layoff news comes on the heels of the announcement by women's retailer Ann Taylor Stores that it will close 117 of its 921 stores over the next three years. In addition, the company is eliminating 180 jobs, or 13% of its corporate staff.

What other companies are losing their shirts? Clothing stalwart J.C. Penney is planning 200 layoffs; Talbots is laying off 800, or 5% of the company, as it exits the men's and boys' wear markets; Wet Seal is laying off 41 and will leave 10 other posts vacant in a cost-cutting move amid a "difficult" retail environment (49 corporate jobs, two field positions); and Goody's Family Clothing is laying off 5% of workers.

Also this week, clothing retailer Eddie Bauer said it is laying off 123 workers at its headquarters, though no layoffs are expected at its 432 retail stores. Even Wal-Mart is fraying at the retail seams, announcing layoff plans due to closing two clothing divisions at its main offices in Arkansas.

The country's largest retailer of plus-size women's apparel, Charming Shoppes, Inc. says its round of store closures and layoffs is "in response to the continuing weak retail and economic environment." The corporate parent of Lane Bryant and Catherine's stores will close 100 stores, lay off 150 employees (13% of its management staff), and trim the amount of stores it will open in fiscal 2009.

The use of holiday gift cards helped some retailers rebound in January, but analysts suspect post-holiday sales were slowed by a weaker economy overall.

But is it the economy or a shift in recruitment and training strategies that are hurting major retailers?

According to Karen Harvey, president of the Karen Harvey Consulting Group, an executive recruitment company, the problem is a lack of executive training programs.

"One of the major things we face in interviewing talent, if they came through the industry more recently, their training is more siloed," said Harvey. "When we interview these people, we find they are missing the full 360-degree view of the business."

Some "tell-tale signs" of this problem, according to Women's Wear Daily, include an increasing number of high-level outside hires, not to mention disappointing comps and earnings.

• "America's Finest City" -- as former Mayor Pete Wilson called San Diego-- is where job candidates most want to live, according to the Human Capital Institute and Monster. This comes despite still-jaw-dropping housing costs that recruiters frequently cite as a major impediment to convincing people to relocate to San Diego. In the survey of 806 employees, San Diego was the place candidates would be most willing to relocate to, followed by San Francisco, New York, Atlanta, Boston, Austin, Denver, Los Angeles, Seattle, and Portland, Oregon. The least desired: New York, Detroit, Los Angeles, and New Orleans.
• We don't have a specific link to any news item, but we hear Sykes will be picking up its hiring in the coming months.
• Barclays is "creating 800 jobs."
• The Labor Department said today that employment in Louisiana has increased 2.2% over the past year, and employment in that state has improved significantly even over the past month.

• It's not apparent on its careers page, but Alpharma is aggressively hiring salespeople.
• In Canada, the CMA says it's on a "hiring spree."
• Centerra Gold is looking for a CFO.
• Economists talk recession.

Anticipating potential layoffs if the company is sold, Biogen staff are reportedly looking for offers in all the right places.

According to the Boston Business Journal, biotechnology recruiters have noticed an increase in calls from non-executive staff planning for the worst.

Pearl Freier, an executive search consultant, told the Journal that the callers are "anxious" and hoping to avoid becoming one of the thousands who Biogen may fire.

About 1,400 of the company's 3,900-strong workforce are located at the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based headquarters.

The biotechnology company announced in October that it would seek a potential acquisition after a major shareholder pushed for a sale. Pharma giants Pfizer and Novartis are both considered potential bidders, with a sale valued at $23 billion.

Biogen, however, is still hiring across many departments. In fact, the company has plans to attend the "Genetown Career Fair" in Boston on November 7. That event features companies such as Abbott Laboratories, Kelly Scientific Resources, Novartis, and Siemens, among many others.

Many of Biogen's workers who are fearing the worst might be safe after all, even if their company is sold. Just last week, for example, Amgen laid off 300 employees in Rhode Island -- 150 fewer employees than expected. Amgen previously had 1,600 workers at two factories that manufacture arthritis drugs; only one plant will remain in the Ocean State by the end of the year.

Still, the Thousand Oaks, California-based company has plans to eliminate close to 2,600 jobs worldwide -- including 1,500 through layoffs and others through attrition and voluntary departures -- to save about $1.9 billion.

First, real estate foreclosures were up 30%. Then the stock market fell over 360 points. And the news on Thursday didn't improve much as Chrysler made drastic cuts to its workforce -- announcing plans to cut 12,000 workers to help combat sluggish sales expected through 2008.

How the news shakes out at Chrysler, by the numbers:

• 59,000. The number of employees expected to be working for Chrysler at the end of 2009.
• 12,000. The number of North American workers out of a job at Chrysler, the third-largest U.S.-based automaker. Affecting approximately 15% of its workforce, close to 10,000 hourly jobs and 2,100 salaried jobs will be eliminated.
• 1,100. The number of temporary workers the company announced it was letting go earlier this week. None of the contract workers will receive a severance package, though most full-time workers will be offered buyout or early retirement packages (though the company has not released the details of those packages yet).
• 80.1%. The percentage Chrysler sold to private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LP in August 2007, making the switch from DaimlerChrysler AG to separate private companies known as Chrysler and Daimler AG.
• 8.9%. The percentage of Chrysler's sales loss in October, compared to the same time last year. This was the fifth straight monthly decline and biggest of 2007.
• 5.1. The salary, reportedly $5.1 million, for former Chrysler chief executive officer Tom LaSorda.
• 5. The number of North American assembly plants that will see shifts eliminated. It was announced Thursday that Chrysler will cut shifts at vehicle assembly plants in Belvidere, Illinois; Toledo, Ohio; Brampton, Ontario; Jefferson North in Detroit, and Sterling Heights, Michigan. Also, Chrysler will cut jobs at the company's Detroit-area Mack Avenue engine plant.
• 4. The number of vehicle models that are being phased out of its lineup. The Auburn Hills, Michigan-based company is ending production for the PT Cruiser convertible, Crossfire sedan, Dodge Magnum wagon, and Pacifica SUV.
• 3.5%. The percentage of Chrysler's sales loss during the first nine months of this year.
• 2. The second time this year Chrysler has cut more than 10,000 jobs. The cuts announced Thursday are in addition to the slashing from February 2007, when 13,000 layoffs (11,000 production jobs and 2,000 salaried jobs) were announced.
• 1. New CEO Bob Nardelli earns just $1 a year in salary, with his bonus tied to the company's performance. (Though Nardelli did leave Home Depot, where he worked as CEO until January 2007, with a controversial $210 million severance package.)

Bear Stearns has laid off 300 workers across various business units, including its equity trading business. The latest cuts affect about 2% of its 15,500 employees and are blamed on the ongoing credit crisis that has loomed on Wall Street and throughout the country's housing market.

James Cayne, chief executive of Bear Stearns, wrote in a company memo that the goal is to "deploy our resources in today's challenging environment where growth opportunities are greatest and to reduce costs in areas that can no longer justify their current level of infrastructure."

The investment bank has not specified which exact units are affected, and says in the memo that it will continue to add jobs as needed.

The layoffs this week followed a cautionary report by Swiss bank UBS on a potential further downward shift in the U.S. mortgage markets.

Since the beginning of 2007, Bear Stearns has reduced its mortgage origination related workforce by 40%. On October 3, for example, 310 positions at the nation's fifth-largest investment bank were cut, affecting staff in its mortgage-origination businesses.

Tom Marano, global head of mortgages, explained the business move as a "hallmark of our franchise" that would help Bear Stearns adapt to changes in the market environment and product demand.

FairPoint Communications has plans to take over Verizon's landline operations in rural New England and, if the acquisition is approved, it will hire close to 675 new workers in the area.

FairPoint says it has hired four recruiters to hire and train approximately 125 of the 675 employees it intends to hire if the proposed merger between FairPoint and Verizon in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont is approved.

FairPoint, a communications services provider in rural and small urban communities in 18 states, calls this move the catalyst to "significant job creation" that will "have a significant impact on the Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine economies."

keep reading...

Part-time positions feature prominently on the UPS corporate careers site, and that's good news as the Atlanta-based global delivery services company seeks to hire up to 60,000 seasonal workers.

To help meet UPS's 40% volume increase between Thanksgiving and the end of December, these seasonal workers will help deliver as many as 22 million packages worldwide daily.

"It's safe to say in all the major markets we're looking for seasonal help," says UPS spokesperson Laurie Mallis.

"When you think about that number, that's essentially a few Fortune 500 companies right there and is a huge undertaking. We start trying to get the word out right about now," says Mallis.

The company also aimed to hire the same amount of workers, about 60,000, for the 2006 holiday season. However, "we don't give out the actual amount we actually hired for competitive reasons," says Mallis.

In Central Florida, the company wants to hire about 1,600 seasonal employees this year to fill package sorter and driver roles.

"Our seasonal employees are instrumental in ensuring that UPS delivers the holidays on time for our customers," says Jeff Gutowski, Central Florida workforce planning manager.

In metro Detroit, UPS has plans to hire about 210 seasonal workers, which is about the same number as last year. And in El Paso, Texas, UPS plans to hire about 110 drivers and package sorters, up from 88 people hired in 2006.

What Can Brown Do for Online Career Search?

Although the company's corporate careers website is intended for long-term hires (full-time and part-time) as opposed to just seasonal hires, the website includes significant depth on what part-time positions are like at UPS.

As Mallis explains, about one in four seasonal workers ultimately sign on for an ongoing, part-time position with UPS.

And UPS seems to understand that, because all workers are encouraged to apply online, it's a prime opportunity to show even seasonal candidates what to expect on the job, from the holiday rush and beyond.

Through a section devoted to strictly part-time inquiries, job seekers would learn that, across the country, a part-time package handler can expect to earn an hourly rate of $8.50 to $9.50 based on up to 20 hours per week and receive an "attractive" benefits package.

In addition, UPS takes the added step of outlining the tax breakdowns for these hourly positions by noting that "employees can expect to take home between $110.00 and $150.00 each week after deductions have been taken for taxes, etc."

The site adds that a package handler job "is a physical, fast-paced position that involves continual lifting, lowering and sliding packages that typically weigh 25-35 lbs. and may weigh up to 70 lbs."

On the other hand, a part-time supervisor position (directly supervising seven to 10 part-time package handlers) nets up to $1,600 per month on average, along with benefits. When someone is interested in such a position, the UPS website further breaks down that this is a management training position to "train, develop, and hold their workgroups responsible for safety, production, and attendance. This is a physical, fast-paced position that involves demonstrating how to safely lift, lower, and slide packages that typically weigh 25-35 lbs. and may weigh up to 70 lbs."

UPS has over 400,000 workers in more than 200 countries.

Boston Scientific is eliminating 2,300 positions worldwide, or 13% of its workforce, to help cut operating expenses by up to $525 million during 2008 and to save up to $50 million more in 2009.

Boston Scientific has only disclosed that the layoffs will start this month and continue through the end of 2008. The company has not offered any information regarding which workers are affected or in which locations.

However, the Natick, Massachusetts-based company is hosting a conference call with analysts Friday morning.

The second-largest life sciences company in Massachusetts, it counts 2,400 employees in Natick, Marlborough, and Quincy.

The company's other U.S. locations include several in California (Fremont, Los Gatos, Mountain View, Murrieta, San Diego, San Jose, Sylmar, and Valencia); Miami; Spencer, Indiana; several in Minnesota (Maple Grove, Plymouth, and St. Paul); Wayne, New Jersey; Glens Falls, New York; West Valley City, Utah; and Redmond, Washington. 

The company says eligible employees will be offered severance packages, outplacement services, and other appropriate assistance and support.

The company also plans to sell some businesses and consolidate others. For example, Boston Scientific is consolidating its international group from three regions to two. The existing three regions are Europe, Asia Pacific/Japan, and Inter-Continental; the two new regions will be Europe/Middle East/Africa, and Canada/Latin America/Asia Pacific/Japan.

In addition to this latest round of layoffs, another approximately 2,000 employees are expected to leave the company in connection with a previously announced sale of other business units.

Boston Scientific, whose stock has fallen 40% since it acquired Guidant, a maker of stents and other cardiac devices, has about 29,000 workers overall.

This is the largest layoff in the company's 28-year history.

Following Honda Motor Co.'s announcement that it would hire workers for its new Greensburg, Indiana, assembly plant from only 20 surrounding counties, several Democratic lawmakers are questioning this hiring policy.

In a letter to the Indiana Economic Development Corp., the lawmakers argue that since Honda received a state incentive package of $141.5 million, the hiring process should be open to all Indiana residents in 92 counties.

The authors -- including state representatives Dennis Tyler, Scott Reske, Terri Austin, along with state senators Sue Errington and Tim Lanane -- allege that a "restriction of eligibility to residents of just 20 specific counties is of great concern to many Hoosiers."

The letter notes, in part, that the lawmakers "acknowledge that private interests have some rights regarding employment policies, provided they do not discriminate unfairly. However, the generous state tax incentives and subsidies provided to Honda clearly represent a major public role in bringing this investment to Indiana."

The letter also states that "residents of Delaware and Madison Counties, in particular the cities of Muncie and Anderson, have seen many well-paying manufacturing jobs disappear, and we have many highly skilled workers who would benefit Honda tremendously."

"Our constituents pay state income and sales taxes, and therefore they directly helped bring Honda to Indiana through the targeted use of their tax dollars. For any Hoosier to be denied even the opportunity to apply for a position seems grossly unfair."

The letter also cites an October 10 Wall Street Journal article regarding Alabama officials who required Honda to take applications from anyone in the state when granting incentives for a new plant.

Although the initial hiring period for Honda is over, the lawmakers are requesting a meeting with Secretary of Commerce Feltman, who heads up the economic development policies. In addition to requesting that the policy be re-evaluated, the lawmakers suggested that the General Assembly intervene to decide whether this is appropriate policy for Indiana.

Indiana Economic Development Corp. spokesman Mitch Frazier said the office has received the letter and is responding to it.

"As part of our response we will correct the inaccuracies cited in the letter and we reaffirm our excitement that 2,000 Hoosiers will have new jobs in Greensburg when Honda opens their facility," says Frazier.

Tom Shoupe, senior vice president at Honda of America Manufacturing, told the Cincinnati Enquirer last week that this is simply Honda's "approach to be imbedded in the communities where we operate."

In fact, Honda spokesman David Iida says the company "based the 20-county hiring radius for production associates on three things, safe driving distance and on-time attendance, diverse workforce, and limiting hiring to the state of Indiana. These were our three criteria."

Honda's new Greenburg location, which will make about 200,000 Honda Civics a year, is set to open next fall. Hourly wages will start at just under $15 an hour.

AOL said Monday it is laying off 2,000 employees worldwide as part of a previously announced restructuring program. Approximately 1,200 U.S. workers – including 750 at the company's current headquarters in Dulles, Virginia -- are affected.

This latest reduction of about 20% of AOL's workers follows last month's announcement that the company was streamlining from an Internet access provider to an online advertising company.

In a memo distributed on Monday to the company's 10,000 employees, chairman and chief executive Randy Falco wrote that this "reduction in force" will play out over the next couple of months.

"Everyone impacted by this reduction deserves our thanks and respect for their contributions to the company. We will aid these individuals in their transition to new opportunities as much as possible, most importantly with what we believe are generous severance packages," he wrote in the memo.

AOL announced in September it is relocating to New York. The new headquarters includes leased office space at 770 Broadway in Manhattan, which will include all advertising and programming operations. AOL will continue to have operations in Dulles, as well as offices in Mountain View, California, and other locations.

"New York City is the center of advertising, so it makes perfect sense to locate our corporate headquarters here," Falco said in September. 

On Friday, the company's executive vice president and head of human resources, Lance Miyamoto, stepped down from his post.

AOL's head of HR in Europe also left the company last week, and there is speculation that European workers will face another large round of layoffs soon.

In August 2006, AOL laid off about 5,000 positions.

Echoing a recent report that Arizona is a hot job market, health benefits company Humana, Inc. is scheduled to open two new call centers in Phoenix and Tempe. To accommodate this growth, the company plans to hire more than 530 workers.

In Phoenix, the company has plans to open a state-of-the-art, 63,000 sq. ft. telemarketing call center with 330 workers to support its Medicare Advantage business. Available positions at this call center include telesales specialists, Rx enrollment specialists, client specialists, quality assurance specialists, administrative assistants, and supervisors. This Phoenix call center is Humana's sixth telemarketing unit. The company has five other call-center locations: two in Tampa, one in Miramar, Florida, one in Doral, Florida, and one in Puerto Rico.

In nearby Tempe, a separate call center with 200 employees will focus on the company's mail-order prescription services. The company plans to have both centers fully staffed by January 2008. Known as the "RightSource Customer Care Call Center," the company is seeking customer care associates, team leads, front-line leaders, workforce analysts, and managers. The Tempe facility also has the capacity for additional growth to reach 550 to 600 employees.

The company currently has 665 employees in Arizona.

Cable and Phone Call Centers Expand

Sprint Nextel Corp. says it will expand its call center in Panama City Beach, Florida, and add 225 full-time employees by the end of January 2008. This news comes almost six months after it laid off 100 customer-care representative positions from the facility as part of a nationwide layoff. The company says these new employees, however, will be part of a team working on a new national quality-control department.

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Clinical services firm PRA International has just selected Raleigh, North Carolina, for its new, expanded headquarters.

The move will create nearly 500 jobs, and the company has pledged to invest $2.89 million over the next four years.

The company says its current headquarters in Reston, Virginia, is a corporate administrative office with no operational functions.

Terrance J. Bieker, chief executive officer of PRA, notes that the Raleigh area will provide "ready access to a highly qualified talent pool and reduce our infrastructure costs."

To fuel its planned growth, the company says it will begin aggressive hiring in October and hopes to attract 500 administrative and operations employees.

"North Carolina has one of the fastest-growing workforces in the United States and we are pleased to take advantage of the low employee turnover rate and the quality of life. We believe this move to Raleigh will position us well to achieve our future growth targets," Bieker said.

He adds that the 37 Virginia-based workers have been invited to move, though some will become home-based and a few others will relocate to the company's offices in Charlottesville, Virginia.

The company's decision to relocate was based on a state-funded Job Development Investment Grant that helps lure drug-development services companies. 

According to a release from North Carolina Governor Mike Easley, the wages for these new jobs will average more than $75,000 plus benefits -- more than double the local county average of $35,672.   

"Companies in the pharmaceutical, biotech, and healthcare industries know that they find the knowledge, talent, and skill in North Carolina they need to succeed in the global economy," said Governor Easley.

PRA outsources and conducts clinical trials for drugs with special emphasis in oncology, central nervous system, allergy and respiratory, and cardiovascular disorders. The company has more than 2,800 employees worldwide.

Last week's unexpected Labor Department announcement of a loss of 4,000 jobs, which sparked fears of a recession, was followed by an overwhelming amount of layoffs across the mortgage industry.

"The driving force behind the layoffs is the anticipation of permanently lower volumes," says Sam Garcia, publisher of MortgageDaily.com, an online news publication for the mortgage industry.

"The lower volumes, however, are the result of fewer available loan programs and borrowers that have become too nervous to utilize adjustable-rate mortgages, hybrid ARMs, and anything that smells like an exotic loan," says Garcia.

Adding to the growing list of workers affected in the financial services industry, more than 15,000 mortgage professionals are facing a new round of layoffs:

• Countrywide Financial is laying off 12,000 jobs, or about 20%, over the next few months. Those affected are primarily part of the riskier sub-prime lending operations, production divisions, and general/administrative support areas. Still, Countrywide defended itself as "the very best mortgage company on the face of the earth" and made mention of an online rebuttal rebuking claims made by the New York Times. In a client letter, the company's president and chief executive officer explained the company is "bullish on our future," and is "providing job placement services for displaced employees, and we will work to find them opportunities both inside and outside the company." (Not affected: banking operations, insurance businesses, and loan servicing operations. In addition, the distributed retail unit of its consumer markets division will continue to grow its sales force.) Countrywide also said it is moving aggressively into conventional home loans, but Garcia contends that all the players, prime and nonprime, indicate they will now focus only on conforming originations (i.e., loans that can be bought by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac). "This will make the conforming field more crowded and certainly lead to more layoffs at the weakest players," says Garcia.

• IndyMac Bancorp is laying off about 1,000 jobs, or 10%, over the next several months. In a shareholder letter released Friday, the Pasadena, California-based company said it is taking "steps to right -size our organization" with a voluntary severance program and additional involuntary layoffs. The company says "one positive outcome of the mortgage market disruption" is its new growth of almost 1,500 employees in the retail lending group.

• National City Corp. is laying off 1,300 workers. At the company's annual analysts' conference on Friday, it announced the elimination of approximately 800 positions in the mortgage unit and related support functions. Due to the suspension of broker-sourced originations of home equity loans and merging the National Home Equity unit into National City Mortgage in August, the company will also lay off another 500 positions.

• Lehman Brothers is laying off 850 workers, or about 3%. This primarily affects workers at its Littleton, Colorado-based Aurora Loan Services division. The company also says it plans to consolidate U.S., Japan, and European businesses into the new Lehman Mortgage Capital, and will also close its Korean mortgage business. In August, the company slashed 1,200 jobs, or 4.2%, after closing its sub-prime division.

• NovaStar Financial is laying off 275 of its 400 employees in retail lending operations over the next two months. NovaStar will close 12 retail origination offices, concentrating retail activities in four offices, including processing centers in Kansas City, Missouri, and Columbia, Maryland. NovaStar expects to have approximately 600 employees, overall, after this reduction in workforce. The company's servicing organization was not affected by the reduction.

Garcia says he sees a "massive shift" in mortgage employment, with big reductions in production staffs and increases in servicing personnel.

"Geographically, we've seen a migration from California to lower-cost states like Texas ," he says.

Although he will not comment on broader economic forecasts, such as a recession, he says he doesn't see an improvement in the mortgage market until 2009.

You've heard about the stepped-up recruiting practices trucking companies use to address the shortage of truck drivers. Well, some of their gains are coming at the expense of another industry -- the large school bus industry, involving perhaps a half-million busses and 625,000 bus professionals.

Below, transportation officials and transportation staffing companies discuss the challenge and some solutions.

Florida: Doing "Everything We Possibly Can"

Arby Creach handles driver recruiting and training for Orange County Public Schools in Florida, a state where school busses transport 162,000 kids each day and burn about 14,000 gallons of diesel. Creach says "A lot of folks who drive commercially just aren't the type who want to be with students. You do have to have a passion. You do have to love kids."

Many people, he says, still think the jobs are part-time, like in days gone by when working mothers drove busses for "butter and egg money." It's now often a full-time job, and Creach's district is running about 1,000 busses a day. It's adding new busses daily, though still 40 to 50 drivers short.

Creach's team is advertising in Spanish newspapers; shopper leaflets that arrive in people's mailboxes along with coupons and other ads; in person at Home Depot and Wal-Mart; online at ocps.net; and at job fairs. Creach would like to advertise in the print newspaper the Orlando Sentinel, but his boss isn't as hot on the idea. "Short of going out and leaving flyers on windshields, we try everything we possibly can."

The selling points of a bus-driving job, according to Creach, include "longevity," competitive pay, and "all the hours you want to work." Drivers get student holidays off, but the district can help them find driving jobs at Disney and elsewhere if they want to work during the summer.

"I'd say 99.9% off our people love the work and love the kids," Creach says. "It gets in the blood."

100 Signs in Arkansas

Rhonda Harris, who coordinates transportation for the Sheridan School District in Arkansas, says student behavior, low pay, relatively low unemployment in the area, and unusual hours make it difficult to attract drivers.

Sheridan has people work two hours in the morning and two in the afternoon, so it's difficult to find work that people can do during the remaining hours of the day to supplement the $6,866 annual driver pay.

"You have to work somewhere that allows you the flexibility," Harris says. "There aren't many places here in town that will let you do that. You have six hours during the day that you don't do anything."

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Interstate Bakeries Corp. said Tuesday it will lay off 1,300 workers and quit the bread market in Southern California.

This decision will see the closure of four bakeries, 17 distribution centers, and 19 outlets, as well as the elimination of 325 routes, effective October 29.

The Kansas City-based maker of Twinkies and Wonder Bread will lay off about 1,300 employees, or about 5% of the workforce, in the process.

The affected factories are located in Glendale, Pomona, San Diego, and Los Angeles.

Interstate says it will still maintain 840 workers at two other Los Angeles plants, which produce a variety of snack cakes and doughnuts, including Twinkies, Ding Dongs, and Snowballs.

"Because of its impact on employees and their families, exiting a market is probably the most difficult decision a company can make. At the same time, our primary consideration has to be the company's long-term survival and financial health," said Craig Jung, chief executive officer, in a statement.

Jung cited "unprofitable" bread operations in Southern California, worsened in part by lower-cost, non-union competitors; an irrational competitive pricing environment; and changing market and customer demands.

He added that this is compounded by a high fixed-cost structure, excessive workers' compensation costs, and a confrontational relationship with one of the company's major unions.

The company is in contract talks to seek concessions on health benefits and more flexible work rules.

In the statement, the company blamed its collective bargaining agreements as "prohibitively restrictive in how it can operate its business." The company also currently contributes to more than 40 multi-employer pension plans as required under various collective bargaining agreements, many of which it says are under-funded.

Regardless of potential union contract changes, a company spokeswoman said the layoffs and closure decisions are final.

Interstate Bakeries filed for bankruptcy protection in 2004. Since then, the company has reduced staff by 22%, closed 10 bakeries, and lost $620 million.

Interstate Bakeries, the nation's largest wholesale baker, features brand names such as Wonder, Hostess, Baker's Inn, and Drake's.

In August, the company reported a Q2 loss of $112.8 million.