This week’s international news
Bank cuts 100 posts
Merrill Lynch is poised to cut around 100 jobs in its investment banking
operation after a slump in mergers and acquisitions activity this year. The job
cuts account for 5 per cent of a total workforce of just under 2,000 in Merrill
Lynch’s investment banking division. The bank admitted there would be some
selective staff reductions.
More Spanish in work
The official rate of unemployment in Spain has fallen to 9.45 per cent, the
lowest rate since 1980. A reduction of 22,000 has taken the number without work
down to 1.6 million. In the late 1980s, the rate rose to about 25 per cent of
the adult population in the country. The centre-right government of Jose Maria
Aznar has claimed the creation of 1.2 million jobs since 1987.
Optical firm restructure
JDS Uniphase, a producer of optical parts for fibre optic systems, has
announced a further 5,000 job losses, in response to a fall in spending by the
telecoms carriers. The cuts, which follow 3,000 job losses announced in
February, mean that the workforce will shrink from more than 28,000 to 20,000
once the restructuring is complete. The company reported losses of $1.3bn for
the third quarter of 2001.
Managers up in France
France is hiring more managers, with a 12.5 per cent increase in the past
year. A report by the Manager Employment Association reveals that the rate of
increase was three times that of the previous year. The survey found that more
than 100,000 managerial posts have been created by the 11,000 organisations
surveyed.
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