Thousands of Chicago jobs may have recently been saved.

Workers from HartMax recently won a court battle that will keep the suit maker in operation and save more than 3,000 union jobs. A federal bankruptcy judge approved a bid for Emerisque, a private equity firm based in Britain, to buy the company.

Wells Fargo Bank, which serves as the chief creditor of HartMax, wanted the court to approve a different company that would eventually liquidate HartMax, according to an article by People's Weekly World.

“We are quite pleased with the progress and are optimistic," Joe Costigan, treasurer for Workers United Midwest, said in the article.

Workers United represents employees at HartMax's production facilities in Des Plaines and Rock Island, Ill. and Rochester, N.Y. Workers have taken various measures to help save jobs as of late, including voting to sit-in at the production facilities to prevent its closing.

However, while the union has won the fight for now, the judge involved set a deadline of June 22 for additional bidders to come forward, followed by an auction on June 24 and a sale on June 25. That means it's still possible that a new bidder could emerge with an offer better than that of Emerisque.

“We like where we stand," Costigan added. “We are going to remain vigilant. We are not out of the woods by any circumstances.”

Labels: Chicago Jobs

Internships are an important part of any student's career, including those majoring in business.

Business internships provide students with mentoring and networking opportunities as well as the chance to obtain references. A business internship also provides students with on-the-job training in their chosen career field before completing school.

According to an article by Elites TV, internships also provide an inside glimpse into the business world, providing observation of the day-to-day operations of business. Internships are valued by employers because of the actual working experience gained through the internship. Many employers use internships as a means of evaluating potential full-time employees.

Business internships can be found at several different types of companies, including accounting firms, grocery chains, insurance firms, department stores chains, marketing firms, human resource management firms, state or federal government and financial services firms.

Typical responsibilities of business interns will include recording financial transactions, conducting front desk operations, providing customer service, entering data, shadowing on-site supervisors, making travel arrangements, promoting sales and any other duties requested by the business.

The amount of time you must intern usually depends on the requirements of your school. For instance, at The University of Maine, interns must spend a minimum of 140 hours at an internship. Students also must complete specific courses and maintain a GPA of 2.5 or higher before enrolling in an internship program. Business internships are typically graded pass or fail and can be paid or unpaid.

At Pennsylvania State University, business interns must make arrangements between the school and a business. These arrangements must include an on-site business supervisor, a university supervisor and a university internship coordinator. All three then review and agree to the student intern’s proposal for completing the business internship. The internship requires a minimum of 120 hours and a C or higher to pass.

At the University of Colorado, business interns can choose from three types of internships. The choices are academic credit without pay internship, academic credit with pay internship and paid internship with no academic credit. All require a university supervisor and on-site business supervisor. Academic credit business internships are graded, require a minimum of 150 hours and a cumulative 2.75 GPA.

Labels: Internships

Although the economy may be slowing down, Perth jobs in engineering construction seem unaffected.

According to economists, these positions will remain strong due to the fact that the state government has set aside a significant amount of money to be spent on the city’s infrastructure.

Recent figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that the amount of engineering construction done throughout the country from January to March equaled $13.8 billion, which is a seasonally adjusted increase of 7.2 percent from the previous quarter.

Michael Workman, senior economist with Commonwealth Bank, said that the thriving mining sector can explain the jump in this field.

“Geographically it is mainly in Western Australia and Queensland,” he explained.

Peter Jones, chief economist with Master Builders Australia, predicts that the amount of engineering work that will be completed before the end of the 2007-2008 fiscal year will total over $60 billion.

He went on to say that, “the outlook should stay bright as state governments up their spending on infrastructure and industry attempts to work though the massive pipeline of resources-related work yet to be done.”

At the end of March the amount of planned engineering work that had yet to be done amounted to $51.6 billion. This figure is up by $20 billion from the previous year. Extra spending in the industry translates to extra jobs in Perth and elsewhere in Australia.

Other sectors that are reaping the benefits of government spending include construction and material processing, both of which Workman says will continue to generate new positions.

“It is likely to mean that jobs and wages growth in those sectors stays firm even though the more interest-rate-sensitive parts of the economy slow,” he said. “So any rise in the national unemployment rate through the second half of 2008 may be relatively mild.”

Nationally,Pe the amount of private-sector engineering work completed by March equaled $8.9 billion, which is an 8.2 percent increase from the previous quarter. During the same time the amount of public sector work increased by 5.4 percent and totaled $4.9 billion.

Labels: Perth jobs

Earlier this month Robert Half International released its Financial Hiring Index for the third quarter of 2008, which showed that there will soon be an increase in Washington, D.C. accounting jobs.

The Index showed that a net 7 percent of chief financial officers (CFOs) in the area are planning to add to their existing of staff numbers.

Of the CFOs surveyed, 11 percent said that they plan to hire accounting and finance professionals before the fourth quarter. Another 4 percent stated that they expect to decrease the number of people employed by them in this sector.

Although the resulting 7 percent increase in the number of CFOs planning to hire in the D.C. area means that there will be more accounting jobs, the expectation of new positions is down 3 points from the previous quarter. Despite this, this industry is doing better in the D.C. metro area than it is elsewhere in the country. The third quarter hiring estimation shows that the city is above the national average by 7 points.

“While the job market has become more competitive in a number of fields, demand for skilled accounting and finance professionals is holding steady,” Mac Messmer, CEO and chairman of Robert Half International, recently stated. “In fact, for many key positions, it remains a challenge to find experienced candidates.”

To get the results of the Index, 200 local CFOs were randomly selected and asked to comment on their plans for hiring and firing in the coming quarter. All of those who participated worked in offices that had 20 or more employees. In order to determine industry expectations nationally, 1,400 CFOs were polled. The survey, which was developed by the company, was conducted by an independent research firm.

Robert Half, which is the world’s largest staffing services corporation specializing in accounting and finance, has been following the industry’s hiring expectations since 1992.

Labels: Washington D.C. accounting jobs

One HR tracking software company has served more than 700 customers.

iCIMS, the third-largest provider of Software-as-a-Service talent acquisition solutions, has announced it has surpassed the 700 customer mark. The company has managed to add clients such as H&R Block, Biaggi's Restaurants, Baptist Memorial Health Care, SharpShooter Imaging and Rutgers University Foundation.

The company's clients represent almost every industry, country and employee size. iCIMS' software operates on one single-source code to provide clients with a single system for the entire employee tenure.

Small and mid-sized organizations often choose iCIMS' Talent Platform to help manage their pre- and post-hire programs, while larger organizations often choose the company's single platform to replace multiple modules from other companies.

iCIMS' solutions allow small to medium-sized businesses to use the software for: applicant tracking, onboarding, performance management, employee management, surveys and referral programs. This helps companies manage employees quicker and save money.

The company's Talent Platform for larger clients to access iCIMS' localized career centers, geographic and divisional reporting capabilities and multi-lingual employment applications and forms.

"We are incredibly proud of this remarkable achievement," Colin Day, president and CEO of iCIMS, said in a press release. "Over 700 organizations are now using the iCIMS Talent Platform to support their HR initiatives, many of whom are not only taking advantage of our talent acquisition solution but are also utilizing the platform’s end-to-end Talent Management capabilities.

"We are fully confident in our ability to maintain our position as one of the largest providers of talent acquisition solutions, as well as in our ability to continue this momentum and see even more growth within the space," Day continued.

Labels: HR tracking software

TempWorks Software, the leading provider of technology solutions for staffing and recruiting software, has announced a newly formed partnership with Trak-1 Technology.

Founded in 1997, Trak-1 has engineered a delivery platform designed to remove every impediment to the criminal background screening process. Trak-1's software engineers consulted with workflow specialists at every step of development to ensure that their system returns the fastest background screening results in the U.S. today. In addition to creating access to over a billion records nationwide, Trak-1 has developed automated systems to expedite manual services such as employment and education verifications.

"We're excited to be able to integrate all of Trak-1's benefits into our newly redesigned Enterprise software," remarks TempWorks Executive Vice President Mark Baratto. "Trak-1 has demonstrated the fastest turnaround time of any background check software out there.

TempWorks is looking forward to providing our national customer base with automated, easy and fast access to this critical hiring information." With a click of a button, TempWorks customers will be able to request a customized background investigation on any candidate nationwide through a completely paperless process.

Dan Roberts, Trak-1 President & CEO states "Our partnership with TempWorks was a natural progression to our goal of bringing automated background solutions to American business. Our companies are a good fit and our teams have shown the ability to work together effectively. We look forward to serving TempWorks customers with the same level of integrity our existing clients enjoy."

Labels: Recruiting Software

Environmentally-friendly construction product maker GreenTech Manufacturing plans to locate a new facility in Douglas, Gerogia, which will create 320 jobs and invest more than $20 million in a manufacturing and distribution facility.

“In Georgia, we work hard to support innovative companies such as GreenTech Manufacturing,” said Governor Sonny Perdue. “As the world focuses on green technologies and cleaner manufacturing processes, GreenTech Manufacturing is a perfect fit for our state.”

GreenTech Manufacturing has contracted a 103,000-square-foot manufacturing and distribution center located on nine acres in Douglas’s Southwest Industrial Park. GreenTech is wholly owned by Gulf Coast Arms, a nonprofit trust incorporated in Texas, whose mission is to foster sustainability and affordability solutions across the country and abroad.

GreenTech uses the innovative Powder Impression Molding (PIM) system to produce stronger-than-steel, lightweight construction products using up to 95 percent recycled materials from single-stream solid waste sources. The result is an environmentally sustainable, efficient and cost-effective alternative to traditional construction products such as metal, wood, concrete and fiberglass.

To grow roots in the local community, GreenTech will offer high-quality and high-paying administrative, technical and operational jobs that include high-tech job training and significant employee benefits. The company is working with Quick Start, East Central Technical College, the Georgia Department of Labor and Georgia Tech’s FaciliTech Team to create and implement customized workforce training. Job search and placement is expected to begin immediately.

“This is a great day for Coffee County,” said JoAnne Lewis, executive director of the Douglas-Coffee County Chamber of Commerce. “GreenTech will become one of the city’s highest employed businesses. The company’s official announcement helps us celebrate the 50th anniversary of economic development in Douglas. Businesses like GreenTech will help us carry on our tradition of economic success and progress.”

Labels: Job Search

Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino recently joined leaders from various community based organizations and hospital administrators for a ribbon cutting ceremony to officially open four new community classrooms in the Longwood Medical Area. The Community Training Center, housed in newly developed medical research and office space owned by BioMed Realty Trust, represent first-of-a-kind arrangements in Boston. Under the leadership of Mayor Menino, this partnership will allow for community groups from Mission Hill, the Fenway, Jamaica Plain, and Roxbury to have direct access to the Longwood Medical Area campus in order to hold education and training classes. This training will allow many people searching for jobs in Boston to prepare themselves for careers within the medical research and healthcare industry, one of city’s leading economic sectors.

“I’m proud that this innovative partnership will provide many more residents in the City of Boston with the educational and training opportunities needed for a career in the healthcare industry,” Mayor Menino said. “The space’s prime location in the Longwood Medical Area allows students from outside of the area to experience Boston’s healthcare industry, while also providing local institutions classroom space for employee training.”

The Healthcare Training Institute, which will operate out of the Community Training center, will engage all of the major health care employers in the area, 2 community colleges, and a collaborative of community-based organizations in providing over 500 employees and community residents per year with a continuum of services — workplace education, college transition, student support/coaching, pre-employment — and career advancement pathways leading to mid-skill occupations in allied health and nursing. The classrooms’ proximity to employers makes it much more feasible for students to be able to attend class after work.

Labels: Boston Jobs