Gas drilling job-training programs pop up in NY

Finding talented workers – and then keeping them on the payroll – is a chronic challenge facing companies in China.   Despite millions of college graduates entering the workforce every year, the talent pool is paradoxically small and corporate loyalty is rare.   To counter these two closely-related problems, companies are investing in training programs to fill management positions and deter employees from switching to a competitor at the first sign of a fatter pay-check.  

ATHENS, Greece — A helicopter swooped down on a prison courtyard Sunday as armed men on board fired on guards and lowered a rope to help a convicted killer make his fourth attempt to escape from a Greek prison. But the plot was foiled after the prisoner was shot and the chopper forced to land in the prison’s parking lot. The dramatic escape attempt was one of a handful involving helicopters in Greece, and the first time such plans have failed.

Come Sunday, while the stars are celebrating the 85th Academy Awards at the Dolby theater, you won't see four-time Oscar winner Woody Allen there in suit and tie. The director is notorious for turning down his Oscar invite every year.

OTTAWA — It’s been almost five years since economist Don Drummond was asked by concerned federal and provincial labour ministers to find solutions to the mismatched job market that has increasingly worried employers, governments and workers alike. But Drummond’s response for governments to spend $13 million — a bargain in the world of social policy — to overhaul and improve labour market information has gone all but unnoticed. Now, this week’s federal budget will make that very same issue — deemed “critical” in 2008 — its centrepiece.

Medical schools across Canada are training far too many doctors for some pediatric specialities — but failing to produce enough in other key areas of child health care, concludes a new study that starkly illustrates the surprising disconnect between physician education and real-world demands.

OTTAWA — A major budget initiative to make social assistance for First Nations youth contingent on entering into a training program is likely to get a rough ride on reserves, the NDP says. Making good on a promise from last year, this year’s budget puts $241 million over five years into training programs for young people collecting income assistance. Half the money will go to setting up the program on reserves, and the other half will only be accessible if welfare recipients agree to participate in the program.

In today’s information-age economy, broadband is becoming a necessity for anyone searching for or applying for a job. Many job openings are only posted online. And about 80 percent of Fortune 500 companies only accept applications online. What’s more, in the current job market, digital literacy skills are often a requirement. For example, about 60 percent of working Americans use the Internet as an integral part of their jobs. Yet too many Americans lack the broadband access or skills needed to succeed in the workforce. To help address this gap, the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program, or BTOP, is investing approximately $4 billion in roughly 230 projects to increase broadband access and adoption around the country. The Recovery Act program, which is administered by the Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration, recognizes that broadband can be a key to economic empowerment.

As cold weather moves in and grips the Northeast, natural gas investors are increasingly boosting exposure to producers benefiting from the winter season storage drawdown. Despite overall U.S. natural gas in storage remaining 1.7% above the 5-year average, national storage remains within the 5-year range, with east coast storage running 5.7% below normal and west coast storage in line at 0.3% above average.