Bank of America, which is in the processing of eliminating 30,000 jobs globally, said it would hire 500 workers in Delaware over the next three years. There are currently 7,000 employees in BofA's workforce there, which makes it one of the largest private-sector employers in the state.
Slowly but surely, things might be getting better in the labor markets more generally.
The number of workers who filed for unemployment benefits decreased by 13,000 to 348,000 for the week ended Feb. 11, according to the Labor Department. It's the third week in a row applications have declined, and the number of jobless claims is the lowest it's been since the beginning of March 2008.
Earlier this month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said the economy gained 243,000 jobs in January as the unemployment rate dropped to 8.3%.
The figures come as banks around the world pare down their workforces in some areas, such as trading, while building up in others, such as accounting, financial advising and small business banking.
There's renewed demand for corporate bankers these days. Make sure your resume highlights multiple aspects of your background and doesn't exclusively focus on finance.
The Situation Down Under (Bloomberg)
France's second largest bank, Societe Generale, may shut down its Australian offices after it conducts a review of the operations there. The bank is currently laying off nearly 1,600 people around the world in its corporate and investment bank.
Stephen Roach, Morgan Stanley Asia's non-executive chairman, is retiring from the firm after 30 years. He'll concentrate full time on his position as professor at Yale.
Scooping Undergraduates (Bloomberg)
Ezra Klein argues that Wall Street is attractive to undergraduates not only because of the riches it proffers, but because the application process is familiar to them, and liberal-arts educations fail to teach skills needed to succeed elsewhere.
If you accidentally -- or purposely -- lied about your GPA to get an accounting position, you should 'fess up to it before your employer discovers it through a background check.
Some say the onus should be on companies to force their employees to look away from their work iPhones by establishing ground rules about communication. Somehow we don't think American firms will take too well to the idea that they need to force their employees to stop working.
One woman went from working as a fixed income salesperson at Lehman Brothers to becoming an exotic dancer. No doubt she's encountered some of the same people in her new job.
Buzz Around the Office
Geronimo! (YouTube)
A mammoth rope swing.
List of the Day: How to Network
Keep these tips in mind for networking effectively.
1.Solicit info about your "offline" reputation.
2.You can never say "thank you" too often.
3.Have a short statement that says exactly what you want.
(Source: Glassdoor.com)
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