HARD-HIT PROFESSIONS
NO CASH TO COUNT
Last year was a bad time to be a construction worker. Or an architect. Or pretty much anyone who manufactures anything. MSNBC.com released the top nine hardest-hit professions in the United States last week, and it's a list peppered with a few surprises. Sure, the airline industry took a nosedive, but did you expect jobs for pilots would plummet by 30 per cent, from 138,000 in 2008 to 96,000 in the third quarter of 2009? Career networking site Beyond.com reported a 73-per-cent drop in job postings for mechanical, civil and electrical engineers. And those construction workers who weathered the front line of the housing slump saw close to a 14-per-cent drop in the first part of the year. Bank tellers, bookkeepers, accountants and auditing clerks also suffered a huge blow. Because if there's less money to be made, there's less money to count.
***
TOP EARNERS
PRIVATE EQUITY PAYS OFF
$702-million
The total compensation Stephen Schwarzman raked in (in U.S. dollars) by the end of 2009. co-founder of U.S. private equity firm the Blackstone Group, Mr. Schwarzman topped businesspundit.com's list of the highest paid people of the year. Second was Oracle chief executive officer Larry Ellison, who made just shy of $557-million (sorry, Steve Jobs - there's a new richest tech magnate in town). Still the reigning queen of the world, Oprah Winfrey rounded out the top three at $275-million.
$45-million
The bacon NBA superstar Kobe Bryant brought home last year. The previously unbreakable Tiger Woods placed higher than Mr. Bryant on the list at $110-million. Consider the likely pending divorce from his wife and many of his sponsors, we don't expect to see Mr. Woods here next year. Still, he could take a few cues from the Los Angeles Lakers star - about rebuilding a reputation, not doling out Kobe Specials.
***
BEST JOB?
JELLIES, DUDE!
"I had a minor brush with what can be a very serious jellyfish."
-Ben Southall
Even the best job in the world comes with risks. Ben Southall, who won the much-hyped Best Job in the World contest in May, works as a caretaker for the Great Barrier Reef, making nearly £70,000 ($119,000) for his six-month gig. He was also stung by a jelly fish while out on the water last week, The Daily Mail reports. The blond beach bum blogged about his encounter, detailing how the poison spread through his body. "I was feeling pretty hot and sweaty, had a headache and felt pretty sick too with pain in my lower back and a tightness in the chest," he wrote. Best job ever? We'll take an air conditioned office with a health and safety committee, thanks.
***
JOB LOSS SO LAST YEAR
BOSSES PLAN TO HIRE
When it comes to the job market, 2009 was definitely an annus horribilis. And employers are charging into 2010 with the view that job losses are so last year, a new survey has found. More employers plan to hire staff than cut them loose this year, according to the poll from Internet job site Careerbuilder.ca. The survey of 225 private-sector hiring bosses conducted Nov. 5-23 casts an optimistic light on the future. A U.S. version of the survey on Careerbuilder.com (which included 2,700 hiring managers and human resource professionals) found one-fifth of employers plan to add more full-time, permanent employees this year - up 14 per cent from last year. Is it possible that companies may quit being flakes and commit to hiring more people full time? We're not hanging up our McDonald's aprons just yet.