Economic Indicators

From Southern California, the San Gabriel Valley Tribune tells us that job security is taking a hit. No kidding!

The number of organisations with their backs to the wall and fighting for survival seems to be on the decrease. But to describe this as an economic recovery is probably still premature.

Half of managers expect the global economy to recover next year. Yet a lack of foresight by European businesses means they risk being left behind by better-prepared Asia-Pacific economies.

Final year students and graduates should enjoy their last few weeks of college life while they can. Because finding a job this summer is going to be very, very hard.

The economic picture may still be grim, but British managers can take heart from signs that when it comes to landing a new job, they are in with more of a chance than many of their contemporaries elsewhere.

Confidence may gradually be returning but, when it comes to jobs, organizations can still expect to be saying goodbye to many more valued employees over the coming weeks and months.

Business leaders are becoming cautiously optimistic that the worst of the recession may be behind us – and they may even soon start hiring people again.

Pinch yourself, it may even be true. Some business leaders, bankers, politicians and members of the public are starting to feel a little more optimistic about the economy.

In another sign of the times, I came across this article about debt collectors trying to reach out to clients (isn't that a nice way of putting it?) at their place of business in order to collect on late payments.

With fear of redundancy now gripping many workplaces, more and more of us are prepared to put up with unacceptable behaviour from managers. But that still doesn't mean it is the right way to act in the long run.

Organisations may still be desperate to cut costs, but there are signs that many have now completed their wave of mass layoffs and redundancies - for now at least.

Yes we all know things are bad, but with two thirds of CEOs confident their revenues will increase this year and more than nine out of 10 optimistic about the three-year picture, perhaps we need to stop being so gloomy.

Firms large and small and on both sides of the Atlantic are looking at shorter working weeks and reduced hours as a desperate alternative to redundancies.

Can it get any grimmer? With Barclays and Bank of America shedding thousands of jobs, U.S unemployment continuing to rise sharply and even local councils now shedding staff, the answer unfortunately is yes.

As we look to 2009, it's hard to stay positive and hope that the worst is behind us. Personally, in bad economic times, I like to re-focus on my job to make sure that I'm doing the best job I can.

With economic conditions in 2009 set to get even tougher, expect to see a swathe of "mergers of necessity" as companies in financial trouble are snapped up by larger, stronger players.

For any manager who actually got a bonus this year, the best advice is probably "don't spend it all at once, because it may be the last one you get for sometime".

As the stark reality of the global downturn becomes clear, chief finance officers are fundamentally revising their cash-flow forecasts and desperately looking at ways to raise or hang on to cash.

The financial and economic meltdown experienced over the past few weeks may yet have a silver lining, according to one of the UK's most respected economic commentators.

The economic downturn will result in the dominance of Western economies giving way to those of emerging nations such as India and China.

Work-life balance is another casualty of the downturn, with college graduates reporting being pushed to work harder, come in earlier and stay later.

Despite all the warnings, a third of U.S bosses and a fifth of their UK counterparts have sat back and made no contingency plans whatsoever for managing their workforce through the downturn.

Most managers claim that they're bullish about their ability to ride out the economic meltdown – except when they wake up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night.

Now is really not a good time to be working in the US or the UK. I have to say, returning to what Americans like to refer to as "Old Europe" (namely France) may have been my best move in recent memory – even if people around me doubted it for a time.

With the global economic crisis deepening by the day, battening down the hatches to reduce risk has become the number one priority for CFOs and senior managers alike.

After one of the most tumultuous weeks for the international economy since the 1930s, it's no surprise that workers on both sides of the Atlantic are now seriously worried about their jobs.

After years of expecting to waltz into their ideal career, nearly three quarters of American graduates are now seriously worried about their chances of landing a job at all when they leave college.

Managing growth and attracting talent used to be the key priorities for UK managers. But the deteriorating economic climate has brought maintaining cashflow and curbing costs to the top of the agenda.

Organisations in Asia Pacific look set to be least affected by the global downturn, with planning making them better able than their U.S competitors to ride the storm.

In tough times, the temptation is to slash jobs at the first sign of trouble. But knee-jerk cuts can prove more costly - and be more damaging - than trying to hang on to your staff.

British workers returning from their holidays have been greeted with the grim news that two million of them might be redundant by Christmas and many more could have lost their jobs by next summer.

Amid the daily deluge of economic gloom and doom, here's a spark of good news for U.S workers. Pay raises and bonuses look set to be held steady next year.

Job losses are starting to accelerate as the credit crunch, soaring prices and economic downturn move off the financial pages and start to become a reality.

Far from being omnipotent, the "boom generation" of business leaders have been caught unawares by the current downturn and are at a loss as to how they'll respond to it.

Soaring bills, collapsing house prices, tax rises and another grey summer. It's no wonder executives and employers are leaving the UK in droves.

Chronic traffic congestion, tax hikes and the credit crunch is putting at risk London's reputation as a one of the world's most attractive places for doing business.

Half of US workers believe that the American dream of a nice home, financial security for you and your family and hope for the future is now unattainable.

First the good news – senior British managers have seen their earning power increase dramatically this year. The bad news is they are also more likely to be out of a job.

Even wealthy Americans are being hit by the downturn, with the country's elite becoming increasingly concerned about their financial health and their retirement prospects.

More evidence has emerged that Americans are storing up financial problems for the future, with a quarter raiding their pension pots just to make ends meet.

Economic woes are rapidly beginning to filter across Europe, with nearly a third of British firms planning to freeze salaries and a fifth expecting to shed staff.

The global financial pinch means that middle managers and professionals are being forced to cut back on spending and even take second jobs to make ends meet.

Three quarters of execs looking for jobs in America are reporting a slowdown in the number of interviews coming their way - a clear sign the downturn is reaching right to the top.

Nine out of 10 British financial services firms believe the credit crunch will last for at least another six months.

If the U.S slips into a full-blown recession - as seems increasingly likely - the impact is going to be be felt in India as much as it is in Indiana.

Fears of a wave of redundancies in economies hit by the credit crunch could be being overstated, with many organisations instead adopting a "wait and see" approach.

Most British managers expect to see knee-jerk job cuts, short-termism and panic at the first whiff of recession.

Managers in the UK have been watching the growing economic storm with trepidation. And now there are signs that employers are poised to take an axe to their workforces.

Amid turmoil in the global financial markets, business confidence is on the decline and fear of recession has topped the list of worries that keep CEOs awake at night.

Finishing university in the UK and looking to enter the job market? Perhaps you may just want to go back to bed if the answer to that question is 'yes'.

With the rapidly darkening economic picture and a chronic shortage of talent, perhaps 2008 looks set to be a tough year in the workplace.

The credit crunch is beginning to cast its shadow over the jobs market, with the number of Britons placed in permanent jobs growing at its slowest rate for more than a year.

The recovery of the Japanese economy means more and better opportunities for students entering the workforce.

With the number of people in employment in the U.S. surging after big declines earlier this year, new figures suggest that the top end of the jobs market is also booming.

The number of unemployed people in the UK fell again in the three months to April, according to official figures. Trouble is, the official figures are not what they seem.

While Germany may still be known for its cars and Japan its micro-electronics, a new report claims that Britain is building a global reputation on the back of the export of knowledge.

Four out of 10 employers across the world are finding it more difficult to fill job vacancies this year, with sales people, skilled manual trades and technicians in particularly short supply.

More than four out of 10 companies in the United States achieved above-average levels of growth last year, confirming its status as the world's most dynamic economy.

We can all agree keeping workers healthy is a good idea, but making even just small inroads into tackling diseases such as cancer could give European economies a big financial boost, too.

Just in case chancellor Gordon Brown hasn't got the message, three separate heavy-weight reports have warned that excessively high business taxes are driving business away from the UK and discouraging investment.