Monday, November 26, 2012

Ireland Unemployment: 188,000 unemployed continuously for 12 months or more in Oct 2012

Ireland Unemployment: 188,000 were unemployed continuously for 12 months or more in Oct 2012.

The following was a contribution to a thread on the Irish Economy blog:

As regards the lack of part time data on public sector staff, it maybe be a state secret to avoid a focus on full time equivalent numbers — down 5,406 since 2007 - - which looks less impressive than the claimed reduction in numbers.

Wonder how many former staff have been given nixers as consultants?

The Irish Times reported on Saturday on the bonanza for the former head of Aer Rianta International, the DDA (Dublin Airport Authority) unit.

“exit package comprised a lump sum of €437,000 and a payment of €68,000 annually for 6.3 years to bridge the gap to retirement.

The DAA confirmed yesterday that Mr Foley now worked as a paid external consultant with ARI and served on the boards of certain subsidiaries.

People who want to retire should be left go with no strings attached.

Have your cake and eat it elsewhere! The country is banjaxed!

“The graveyards are full of indispensable men,” is a quote attributed to General Charles De Gaulle.

The Wall Street Journal reports today:

When Samuel J. Palmisano retires next month, he’ll enjoy a generous goodbye present: The former IBM chief will earn $20,000 for any day he spends four hours advising his longtime employer.

That means hypothetically he could pocket $400,000 a year for 20 half-days of work—twice what his predecessor, Louis V. Gerstner Jr., makes per day under a similar consulting arrangement. Mr. Palmisano’s contract is open-ended and doesn’t specify the number of days he will work. Mr. Gerstner’s 10-year consulting contract expires in March.

This is simply a shakedown for the super-rich.

As regards the Irish self-employed, many are freelancers, not by choice and of course, they lack political clout.

Modern work……

Apple the most valuable company in the world has the best of both worlds — Foxconn’s battery-hen army in China costing as little to assemble an iPhone 5 ($8) as it recently forced HTC of Taiwan to pay per smartphone sold in respect of disputed patents and another army of apps developers lured by the prospect of winning a lottery but slaving for very little return — even for those who earn a few crumbs, Apple takes 30%:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/18/business/as-boom-lures-app-creators-tough-part-is-making-a-living.html