Tech Industry Loses Jobs
The Tech industry has been on the rise ever since it appeared on the scene in the late 90s. However, for the first time in five years the industry has lost jobs over a twelve month period.
For the first time in half a decade, the U.S. tech industry in 2009 slashed large numbers of skilled workers from its payrolls. The findings, disclosed in a technology trade group’s annual analysis of employment and wage trends in the industry, could slow an overall improvement in the U.S. economy, the group concluded.
Technology companies eliminated 245,600 jobs in 2009, or 4% of the industry’s 5.9 million U.S. workers, according to the latest Cyberstates report released Apr. 28 by TechAmerica, a industry group representing 1,500 companies in electronics, software, and telecommunications. It was the first time the technology industry eliminated jobs since 2004.
Of course, this isn’t because of any decreased importance of the Tech industry’s. It is because of the recession, which has caused Tech jobs to dry up. In fact, the Tech industry has weathered the recession better than almost all other industries.
50 Most Innovative Companies: Some Shockers, Some Regulars
Innovation is the heart and soul of a decent business model. Those companies which innovate the best are the ones that stay on top for the longest. BusinessWeek has taken the liberty of compiling a list of the 50 Most Innovative Companies in the World in 2010. The make up of the list is pretty interesting:
In the 2010 Bloomberg BusinessWeek annual rankings of Most Innovative Companies, 15 of the Top 50 are Asian—up from just five in 2006. In fact, for the first time since the rankings began in 2005, the majority of corporations in the Top 25 are based outside the U.S. Asia’s newfound confidence is turning up everywhere you look, from wind turbines to high-speed bullet trains, just two of the technologies China is trying to export to the U.S. “We are the most advanced in many fields,” Zheng Jian, director of high-speed rail at China’s railway ministry, told The New York Times in April. “And we are willing to share with the U.S.”
Of course, the top two companies are Apple and Google, in that order. You should check out the rest of the list yourself–it contains quite a few surprising companies from various locations that one would not expect.
Midas’ Climb
If you would have predicted, two years ago, that gold would climb to $1070 per ounce, you would have been denounced as a crank. Alas, today gold hit just that mark because of mounting debt in Europe and the United States, causing the dollar to dip against the Euro. Greece, which is deep in debt, may be bailed out by the European Union–if that happens we can expect it to have major effects on the dollar, the Euro, and even the price of gold.
News that European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet was leaving a meeting of central bankers in Sydney early to attend a European Council meeting on February 11 prompted speculation a plan was being discussed.
If these issues are successfully addressed, it is likely to boost the euro, which in turn should help gold.
Analysts said the dollar, which has rallied due to euro-zone’s problems, may slip later in the year.
The plan to bail out Greece is nothing more than speculation at this point–but it will be interesting to see how that speculation affects the market.
Small Business Tax Credit?
U.S. Treasury Secretary and Obama appointee Timothy Geithner has come out in favor of giving small businesses tax credits in order to attempt to improve the state of the economy. He said that this could be used as a job creation measure. He told the Fox Business Channel that:
“There is a pretty good case for looking at targeted tax incentives to encourage both investment and new hiring and we’re going to take a careful look at all those proposals,”
This was an unprecedented statement from Geithner, and from the Obama administration, which has largely been criticized as “anti-business” and “pro-tax”. He added that he had confidence in the ability of the market to grow.
I hope he is right, and I’m sure small businessmen all over America are pleased to hear about this tax credit. The economy could surely use a jolt as of right now and this could help to alleviate the concerns of many Americans.