Human Capital: Page

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    Swinging the Axe

    The headlines screamed that January 26th was “Black Monday” for jobs, after firms such as Caterpillar, Corus, Home Depot, ING, Pfizer and Sprint Nextel announced cuts of several thousand jobs each, due mostly to the rapidly deteriorating global economy. Alas, the consensus among the corporate big...

    By Economist Staff • Jan. 30, 2009
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    Pay Pressure Boils Over

    This undoubtedly will be a pivotal year for finance in all kinds of ways. It is debatable whether one issue, executive compensation, is deserving of so much attention, given the deep seismic shocks across the financial system. Still, market and governmental forces are aligning in the direction of...

    By • Jan. 29, 2009
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    Stopping 401(k) Matches: The New No-brainer

    On a day like Monday, when five big companies reported a total of at least 57,000 layoffs, it was easy to see why CFOs might want to stop providing a match to employees’ 401(k) savings. In many cases, it’s an easy way to cut a cost worth 2 percent or 3 percent of your payroll without having to gi...

    By David Katz • Jan. 29, 2009
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    CFOs on the Move: Week Ending January 30

    Former Freddie Mac CFO Anthony “Buddy” Piszel has been named CFO and treasurer of The First American Corporation, where he’ll oversee financial reporting, capital markets activities and investor relations. Piszel was fired from Freddie when the Federal Housing Finance Agency took over last fall.N...

    By John Zhu and Kate Plourd • Jan. 29, 2009
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    Employer Health Spending Nips at Pension’s Heels

    Employers worried about the cost of employee benefits have lately been focused on traditional defined-benefit plans. With the stock market plummeting to astounding lows beginning late last year, the asset values of those plans have similarly decreased. That leaves many plans severely underfunded....

    By David Katz • Jan. 27, 2009
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    Wall Street Bonus Babies Have a Cry

    One might think that a Wall Street professional getting a bonus for the horrific 2008 year, especially if it’s a bigger bonus than for the previous year, should be ecstatic or at least relieved. But that appears to not be the case.In an eFinancialCareers.com survey of 900 Wall Streeters who were ...

    By • Jan. 27, 2009
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    With Money Tight, Who Should Get Pay Hikes?

    If your company historically has budgeted a total annual salary increase of about, say, 4 percent, in this gritty year the payout typically might be reduced to 1 or 2 percent. The question, of course, becomes how the meager pool should be allocated.It is a big issue for companies this year, the f...

    By • Jan. 26, 2009
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    Tech Companies Lead Layoff Moves

    On this week’s still-bustling layoff front, large technology companies dominated the news with vigorous head-count reductions. The most shocking was by Microsoft, which said it will cut 5,000 jobs — reportedly its first-ever massive layoff.The world’s largest software company said the eliminated ...

    By Stephen Taub • Jan. 23, 2009
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    Layoffs Mean Lawsuits

    Nothing in life is free. While companies are reducing head count to save money as the economy sinks, they should be prepared for the possibility of legal actions by laid-off workers, and for the accompanying costs.The number of such actions is rising in tandem with the pace of job eliminations. “...

    By Kate Plourd • Jan. 22, 2009
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    Rank-and-File See Bleak Future

    Not only has CFOs’ optimism sunk to an all-time low, as reported in the most recent CFO Magazine/Duke University Global Business Outlook Survey, but their gloom is shared by their staffs.The Accounting and Finance Employee Confidence Index, a barometer tracked by recruiting firm The Mergis Group,...

    By • Jan. 22, 2009
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    Exec Comp Pot Boils for Proxy Season

    Executive compensation, long a lightning rod for shareholder activists, could draw more bolts of electricity than ever for the proxy and annual meeting seasons this year —  rife with global recession and government bailouts.Already, more than 100 resolutions calling on companies to give sharehold...

    By Stephen Taub • Jan. 22, 2009
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    CFOs on the Move: Week Ending January 23

    Zale Corp., after asking CFO Rodney Carter to resign, began a search for what it said would be an aggressive new finance chief with skills suited to the tough economic climate for jewelry retailers like itself.The announcement of the 51-year-old Carter’s resignation came two weeks after Zale repo...

    By John Zhu and Kate Plourd • Jan. 22, 2009
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    Zale Seeks Diamond in the Rough for CFO

    Zale Corp., after asking CFO Rodney Carter to resign, began a search for what it said would be an aggressive new finance chief with skills suited to the tough economic climate for jewelry retailers like itself.The announcement of the 51-year-old Carter’s resignation came two weeks after Zale repo...

    By Kate Plourd • Jan. 21, 2009
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    Citi CEO, Chairman, CFO, Decline Some Bonuses

    Citigroup said that finance chief Gary Crittenden, along with the struggling banking giant’s CEO and its chairman, all declined to take incentive or retention awards.Chief executive Vikram Pandit and board chairman Sir Winfried Bischoff, along with Crittenden, won’t take the bonuses that are bein...

    By Stephen Taub • Jan. 21, 2009
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    Jobs: Body Count Piles Up

    It remains to be seen to what extent companies making layoffs now will go for another round later this year. But Motorola, for one, this week announced steep cuts for a second straight quarter. Motorola announced it will eliminate 4,000 positions, including 3,000 associated with its mobile devic...

    By Stephen Taub • Jan. 16, 2009
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    Why Employees Are Like Napkins…

    With layoffs continuing to pulsate through Corporate America, CFO.com sat down with three veteran business management experts to talk about the thought process behind head-count reductions, alternatives to that drastic step, and how to move forward if you take it. The panelists — they were interv...

    By • Jan. 15, 2009
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    CFOs on the Move: Week Ending January 16

    • Lorne Phillips has been appointed CFO of Pioneer Drilling Company, effective February 1. For the 10 ten years Phillips has worked at Cameron International Corporation, most recently vice president and treasurer. • Camco Financial Corporation has promoted James Brooks CFO and treasurer. He’ll al...

    By Kate Plourd and John Zhu • Jan. 15, 2009
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    Charter Ties Incentives to Debt Restructuring

    In an unusual twist on incentive pay, Charter Communications Inc. is offering incentives to executives tied to the restructuring of its debt.In a regulatory filing covering what it calls a restructuring value bonus plan (RVP), the nation’s fourth-largest cable company said that the plan is intend...

    By Stephen Taub • Jan. 14, 2009
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    The Human Side of IFRS

    The story of U.S. companies’ presumed forthcoming conversion to international financial reporting standards is not just about accounting and global commerce. It is also a people story: For starters, who should be trained (and when), who should provide the training, and what impact will an early m...

    By • Jan. 13, 2009
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    Straight from the Students’ Mouths

    They are secure in their awareness that they are in high demand. Their sights are set on learning a lot in a hurry. They view the financial crisis as being full of opportunity. Most of all, they like to keep their options open.Those traits came through loudly and clearly from a group of accountin...

    By • Jan. 9, 2009
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    Jobs: Gone, Baby, Gone

    The already-bleak national jobs picture has grown much bleaker in the past week, with the issuance of a trio of ominous reports.On Wednesday ADP reported that nonfarm employment decreased 693,000 from November to December on a seasonally adjusted basis. That was the steepest monthly decline since...

    By Stephen Taub • Jan. 9, 2009
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    Ex-Treasury CFO to Be Obama’s Chief Performance Officer

    President-elect Barack Obama named former government CFO Nancy Killefer to fill the newly created position of chief performance officer in his administration.Killefer, who currently leads McKinsey & Company’s public sector practice as a senior director, also will be nominated as deputy direct...

    By Kate Plourd • Jan. 8, 2009
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    CFOs on the Move: Week Ending January 9

    • After eight years as CFO and treasurer of Gencor Industries, Scott Runkel resigned from the heavy machinery maker on December 31 to pursue personal interests. The company said it is searching for his successor. • Mark Burgess, CFO and chief operating officer of Graham Packaging, has been prom...

    By Kate Plourd and John Zhu • Jan. 8, 2009
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    S&P’s Parent Hires an Ex-E&Y Watchdog

    The parent company of Standard & Poor’s intends to keep a closer eye on the doings of its beleaguered offspring. The McGraw-Hill Cos. announced the hiring of an “ombudsman” to monitor issues and concerns raised about the ratings agency, both internally and externally — reporting directly to M...

    By • Jan. 7, 2009
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    Report: Pension Vice Tightens on Cash

    With estimated defined-benefit pension plan deficits for Standard & Poor’s 1500 companies hitting a record of $409 billion for 2008, companies are likely to find themselves with added constraints on capital spending, loan covenants, and other potential outlays this year, pension advisers repo...

    By David Katz • Jan. 7, 2009