jobs

This interesting article on deskmag discusses the German government’s plan to force freelancers to pay a compulsory retirement ‘contribution’. Will it kill off entrepreneurship and destroy millions of independent careers? At least that’s the opinion of Tim Wessels, an IT specialist from Hamburg who has launched a petition against the so-called “Rewarding Life’s Work” law. With this law, provided it is passed, Freelancers will be forced to pay €350+ a month to support the broken pension system, on top of the €300-€600 they must already pay for health insurance (plus other taxes). Demanding that entrepreneurs fork out at least €650 a month in contributions before they earn a single cent will end innovation in Germany…

Mobile job searching is on the rise, according to a recent survey by Kelton Research. While smartphones are mainly used to browse the Internet, take photos/video, check email and conduct general search, there is a growing number of people who use their devices to search for work. According to the study, some 86% of smartphone owners said that they would use their phone to find a job; nearly 50% reported that they would even apply to jobs via their mobile phone if they could.

This JIBE infographic shares additional Kelton Research survey data and reveals that jobseekers are increasingly using downtime to hunt for jobs. Unlike traditional methods, mobile job searching can be done anytime and anywhere: Respondents specifically mentioned portability and immediacy as major benefits of applying to jobs via mobile.

What does the rise of mobile job searching mean for businesses? With smartphone usage increasing rapidly – this is definitely a recruiting pool too big to ignore. Companies can attract these tech-savvy jobseekers by optimizing online job boards and making the application process simpler to complete via mobile phone.

Check out the infographic on mashable.com. Would you search for your next job or project with your smartphone?

According to an article on fins.com (2011), the job market for freelance technologists is continuously growing. Research company Forrester Research estimates the total U.S. business and government spending on IT goods and services to grow to $876 billion in 2012, up 8.8% from 2011 and a 16.2% increase over 2010 levels. Read the full post here:

If it comes to workspace, work time, global markets or salary, the job-world is changing rapidly, especially in the developed countries of the world. For example there are some people who are not having a real traditional job anymore. People are doing freelancing or are part of the so called “gig economy”. In the past you would have gotten a simple answer about the question what they are working:

“I work in manufacturing” or “I’m a teacher” etc. But nowadays you will find a lot more complex and undefined answers, they can’t label their “jobs” properly. They will give you loads of projects or things they are or are not working on right now. Exactly this progress is raising the question of Mathew Ingram: “Are defined hours of work an anachronism that’s holding us back? Or is it freedom to work whenever we want and/or is it a trap that causes us to work more, rather than less?”

…an interesting take by the globe and mail on the current german economic state: “decisions to subsidize workers has steadied the jobless rate as angela merkel heads into this month’s election, but risks putting too much of the nation on the government payroll”

photo by doug saunders

according to computerworld – “there are signs that an increasing number of people who have been forced out of their jobs are starting their own businesses…”