Jobless claims average falls 5,500; initial claims lowest since 1969

The US four-week moving average of initial claims for unemployment insurance fell to 215,000 last week, down 5,500 from the previous week’s average, the US Department of Labor reported. The previous week's average was revised down by 250.

The four-week moving average smooths the volatility of the week-to-week...

Staffing firms’ lawsuit against H-1B regulations moves forward (Bloomberg Law)

A coalition of IT staffing companies is moving forward with a lawsuit over a US Citizenship and Immigration Services policy that requires staffing companies seeking H-1B visas to provide workers’ full itineraries for the duration of their three-year visas, Bloomberg Law reported. That requirement effectively...

CareerBuilder acquires remaining stake in Textkernel

CareerBuilder has acquired the remaining stake in Textkernel that it didn’t already own. It had initially acquired a majority stake in 2015.

Amsterdam-based Textkernel provides semantic search and matching technology for résumé/cover letter databases. It also provides multilingual résumé/cover...

Top-paid IT role commands salary of $175,000 to $300,000

Chief information officers and chief technical officers top this year’s list of highest-paid technology professionals, according to the annual technology salary guide released by Mondo, an IT and digital marketing staffing provider headquartered in New York.

CIO and CTO salaries range from $175,000...

Empresaria Group gross profit up 4% in 2018

Empresaria Group plc plans to report gross profit, or net fee income, for 2018 will be up 4% compared to the previous year, according to a trading update released today. The London-based staffing provider plans to release full results on March 13.

Profit for the year is expected to be in line with...

Spherion appoints new president

Spherion, a franchise recruiting and staffing provider, appointed Rebecca Rogers Tijerino as president. She is filling the role held by Sandy Mazur, who will retire in March.

Prior to joining Spherion, Rogers Tijerino was CEO of The Intersect Group, a national finance, accounting and...

When humans take the place of robots — The Staffing Stream

Usually, it’s humans worrying that robots will take their jobs. In a twist, Japan-based Henn-na Hotel chain is replacing robots in its hotels with humans. However, the South China Morning Post reported the hotel still plans a new generation of smarter robot workers. Craig Johnson, senior...

Companies gaming Glassdoor reviews (The Mercury News)

A new report finds firms are pushing employees to post positive reviews on employer rating website Glassdoor, skewing the results in favor of the companies, according to coverage in The (San Jose, Calif.) Mercury News newspaper. Glassdoor has become important in today’s tight job market, and it’s...

Skilled trades report lists toughest to recruit; construction growth fuels demand

Of the 10 skilled trades occupations, plumber/pipefitters are the most difficult to recruit, according to Staffing Industry Analysts’ 2018 Skilled Trades Staffing Benchmarking Survey — Summary Report. 

On a scale from one to five, with five being most difficult to recruit, plumber/pipefitter...

TransForce acquires truck-driving school

Truck driver staffing firm TransForce Inc. acquired Miami-based The CDL School, a commercial truck driving school.

“The CDL Schools will be an exciting addition to our company and to our future, and a high-growth service line for TransForce,” said David Broome, president and CEO of TransForce. “This...