| Are You Hesitant To Hire? Posted: 06 May 2012 11:00 PM PDT 
Tulsa World: Economists say that in past recoveries, small companies were the first to hire. When the economy was improving, they were more nimble than large companies because they didn’t have the bureaucracy that can slow the hiring process. Their hiring helped propel the economy forward. The economy is growing, but that growth has slowed – and so has the pace of hiring among business with fewer than 500 employees. The U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of just 2.2 percent from January through March, according to government figures. That’s down from the moderate 3 percent growth during the last three months of 2011. Making things worse, the pace of hiring by small businesses is slowing, according to the payroll company ADP, which issues a monthly report on employment at companies in the private sector. ADP says that employment at small and medium-sized businesses rose by 181,000 in March. Employment rose by just 116,000 in April.
Photo by Kevin Dooley 
 |
| Ford Kickstarting Detroit TechShop Posted: 06 May 2012 10:30 PM PDT 
DailyTech: Ford is giving its employees free access to the TechShop if they submit inventions (patents). However, members of the public are also welcome and encouraged to join, with a bargain-bin $99 USD monthly fee. Participants gain access to high-tech tools like CNC mills and laser etching products. They also are surrounded by machine tools experts and can participate in numerous training courses to learn the machine/craft skills necessary to bring their ideas to life. The TechShop intiative has not been without its setbacks. A space in Portland flounder financially and was eventually abandoned. But Ford is optimistic about the Detroit-area space, saying that it’s already seen a pickup in inventions of 30 percent since the space informally opened its doors to Ford employees earlier this year.
 |
