Globalization of Talent- divergence of wages

Globalization of Talent is creating a dichotomy- talented workers are in high demand and wages are rising sharply across the world, while the lower end of the talent pool is getting hit really hard. Companies are reporting huge profits, so the strategy appears to be working for shareholders.

Pfizer to ax 1,100 R&D jobs in eastern Connecticut - Yahoo! Finance: "Pfizer Inc. said Tuesday it will lay off more than 1,000 employees at its research and development site in Groton as the drug giant cuts costs.

Spokesman Mackay Jimeson said Pfizer's announcement was part of its strategy to focus on neuroscience, oncology and other areas and boost productivity.

The eastern Connecticut work force of 4,500 will be cut to about 3,400 in the next 18 months, a reduction of about 25 percent as some operations are moved to Cambridge, Mass. Jimeson says the Groton site will still be Pfizer's largest research and development site.

Jimeson confirmed that Pfizer will shutter a research and development center in southern England in the next 18 months to two years."

Low-wage job growth seen as hurdle to recovery | Chicago Breaking Business: "But experts say the low-wage jobs that have been added are also a serious problem — putting downward pressure on wages and keeping consumer spending in check.

“Growth has been concentrated in mid-wage and lower-wage industries. By contrast, higher-wage industries showed weak growth and even net losses,” said Annette Bernhardt, policy co-director for the National Employment Project. She said that growth has been far more unbalanced than during previous job recoveries.

Bernhardt’s analysis of the first seven months of job growth in 2010 found that 76 percent of jobs created were in low- to mid-wage industries — those earning between $8.92 to $15 an hour, on average, well below the national average hourly wage of $22.60 in 2010.

She said a preliminary analysis of full-year results suggests the same trend is still holding true, although she cautioned that final employment figures are needed.

But the biggest problem is continued job losses in higher-wage industries severely hit by the bursting of the housing bubble — construction and financial services. Recoveries in those sectors helped lead the economy out of earlier downturns, but they’re still suffering more than a year and a half after the official end of the Great Recession.

That’s a big part of the reason high-wage sectors — made up of jobs that pay between $17.43 and $31 an hour — accounted for nearly half the jobs lost during the recession, but have produced only 5 percent of the new jobs since hiring resumed, Bernhardt’s study showed.

Even in some of the higher-wage industries that are hiring, it’s lower-wage occupations within the sector where the jobs are being added, according to William Rodgers, chief economist for the Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University.

Case in point: Professional and business services sectors gained a healthy 366,000 jobs in 2010. Workers in that sector earned $27.23 an hour, on average, in 2010. But almost all of the new jobs — 308,000 — came in temporary help services, where the average hourly wage was only $15 an hour."

UPS sees 2011 profit topping pre-recession peak - Yahoo! Finance: "UPS expects to boost earnings above pre-recession levels this year by expanding in parts of the world where economic growth is strongest and keeping a lid on costs.

The world's largest shipping company believes the overall pace of global economic growth will slow. But export-heavy countries like Germany and China are going strong and UPS plans to push further into emerging markets. The company's restructured U.S business -- its largest -- has improved profit margins.

While growth in Asia remains strong, UPS needs Germany to counter weakness in other countries hit harder by Europe's debt crisis. UPS forecasts U.S. gross domestic product to grow between 2.5 and 3 percent this year, not enough to significantly drive down unemployment, which stands at 9;4 percent."