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Jobs Market Wage and Salary Increases Over Last 12 Months

  

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From: Bureau of Labor Statistics
July 29, 2011

EMPLOYMENT COST INDEX - JUNE 2011

Compensation costs for civilian workers increased 0.7 percent, seasonally adjusted, for the 3-month period ending June 2011, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Wages and salaries (which make up about 70 percent of compensation costs) increased 0.4 percent, and benefits (which make up the remaining 30 percent of compensation) increased 1.3 percent.

Private Industry Workers

Compensation costs for private industry workers increased 2.3 percent over the year, compared to the 1.9-percent increase for the previous 12-month period. The wage and salary series increased 1.7 percent for the current 12-month period. The change for the 12-month period ending June 2010 was 1.6 percent. The increase in the cost of benefits jumped to 4.0 percent for the 12-month period ending June 2011, higher than the June 2010 increase of 2.4 percent. Employer costs for health benefits increased 3.6 percent for the 12-month period ending June 2011. In June 2010, the 12-month percent change was 5.0 percent.

Among occupational groups, compensation cost increases for private industry workers for the 12-month period ending June 2011 ranged from 1.8 percent for service occupations to 2.7 percent for production, transportation and material moving occupations.

Among industry supersectors, compensation cost increases for private industry workers for the current 12-month period ranged from 1.1 percent for leisure and hospitality to 3.3 percent for manufacturing. Since September 2005, estimates for manufacturing have ranged from 1.0 percent in December 2009 to 3.2 percent in both September 2005 and December 2005.

Wage & Salary Increases

Texas tops nation in job growth, analysis shows

  

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Texas led the nation in adding jobs between June 2006 and June 2011.

When it comes to adding jobs, nobody is bigger than Texas.

That's the conclusion of an analysis of nonfarm jobs between June 2006 and June 2011 from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics by On Numbers, a feature of American City Business Journals American City Business Journals Latest from The Business Journals Texas tops in business, professional services jobsTexas still leads way for U.S. job growthAnalysis: Ohio job loss among worst since mid-2006 Follow this company .

On Numbers reported that Texas added 537,500 nonfarm jobs during that period, which is nearly 10 times as many as second-place finisher Louisiana, which added 55,900 jobs. North Dakota topped the country in percentage gain at 11,84 percent.

Texas had a 5.35 percent increase in jobs during that period.

Parallels, Microsoft Partner on Health Community Cloud Automation

  

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From: www.Healthcareinfomatics.com

At the Microsoft World Wide Partner conference, Parallels today announced a two-year strategic relationship with the Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft to deliver a complete cloud automation solution focused on meeting the needs of the health industry around the world. As a result of the Parallels and Microsoft Health Community Cloud Automation Partnership, large healthcare institutions will be able to create private, public and hybrid cloud networks and enable immediate access to critical information by key stakeholders such as doctors, administrators and insurance providers at all times. The two companies plan to invest up to $5 million in product development, professional services, as well as joint sales and marketing, to accelerate the use of cloud computing services within the health sector.

Key Parallels solutions will leverage Microsoft Cloud Services as a part of the Health Community Cloud Automation (HCCA) solution to deliver highly reliable, available and scalable private cloud networks that can help health organizations and service providers meet the enhanced security and compliance needs of the health industry such as HIPAA in the US. Health organizations that use HCCA to deliver messaging and collaboration IT services like Microsoft Hosted Exchange and Microsoft Hosted SharePoint can also expect significant savings while lowering support costs and improving agility and user experience.

Parallels’ vision is to see cloud automation solutions being built on best-in-class platforms that take advantage of the IT investments health organizations have already made. The HCCA solution helps health organizations move from traditional IT models to private, community and hybrid cloud models leveraging Microsoft’s Cloud Optimized Datacenter for Health offering and Parallels Automation. The benefits to health organizations also extend to the desktop with Microsoft based VDI which enables the deployment and management of virtual desktops.

Far North Dallas Submarket "On-Fire" Broker Says

  

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From: GlobeStreet.com

By: Jennifer Duell Popovec

DALLAS-The Metroplex’s impressive job growth has positively impacted the region’s entire office market, but the Far North Dallas submarket is “on fire.”

“There’s a shortage of good options,” Yost says, referring to Far North Dallas submarket, which primarily consists of the office nodes along the Tollway in Plano and Frisco. She tells GlobeSt.com that she is tracking more than 100,000 square feet of demand in the Far North Dallas submarket alone.

That demand ties directly into job growth, Yost notes. In fact, the North Texas economy strengthened considerably during the first half of 2011. Employment increased by 83,100 across the Metroplex from April 2010 to April 2011, representing a 2.9% gain. The Dallas/Fort Worth unemployment rate declined to 7.7% in April 2011, from a cyclical peak of 8.5% in January and from 8.1% a year ago.

During the second quarter, the market recorded 1.5 million square feet of net absorption, according to Delta Associates. That brings the mid-year total to roughly 2.1 million square feet. Delta Associates says the marketwide office vacancy rate stood at 17.7% at the end of the second quarter, down from 18.6% at the same time last year.

Yost points out that the occupancy rate for class A buildings in the Far North Dallas submarket are north of 90%. “There has been abundant space for the past five years, but the market has tightened significantly,” she adds. “The buildings that were built during the most recent development cycle have started to fill up and large blocks of class A space are hard to come by.”

For example, Golden Living inked a lease for 34,000 square feet at Legacy Town Center I. The company relocated from out of state. Meanwhile, Cain Waters committed to 42,000 square feet at Legacy Town Center III.

International Business Park, located at 6100 W. Plano Pkwy, signed more than 110,000 square feet in new leases including a 50,000-square-foot lease with Hyundai Capital and a 35,000-square-foot lease with Keste.
Demand is so strong in the Far North Dallas submarket that rents have started to increase and landlords have some pricing power, Yost contends. “Incentives are not as aggressive as they were,” she notes. In contrast, asking rents for market overall were relatively flat with just a .2% decrease during the first half of 2011, according to Delta Associates.

http://www.globestreet.com

Information Technology - How to Land an IT Job

  

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From: InfoBarrel.com

by: Kevin Marx

Having been in the IT industry for some 20+ years I get asked the question a lot, "How can I get into IT (Information Technology)?" There seems to be a lot of debate about what it takes to get into this field and while it is to a degree subjective – there are some basic tenants that will help anyone.

Specialist or Jack of All Trades Master of None?

Many years ago if you were in IT you were a programmer, plain and simple. The segregation of network, database, hardware, etc. really hadn't occurred until much later nor were schools really even training for it. As technology has expanded, so have the demands on the IT Professional. Keeping up with "all" of it has basically become impossible.

The Specialist

Most people in IT specialize in one or two disciplines and 2-3 sub-disciplines. These include (but are not limited to) network design and maintenance, security, backup strategies, routing and switching, programming, database administration, virtualization, web design, hardware and phone systems.

Becoming a specialist narrows the field of competition when it comes to landing a job. Generally speaking, DBA's (Database Administrators) won't be looking for Network Admin jobs nor will Network Admins be looking for DBA jobs. But, that specialization can work against you too. If you specialize in Network Administration and that field is saturated your stuck with heavy competition in getting that job.

Really it's no different than any line of work, but it illustrates why most IT Professionals specialize in at least a few disciplines. Generally speaking, everyone will start in one discipline and gradually include others as they are educated or exposed to them.

Jack of All Trades Master of None

This IT Professional knows a little bit about everything but has mastery of very little. Able to overcome common problems or issues in just about any discipline, these professionals must engage specialists when the problems become deeply involved or complex.

Being a Jack of All Trades Master of None probably allows for the greatest job finding capacity as it allows you to dress up a pretty nice resume of skill sets that look attractive to a potential employer who won't know the depth of your true knowledge until much later.

Whichever way you end up trying to go - several things will play a role in determining which group you ultimately fall into. Education, certification and to some extent plain luck will all have a hand in molding the IT Professional.

Education will most likely guide where you get started. Certification will either solidify your base education or allow you to expand into other disciplines but ultimately, the employer you currently work for will play a large role – intentionally or unintentionally and here's why:

If you work for an employer who has a small basic network you simply won't be exposed to many of the other disciplines. A small company/network most likely won't be virtualized, use databases, do their own web design etc. and as such, won't expose you to those technologies.

For as long as you work for them, unless the grow and expand to include those other disciplines you simply won't have access to them by virtue of the work environment. You can fill this gap with education and certification, but the majority don't.

Education (College) vs. Certification

There is a continual ongoing debate about the pros and cons of an IT College background vs. an Experience/Certification background and they both have valid points to be considered by the individual.

A college education is the oldest, most tried and true method of establishing one's self in any industry and this is true of IT as well. Many large employers still expect a college degree from their employees to fill such a professional level role within the company – even more so when considering an IT Professional for IT Management.

Like all things though, times change and the age old college philosophy is being tested in many industries if not perhaps more so in IT. With the advent of Certification – a testing methodology that requires testers demonstrate their knowledge through adaptive testing, many employers are now accepting well known certifications (coupled with verifiable experience) in lieu of college degrees.

This trend is growing and it's not uncommon these days to see long term IT employee's who have no college education at all but are still highly knowledgeable, well respected members of their industry.

Most employers would probably rather have it all, an employee who possesses a college degree, industry certification and experience however finding this combination can be difficult and is always expensive to the employer so there tends to be a lot of flexibility in this arena for this industry.

How to Get In?

Breaking into any industry is a function of making yourself more attractive than the competition and the IT Industry is no different. So what's the best way to accomplish this? Actually, we've already discussed this: Education, certification and experience.

There is little substitute for education. If it's an option, you should take it. But let's be honest here, college is expensive and not an option for everyone and this is one place where IT has a leg up (because of the acceptance of certification and experience in lieu of college).

Certifications are relatively inexpensive compared to college. A single certification (such as an MCP – Microsoft Certified Professional) can cost as little as $100 (providing you pass of course). There are other 1-2 test certifications as well that hold a fair amount of weight in potential employer's eyes.

When it comes to experience it's my personal opinion (and my personal experience) that few things beat either Internship or Consulting. IT internships (and internships in general) seem to be fading fast but they can still be found if you search hard enough. Even when an employer's not offering internships, asking certainly can't hurt. It might even behoove you to offer unpaid internship services as something of a carrot to dangle.

All things considered I think everyone who's going to work in IT should spend some time doing IT Consulting. Nothing will expose you faster or to a wider variety of technologies than working as an IT Consultant. Large scale projects, small environments and everything in between – as an IT Consultant you'll see it all and as you're exposed to it, educated on it and trained to do it – you'll build a resume any employer would take notice of.

Ideally, you should do them all (that's the blanket answer isn't it?). Go to school, work an internship and perform some consulting. Following this road map would all but ensure employers will notice you but this just isn't feasible for everyone – especially those just starting out.

For most beginners the best thing is to knock out one or two of the most demanded certifications and take any IT job you can find until your skill sets become robust enough to open the doors that will accelerate you along your career.

There's good money to be made in IT, but as with all things it takes time and hard work. It should also be mentioned that the IT Industry is very interconnected. IT Managers and IT employees generally know each other in a community. This makes getting to know them very valuable. Attend open IT events, conferences and seminars.

When it comes to IT don't discount a lack of education if you can back it up with certification and experience. Many IT Managers would take a potential employee who has 2-3 certifications and 4 years of experience in the field over a 4 year graduate with no experience. It can and does happen all the time.

Finally – socialize. Get your name out there. Make friends. Many jobs are earned less by what's on your resume and more on who you know (right or wrong) – even more so in an interconnected community of professionals who know each other.

IT can be a fun and exciting career choice that because of changing trends and changing times has essentially become open to anyone willing to put forth the time and effort.

http://www.infobarrel.com/Information_Technology_-_How_to_Land_an_IT_Job

Information Technology News: Oracle Buys Pillar Data Systems

  

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News Facts

Supporting Quotes

Transaction Details

Supporting Resources

• About Oracle Corporation and Pillar Data Systems

• General Presentation

• Customer Letter

• Partner Letter

About Oracle

Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) is the world's most complete, open, and integrated business software and hardware systems company. For more information about Oracle, visit www.oracle.com