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Latin American countries experiencing job growth

2:45 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Argentina| Labor| Latin America| Peru · Comments Off

25 Jun 2007

Latin American countries traditionally plagued by unemployment and weak economies are beginning to experience a notable level of job growth, according to Forbes.com’s list of “The World’s Hottest Job Markets”, based on Manpower’s quarterly Global Employment Outlook. The South American countries ranked in the Top 5 for job growth: Peru and Argentina:

Manpower’s quarterly Global Employment Outlook, which surveyed over 50,000 employers across 27 countries, ranked Peru No. 2 and Argentina No. 4 in expected job growth for the July-September quarter. The firm scored each country by subtracting the percentage of companies that said they plan to cut back on workers from the percentage that said they plan to add them. A country where 75% of employers plan to add to their workforces and 25% plan to cut them, for example, scores +50%. Peru rated +48%, while Argentina weighed in at +38%.

Experts say that the rub is in whether or not this growth is sustainable. Number one on the list is Singapore, while the U.S. barely made the ranking, coming in at number 10.

Via / Forbes.com

Be pretty, be fit, have light skin…or else

24 Oct 2006

Picture%202.png As striking as it may be to anyone who hasn’t lived in Latin America, discrimination based on skin color, race, height, weight, gender and sexual orientation is the order of the day when it comes to looking for a job in some countries. In most Latin American countries (and in Spain) a photograph is required when submitting a resume for a job.

In Mexico, not only are employers looking at photos to make the typical judgement of “she’s probably going to have kids soon, no use to us” — which is bad enough — but they are also using carefully crafted job postings to make sure they weed out “undesirables”. The best part? “Diversity-friendly” American companies in Mexico are doing it too:

When Michigan-based automotive supplier Lear Corp. needed a secretary for its office in the central Mexican state of Guanajuato, it placed a classified ad seeking a “female … aged 20 to 28 … preferably single … with excellent presentation.”

And to ensure that it got the right candidate, Lear asked applicants to include a recent photo with their resumes.

The paleta man’s life is not an easy one

12:40 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Activism| Books| California| Immigration · 1 Comment

11 Apr 2006

The almost mythical “paleta man” — the guy who strolls down the streets and highways with a little cart full of popsicles, ringing a bell — has become a fixture in this country. His image, I think, puts a face on the struggle of new immigrants to the U.S. Start with nothing, do some very hard work and barely scrape by.

In the age of the internet it seems that most of the conversations about immigration are happening online. The timeliness is great, but at times the discourse lacks depth. Luckily, there are still people taking the time to research and write books that tell stories. BeyondChron.org reviews a book that tells the story of the paleta man and other immigrant workers in California’s Silicon Valley:’

Turns out that in 1993, the Delicias de Jalisco corporation had a sweet thing going it selling its products through largely undocumented Mexican immigrants throughout Northern California. The worker had to pay $2.00 a day for the pushcart and ice, and kept only 33 cents of every 75 cent popsicle sold. After working for eight hours in the hot sun, and pushing the cart for five miles, the street peddler on a good day would make $40.00. Arturo, the immigrant whose daily activities are described in the book, could make $200 a week, as much as he was making working for a non-union janitorial company.

Help Wanted : Immigrants Only Need Apply?

11:00 am By Maegan La Mala · Immigration| Labor · Comments Off

6 Apr 2006

Undocumented immigrants take jobs away from citizens. That statement is the underlying premise of an article written by Earl Ofari Hutchinson posted on AlterNet earlier this week. He cites examples of African-American men applying for jobs and being turned away only to have Latinos get the same low wage, no benefit gigs minutes later. So are immigrants taking jobs away from others, especially the urban poor? Or as Earl Ofari Hutchinson states are all of the urban poor , including immigrants not finding work :

because of discrimination, poor education, government budget slashes and the flight of manufacturers to other countries?

As long as communities fight each other instead of working with each other to get to the the real roots of the problems of unemployment, mass incarceration, and unfair wages , just to name a few issues, no community , will move forward except those already holding the power.

Via / AlterNet

I want the other minority: workplace discrimination

1:04 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Labor| race| society · 1 Comment

24 Jan 2006

The Wall Street Journal has an interesting piece today about a supposed trend in the working world — blacks are being passed over for positions as employers show favoritism towards Latino candidates:

This kind of case marks a shift from years past, when blacks were likely to seek legal action against employers who showed preferential treatment toward whites. The cases highlight mounting tension between Hispanics and blacks as they compete for resources and job opportunities.

Recently, the federal agency announced it also secured a $180,000 settlement from Zenith National Insurance Corp., a national workers-compensation specialist, to be divided among 10 blacks who applied for a mailroom job at its headquarters in Woodland Hills, Calif. The job was offered to a Latino man with no mailroom experience, according to the EEOC.

To Steal a Line From Shakira: Don’t Bother (Looking for Latinos Working in Federal Jobs)

1:44 pm By Maegan La Mala · Careers| Politics · 1 Comment

10 Jan 2006

Just because Latinos are the fastest growing “minority” in the U.S. doesn’t mean those numbers are reflected in the jobs held by Latinos, especially Federal Government jobs. While Latinos are at least 40 million strong, we only hold seven percent of Federal Government jobs according to a coalition of Latino watchdog organizations. The private sector employs 13 percent of Latinos and that statistic does not take into account undocumented workers. Why the discrepancy? Discrimination (especially since Federal jobs are only available to U.S. citizens) and poor recruitment campaigns to Latinos are part of the problem. Another problem is the lack of qualified Latino candidates, traced back to poor educational training.

Via / Terra

Maegan La Mala: I don't think so [...]

Maegan La Mala: I was thinking about this...how the two are connected [...]

Maegan La Mala: Well I certainly don't condone an eye for an eye politics and don't think that that kind of "justice [...]

Raymond Lee: This is an outrage, again a young gay man attacked and killed and the fact that they where gay or bi [...]

adriana: I have been following this too, as my alma mater is one of the colleges that banned the Russell gear [...]

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