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A24 Survey: U.S. more
competitive globally,
BUSINESSMonday 14 September 2015
inequality is a risk
Why US job openings are surging, while hiring plods
JOSH BOAK
C. S. RUGABER lion, from nearly 5.2 million If instead they simply take percent in the past year, AP Economics Writer
AP Economics Writer in June. The figure suggests more time sifting through while hiring has declined. WASHINGTON (AP) — In-
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. that many businesses are applications to find an ide- For example, construction come inequality will re-
companies are advertising having trouble finding peo- al candidate, that would workers who lost jobs in the main a persistent prob-
a lot more jobs. But when it ple with the skills they need. slow overall job gains. housing bust may not have lem despite brighter
transitioned to fields where prospects for U.S. com-
A worker cleans the sidewalk in front of the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland. U.S. companies jobs are plentiful, such as panies globally, accord-
are advertising a lot more jobs. But when it comes to filling them, many remain cautious, the Labor health care. ing to an annual survey of
Department reported last week. “The data ... now signal un- Harvard Business School
ambiguously that the labor alumni. Fifty-eight per-
(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) market is unable to sup- cent of the respondents
ply the people companies said they thought the U.S.
comes to filling them, many How quickly businesses fill Some economists say that need,” Ian Shepherdson, economy would either be-
remain cautious. their open jobs can have a mismatch between the chief economist at Pan- come more competitive
Job openings soared 8 per- a big impact on hiring and skills of many of the un- theon Macroeconomics, or at least hold its ground
cent to 5.75 million in July, wages. employed and the skills wrote in a note to clients. against other countries
the most since records be- If companies decide to of- needed by expanding “Usually, that means wag- over the next three years,
gan in 2000, the Labor De- fer higher pay to attract companies is a big reason es will accelerate, though a marked improvement
partment said last week. more applicants, that that openings are rising the evidence for that now from 2011 when just 29
Meanwhile, total hiring would provide a much- more quickly than actual is mixed.” percent felt that way. But
slipped to just below 5 mil- needed boost to wages. hiring. Openings are up 22 In the past 12 months, av- only about a third of re-
erage hourly pay has in- spondents said they ex-
creased just 2.2 percent, pected companies to be
up from a 2 percent pace able to increase pay and
in July. benefits for workers. The
But that is below the 3.5 wealth disparity alarmed
percent to 4 percent that is many of the surveyed ex-
typical in a healthy econo- ecutives, with 45 percent
my. saying that rising poverty
Other economists say that levels could hurt their busi-
the so-called “skills mis- nesses. The respondents
match” is exaggerated. said they worry about the
They argue that if busi- growing concentration of
nesses can’t find the work- wealth among a sliver of
ers they need, then wages the population, but they
would rise more quickly. appear uncertain of how
And if they were truly des- to reduce inequality.
perate, employers should Some companies have
be willing to perform more tried to remedy the prob-
training of new hires, these lem with pay raises. Oth-
economists say.q ers fear resistance from
shareholders whose stock
Microsoft: holdings might lose value
if higher salaries raise costs
Brad Smith named president, chief legal officer and erode profits. “There
is a gap between ‘I don’t
MARLEY JAY vacy, security and acces- and co-founder Bill Gates and other mobile devices. think the system is working’
AP Business Writer sibility, he said. stepped down as chair- The company has also and ‘I don’t know what to
NEW YORK (AP) — Microsoft Smith, 56, joined Microsoft man at the same time. do to fix it,’” said Jan Rivkin,
has given longtime execu- in 1993 and has held sev- Ballmer retired from Micro- announced the elimina- a professor of business ad-
tive Brad Smith the title of eral other titles, including soft a few months later. tion of some 26,000 jobs ministration at Harvard and
president, as the company company secretary. Gates remains an adviser as Nadella retreats from co-author of the survey re-
continues its transition to a Smith is a familiar face for to the company and John Ballmer’s strategy of hav- port.The respondents sug-
new generation of leader- investors because he has Thompson is now the inde- ing Microsoft make its own gested that greater eco-
ship. been a regular presence pendent chairman of Mi- smartphones and tablets. nomic inequality could
Smith’s full title will be presi- on the company’s investor crosoft. In July the company wrote ultimately reduce demand
dent and chief legal officer. conference calls for almost Microsoft’s stock climbed down the value of Nokia’s for their products, hurt so-
He has been Microsoft’s a decade, said industry steadily after Nadella be- phone business, which it cial stability, make it harder
general counsel since 2002 analyst Katherine Egbert of came CEO, but in the last bought just a year earlier, to acquire skilled workers
and became an executive Piper Jaffray. few months the shares by $8.4 billion. and provoke a backlash
vice president in 2011. “It is interesting that they have struggled because Microsoft also recently against successful compa-
CEO Satya Nadella an- would put him as president the PC industry is in a slump. launched Windows 10, a nies. The results could help
nounced the appointment of the company because In July the Redmond, Wash- free upgrade that it says to move the debate about
in an email this weekend to he doesn’t come from the ington-based company re- will be the last version of inequality “from a clash
employees. operational side,” she said. ported another decline in Windows before between the haves and
Nadella said he wants “I think it’s a promotion of profit and revenue from its it moves to a fee-for-service have-nots to a question of
Smith to play a bigger role someone who’s been a sol- Windows software for PCs. model at some point in the how can we be better,”
in strengthening Microsoft’s id executive for them for a Under Nadella’s leadership, future. because many of those
relationships and repre- long time.” Microsoft has been invest- Shares of Microsoft Corp. near the top of the income
senting the company pub- Nadella replaced Steve ing in new services and re- rose 19 cents to $43.48 on distribution recognize the
licly. Smith will help lead the Ballmer as CEO of Micro- designing its most popular Friday. problem, Rivkin said.q
company on issues like pri- soft Corp. in February 2014, programs for smartphones The stock is down 7.5 per-
cent over the last year.q
