Think again
If you’re thinking of using a job offer to bluff your way to a counterbid from your current employer, don’t.
It could well backfire, according to a new survey released today.
Staffing company Robert Half asked 270 chief financial officers of Canadian companies whether they “extend counteroffers to employees to keep them from leaving for another job.”
Ninety-two per cent said no. Just 8 per cent said yes, meaning this isn’t necessarily a game you want to play.
“Counteroffers are not the answer to preventing employees from leaving,” Greg Scileppi, chief of the company’s international staffing operations, said in releasing the results of the poll.
“Often, issues that prompt a resignation go beyond matters of money, and there is no guarantee that offering more financially will fix the root of the problem,” he added.
“As well, increasing the salary of one employee may set a precedent among other team members, creating an atmosphere of resentment and encouraging the notion that threats of resignation are the only way to see a raise.”
Oil sector slows
Canada’s oil industry faces a dramatic slowdown that will impact the sector for years as lower oil prices and stalled multibillion-dollar pipeline proposals challenge high-cost projects, The Globe and Mail’s Jeff Lewis reports.
Total Canadian oil production is expected to reach 5.3 million barrels a day by 2030, the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers said today in its annual outlook. That is 1.1 million barrels per day lower than expectations a year ago, the group said.
Capital investment in oil and natural gas projects is expected to hit $45-billion this year, down 40 per cent from a year ago. Oil sands investment will fall by nearly a third to $23-billion.
Blacks to shut down
Blacks Photography is closing all its 59 stores, unable to make a go of them in a digital age, The Globe and Mail’s Marina Strauss reports.
The stores will close Aug. 8, a spokesperson for parent Telus Corp. said.
The shutdown of the stores, most of them in Ontario, will leave 485 employees without jobs, but Telus will try to find them positions at its other outlets, she said.
Quote of the day
Officials at the European Commission have run their red pen over Athens’ latest homework and given it an ‘F’.
Chris Beauchamp, IG analyst
HSBC cuts back
HSBC Holdings PLC calls its big move today “actions to capture value from our global presence in a changed world.”
What that means is a retrenchment that involves cutting about 25,000 jobs and getting rid of its operations in Turkey and Brazil.
HSBC unveiled a 10-point plan today that includes establishing a “ring-fenced” British bank and reviewing where it will put its headquarters.
The job cuts amount to about 10 per cent of its work force. Selling the units will cut another 25,000 from its ranks.
Over all, annual costs will decline by up to $5-billion (U.S.) by the end of 2017.
A TV scene I'd love to see
"I got my suit pants dirty. Next time I'll wear Lululemon."
Lululemon up
Shares of Lululemon Athletica Inc. bounded higher today after the yoga wear retailer boosted its forecasts and topped the estimates of analysts with its first-quarter results.
The stock was up about 2.3 per cent with 45 minutes to go before the Nasdaq open.
Lululemon profit climbed to $47.8-million (U.S.) in the quarter, or 34 cents a share, from just shy of $19-million or 13 cents a year earlier.
Same-store sales, a key measure in retailing, rose 6 per cent, and net revenue climbed 10 per cent to $423.5-million.
Lululemon projected second-quarter sales of between $440-million and $445-million, and diluted earnings per share of 31 cents to 33 cents.
For the year, it forecast revenue in the $2-billion range and earnings per share of $1.86 to $1.91.
Poster children
Remember Iceland, the meltdown poster child before Greece became the meltdown poster child?
Not only is Iceland in the midst of removing its capital controls, its Statistics agency reported today that the economy expanded by 2.9 per cent in the first quarter over a year earlier.
Iceland’s economy blew up up during the financial crisis, with banks failing, stocks melting down and its currency collapsing.
(So much so that some economists suggested the tiny island country adopt the Canadian dollar, which Ottawa was willing to consider though that obviously did not come to pass.)
The controls on money have been in place for about seven years, and it is moving cautiously as it steps back, as you’d expect.
Yesterday, it unveiled plans for a tax of 39 per cent on any creditors of its failed banks spiriting assets out of Iceland.
“The public interest demands that the capital controls be lifted without jeopardizing economic and financial stability,” Iceland’s Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs said yesterday.
“The objectives of the current liberalization strategy are based on the fundamental principle that the controls must be lifted in stages without upsetting the balance in the economy and without imposing additional financial burdens on the Treasury or the Icelandic people.”
At issue is about 1.2-billion kronur, or $7.5-billion U.S., 900-billion of it in estates of failed banks and claims against Icelandic residents.
“The authorities’ strategy prevents these assets from flowing into the foreign exchange market and thereby adversely affecting Iceland’s balance of payments,” the ministry said.