20% less vacancies for UK graduates in 2009

The year 2009 will be an annus orribilis for graduate job seekers in the UK.

Data published today in fact shows that vacancies for graduate job seekers in the UK will go down by a fifth, The Independent reports.

This means there will be 7,000 jobs less for students graduating this year, argues The Telegraph.

‘There is understandable panic on campus that this is shaping up to be one of the worst years of the last two decades to be graduating from university,’  says Martin Birchall, managing director of market research company, High Fliers Research, in comments to the BBC.

The Independent also got in touch with Wes Streeting, President of the National Union of Students who said, ‘these figures will be extremely worrying for those who are preparing to graduate in 2009. But it isn’t just graduate jobs which are at risk from the credit crunch. Many students have to work part-time to finance their studies and we may see more of them having to drop out if they lose these jobs.’

Major Olympics 2012 sponsor raises concern over its future

‘Let’s see how far we’ve come’, says the song of an advert by Nortel Networks, a Canada-based company and sponsor of the next Olympic Games. It could ahve not gone farther than tomorrow as reports suggest, had it not filed for bankruptcy protection ahead of a gigantic interest payment which is due tomorrow.

The company, which employs 30,000 staff spread over 30 countries, said this move was part of a process of reorganisation aimed at making it stronger.

Malta is also a soft drink

Malta is also bottled, drunk, trashed, and hopefully recycled.

This is the lifespan of Pony Malta – a Colombian soft drink, also present on Facebook with a 1,200+ strong fan-army. Pony Malta is made from malt and is very rich in Vitamin B, states Wikipedia.  

Now that we are submerged with plastic bottles – be they Virgin or not – from all over the world, would you consider importing a soft drink that bears the name of your country? Will you ever really sell your country?

No need to rush Air Malta – it’s just a customer after all

Robert Zammit makes a case for Air Malta to reduce its fares by entering into a fresh agreement for the purchase of fuel given the low price of oil.

In so doing, Robert asks for Air Malta to ‘wake up’.

I have a message, and a song, for Air Malta: relax, after all it’s just a customer who wants to be treated fairly:

It’s a bad day for Banks, Germany

Today’s a bad day for banks worldwide as Barclays announces that 2,100 of its employees will see the sack. 

The stock market is also feeling bad vibes coming from HSBC as it mulls over whether it should increase its capital by $30 billion.

Meanwhile Deutsche Bank has posted a record loss of $4 billion in 2008. This has prompted the German government to invest money in the bank.

Germany too is not not being spared by bad news today as Le Monde quotes German finance minister Pier Steinbruck saying that his government’s deficit will be equivalent to 4% of his country’s total production.

(Video: REM – It’s been a bad day)

Brits are negative; Italians still upbeat

 

As sad as Onslow

When it comes to the economy, everyone’s become a bit like Onslow – negative.

Brits simply can’t trust Banks, the stockmarket and the government’s handling of the economy, The Guardian reports today as it refers to a global poll which tries to guage the different levels of trust towards these institutions in different countries. 

While Brits emerge as mostly pessimistic on most measures interviewed upon, the Italians are more optimistic.

Hoewever, Indians are the most optimistic of the lot, the survey shows.