Maine jobs report

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Landing a new job or returning to work after a lengthy absence can trigger many questions and even bring on feelings of apprehension. While employers have made great strides in granting candidate requests to address the ever-evolving employment landscape, employees still wonder: What can I expect? Will my employer create an environment that allows me to have balance yet flourish? Can I ask for what I need to be successful? Findings from research organizations suggest that prospective employees have more latitude today than in recent years – particularly during the Great Resignation when millions of workers left their jobs to seek higher pay and better work environments. A new Pew Research Center survey finds that the majority of American workers who quit a job in 2021 cited low pay (63%), a lack of opportunities for advancement (63%) and feeling disrespected (57%) as their top reasons. The survey also reports that those … [Read more...] about Starting A Job After A Lengthy Absence? Here’s What You Need To Know

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin FC Barcelona have three transfer targets to sign this summer, according to reports. The Blaugrana currently have a financial headache to deal with after La Liga president Javier Tebas revealed last week that they must shave at least €200mn ($214.5mn) from their wage bill ahead of the 2023/2024 season. This will probably force the Catalans to make a big player sale , with Ferran Torres, Eric Garcia, and even Ansu Fati tipped for the chopping block . Even if Barca are likely crowned La Liga champions for the first time since 2019 in early June, however, considering their eight point lead over Real Madrid, head coach Xavi Hernandez will still want to make reinforcements. Mundo Deportivo reports on Wednesday that there are three in mind. The first is Vitor Roque , the 17-year-old whose transfer SPORT claimed Barca are already negotiating with Athletico Paranaense . Roque is lighting up the South … [Read more...] about FC Barcelona Have Three Transfer Targets For Summer 2023 – Reports

As it happens with most new advancements of technology, a discussion and a debate is emerging on what AI can or can’t do. (Representative image) On February 6, Sundar Pichai, CEO of tech behemoth Google and Alphabet announced ‘Bard’ , their experimental AI service. Google’s response comes nearly three months after a hitherto lesser-known company, OpenAI , announced ‘ ChatGPT ’ to the world. The last three months has seen a flurry of activity as an excited world embraced the tool, making it compose prose and poetry and figuring out how far it could go. Tech pundits even began to write articles that ChatGPT would be a great addition, but the company had to figure out how to make money. Even before the ink could dry on those articles, Microsoft announced Microsoft Teams Premium that featured services by OpenAI’s GPT-3.5, hoping to make their online meeting and collaboration tool much more intelligent. Three Key Impacts As it happens with most new advancements of … [Read more...] about Are we ready for AI that knocks out jobs, fuels disinformation, and is difficult to regulate?

Google CEO Sundar Pichai [REUTERS/YONHAP] Amid the accelerated rivalry for artificial intelligence (AI) leadership between Microsoft and Google, Korea's tech companies are eyeing the non-English speaking countries with their capabilities in search engine and messenger services. Whereas the ChatGPT — a free chatbot system capable of generating conversational dialogue — displays a surprising level of sophistication in response to English language prompts, the Korean version of its service is lacking. And that might leave an opening for a niche market for local competitors. On Tuesday, Microsoft said that it will incorporate Open AI’s GPT technology into its Bing search engine. “This technology is going to reshape pretty much every software category that we know,” said Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. The updated version of Bing will have a conversational interface similar to ChatGPT. The goal is to have the unpopular search engine compete against Google. Microsoft CEO … [Read more...] about As AI war rages, Korea seeks a place among giants

Finance Secretary TV Somanathan TV Somanathan is one of the key persons behind drafting the budget. In an interaction with Shweta Punj of Moneycontrol, the finance secretary shared the thoughts  that went into drawing up the document, and nuancing between the known unknowns and unknown unknowns. Edited excerpts: Q: The economy has faced several global headwinds yet managed to stay steady. What were your priorities as you were drafting this budget? What were the three key things that you wanted to ensure? There were three key priorities. One, to act as a driver of growth at a time when global growth is slowing down, but when India is poised to recover its growth rate to its potential. That was one of the objectives, which you see reflected in a big increase in capital investment and in several other parts of the budget, which are essentially to propel growth. The second major concern was that in doing that, we wanted to be sure that we were fiscally prudent. In our … [Read more...] about It is a challenging number, the reduction to 4.5, but it is feasible. It’s difficult, but feasible

PHUKET: After coming face to face with shattered coral reef systems all over the world and confronting messes of plastic bags and tangled fishing nets, which are not-so-slowly strangling one of the world’s most important ecosystems, divers understand the importance of reef cleanups. There is of course that feeling of only delaying the inevitable, but isn’t that why we try to stop smoking and start exercising at some-point? On Phuket, PADI, the world’s largest scuba diver training agency, and Project AWARE Foundation , a nonprofit environmental organization, is launching a collaborative “ Dive for Debris ” event, with around 25 PADI Dive Centers putting aside their profits, digging into their own pockets and attempting to make a difference with Phuket’s biggest reef cleanup. Project AWARE Foundation is a nonprofit group established to organize divers and make a positive impact on the world’s oceans. The foundation established its first International Cleanup Day in 1993, with … [Read more...] about Phuket Diving: PADI centers clean up Phuket

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Matt Herman is the CEO of Enhance Health . Recruiting and retaining great employees is an ongoing challenge for employers that has only been amplified by the pandemic. Nearly 47 million Americans voluntarily left their jobs in 2022, and the Great Resignation isn’t over. Analysis from Gartner found that employee annual voluntary turnover is likely to increase by 20%, starting in 2022 and continuing in the years to come. Employee retention is a top priority for many employers—but what can you do specifically to hire and keep valuable employees? I believe you must create a work environment that emphasizes learning, development and culture. “Having opportunities to learn and grow” is the most important factor in what defines an exceptional work environment, according to research in LinkedIn's 2022 Workplace Learning Report . Employees who give their culture a high rating are 25% more likely to be happy at … [Read more...] about Three Surprising Keys To Employee Retention

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin It’s not surprising that compliance with worker classification laws is a bigger deal in the freelance revolution. Why? Well, three factors drive this development. First, the globalization of work, and the impact of new work and collaboration technologies that make it possible to work from anywhere. As readers may know, 51 countries now have active and ongoing programs inviting “digital nomads” to sojourn in their country. The second driver: countries need tax dollars, and proper classification is essential to tax collection. For example, Argentina annually exports almost 5 billion dollars in tech expertise through the work of over 200,000 freelancers living in Argentina but “gigging” for US companies. Third, advances in technology are beginning to make available new solutions offering indemnification quickly and more cost effectively, and gives companies more visibility over their freelancers and a better experience for … [Read more...] about As More Freelancers Work Across Borders, Expect More Emphasis On Worker Classification And Tax Collection

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin There is no doubt that over its 36-year life that the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) has housed many people. But how many? As my last post showed, there are many known unknowns about how and how well the LIHTC has functioned over those years. For example, a common number offered as an answer to the question, “how many units has LIHTC created over its 36 years?” the answer is often something like 29 million. Where does that figure come from? Column V in the LIHTC “database,” a column in the Excel spreadsheet that has 3,000 blanks and 1,500 cells with “0” as the answer. It is a challenge to reform a federal expenditure when no deep evaluation is possible for lack of good data. However, I’d like to close the LIHTC portion of the look back at Paul Ryan’s critique with some ideas for reform. I’ve concluded that the Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program isn’t really a program at all. It is behemoth , a complex of … [Read more...] about Series: Unwind The LIHTC, Create Tax Benefits For Builders And Families

My gun collection has grown large. With my sixth grandkid on the way, I wanted to buy another safe to lock away weapons and valuables. Then, when Joe Biden said we need not worry about the security of his classified documents, it occurred to me: I have a perfectly good two-car garage, too. Thanks for the security tip, Joe! When asked by a reporter who inadvertently practiced vigilant journalism about his cache of classified documents, Joe Biden said, “There is no there there.” This was a prickish, Democrat politician way to say, “Do not cover this story; I am totally guilty.”  It turns out documents were there, there, there and just about everywhere. Mike Pence just upped the ante on the classified documents gambit. He said he also had such top-secret documents in his home. This prompted our ever-vigilant federal government to ask all ex-presidents, “Hey guys, any of you cats have any of dem classified documents?” We will see what Obama and Dubya say, but Jimmy Carter … [Read more...] about HART: Classified Documents Here, There, Everywhere!