Netflix blames Amazon for Christmas outage

More than 27 million Netflix members in the Americas may have been unable to access shows or films online due to a problem at Amazon Web Services, which rents out computing power in data centres in the Internet "cloud."

The Netflix outage began mid-day in California on Monday and lasted late into the night, according to the company. No problems were reported with viewing offerings at Amazon's rival online film service.

"We are happy that people opening gifts of Netflix or Netflix capable devices on Christmas morning could watch TV shows or movies and Apologize for any inconvenience caused Christmas Eve," the company said in a statement.

"We are investigating the cause and will do what we can to prevent reoccurrence."

In a message fired off at Twitter, Netflix referred to the outage as "terrible timing." Netflix noted that users in Europe were not affected.

Amazon told AFP that the Netflix outage was due to "issues with the Elastic Load Balancing service" that affected some AWS customers in the United States.

AWS began recovering late on Christmas Eve and was back in proper working order on Christmas day, according to the Seattle, Washington-based online retail and services titan.

"Our Netflix subscription is back," Twitter user Rebekah Rosser said on Christmas Day. "That was a close call; I almost had to get a life."

The outage exposed a risk inherent in the trend toward depending on "cloud" servers for services ranging from Web-based email to digital news publications and business tasks long the purview of on-site IT departments.

It also came with reports that Google's suite of online services, including document and spreadsheet applications, is eating into the dominance of Microsoft programs in the business world.

The California-based Internet giant has been enticing consumers with Chromebook laptop computers that serve as little more than gateways to Internet-based software applications and content.

News organisations have also been shifting online in moves seen as essential to survival.

Almost 80 years after first going to print, the final Newsweek magazine hit newsstands Monday featuring an ironic hashtag as a symbol of its Twitter-era transition to an all-digital format.

The second-largest news weekly magazine in the United States has been grappling with a steep drop in print advertising revenue, steadily declining circulation and the migration of readers to free news online.

For its final cover, dated December 31, editor Tina Brown used an aerial archive shot of the magazine's New York headquarters as the backdrop for her message, #LASTPRINTISSUE - the word print emblazoned in red ink.

Early this month, the failure of Rupert Murdoch's pioneering iPad newspaper The Daily underscored the problems of the news industry as it seeks a paid model for the digital age, analysts said.

The News Corp chief called The Daily - exclusively designed for touchscreen tablets - "a bold experiment," but acknowledged that it was unable to find enough paying readers to sustain it.

The paper was initially designed to work on Apple's iPad tablet, and only later made available for some Android devices and smartphones.

"There is no safe bet in this shifting world of media," said Forrester Research analyst Frank Gillett.

"The question is can you find a model that works for your company."

Source  http://news.ninemsn.com.au/entertainment/2012/12/28/09/01/netflix-blames-amazon-for-christmas-outage

Finding new ways to recruit temporary staff could save councils money

Times are tough for public servants. The difficult economic situation, increasing public scrutiny and the more diverse and complex needs of the communities they serve mean that councils need more help than ever before to do their jobs efficiently and cost-effectively.

One way to make life easier is to re-think how local authorities find and manage temporary staff. For example, none of the 11,000 recruitment agencies in the UK has ever meet all the needs of a single council.

Local authorities are complex organisations – they can be geographically diverse, employ thousands of people, are required to deliver services that represent value for money and support the wider community, including local businesses. These complex needs are often met by a complex supply chain.

Rationalising this supply chain to a small list of suppliers, however, is rarely effective. It often shuts out small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) that do not have the scale to compete with large national recruiters. Some authorities adopt what as known as the "master vendor" approach, working with one single recruitment company. Inevitably, that one supplier will not have the expertise to meet demand across the skills spectrum of the public sector.

Given the savings that authorities are expected to make on their workforce costs, this is one area for improvement. If councils can control spending on temporary staff and reduce the risk involved in this work, it will help them to meet efficiency targets. One way to do this is to introduce a "vendor neutral model", which is business speak for using technology that will help select the right partner for each individual recruitment need.

They will effectively handle the supply of temporary labour, but more crucially, manage the entire process. More than 90 authorities are already doing this, with the following benefits:

• Visibility: the IT infrastructure that HR and procurement are offered through these partners mean that they have total visibility and control over all activities and expenses. Through having a full oversight of the movement and cost of temporary labour, other sources of labour such as redeployment pools, internal agencies and welfare to work agencies can be incorporated.

• Risk is reduced: councils face considerable risk in the use of temporary labour in the delivery of direct services such as social care and street services. The technology provided in "vendor neutral arrangements" means that the pre-checks on workers are robust. The arrival of Agency Worker Regulations last year put more pressure on councils, and the control offered through these platforms substantially reduces the risk of legal action against organisations.

• Cost is controlled: this model streamlines processes from requisition to payment, reducing costs and creating a competitive market place for suppliers.

As local authorities need to support local communities, this approach plays a key role by making good use of local businesses.

Our recent survey of HR professionals working in local government found that 55% rank using local SMEs as important and 35% consider it very important.

By using this model, the best-priced and highest-quality agencies are used and the focus is on procuring from local organisations. Opportunity is not awarded on size or reputation. Instead good performers are rewarded with opportunities for repeat business and the potential to grow their market share – the lifeline of small, local agencies.

The needs of councils are complex and challenging. However, changing the way you find and manage temporary staff can make a real difference in the changing world of public service.

Source  http://www.guardian.co.uk/local-government-network/2012/dec/19/saving-council-money-recruit-temporary-staff

New recruitment service for global agri-food businesses

Specialist support service provider for the global agri-food business, Red River People, is now moving into recruitment with two new appointments.

The UK-based company has undergone considerable growth over the past two years and is moving into this field to help maintain its position as a leading training and development business in the food, agribusiness and biotechnology sectors.

Angela Lock has been appointed senior recruitment consultant to head the company’s new recruitment services, and is joined by another experienced specialist Jane Hobson.

Angela Lock has 16 years’ experience in this field including 10 years running her own successful consultancy. Previously she held senior management roles in the retail recruitment sector, and in recent years has been involved in human resources as well as training and business support.

Jane Hobson has worked in advertising, marketing and logistical recruitment, and over the past decade has worked on a variety of private and public sector contracts.

The Red River People recruitment services provide innovative executive search for high-level appointments to specialist consultants for key assignments, graduate programmes and individual counselling.

Duncan Jones, business development director, says the move into recruitment reflects the increasing demand for talented, skilled people to fill key roles in expanding business in the food sectors.

“We are building on our team’s experience of large, integrated businesses particularly in the food sector at the highest level in the UK and internationally,” says Duncan Jones, who has himself wide experience across agriculture, finance, retail, travel and energy, with particular interest in developing leadership skills.

“At Red River People we’re very familiar with the specific demands of the sector. We appreciate the need for talented people, professional support services — and not least capital and equity resources to drive success.

“Many of the major players in our target markets, such as the poultry and pig sectors, are global businesses who recognise the need for high-level management and leadership skills.”

After progressing to executive board level in a nutritional feed and supplements business, Mr Jones developed his own consultancy in 1987 providing development programmes in leadership, management and team development for multi-national organisations.

His expertise in managing change and culture integration is reflected in being an adviser to a major multi-national company’s world leadership programme, and he also serves on a regional government advisory group.

? Red River People, headquartered in Essex in the UK, with satellite offices in Australia and South Africa, offers agri-food industry expertise in operations, technical, innovation, people and change management.

The development services enable companies to outsource their human resources, providing advice on employment and contractual issues, change and transformation, management and business training, remuneration, rewards and executive coaching.

The business enterprise services focus on management ‘buy in’ activities, mergers and acquisitions, equity investments, business alliances and greenfield projects. A further service will link clients to specialists in the agribusiness, food and biotech sectors.

Source  http://www.farminguk.com/News/New-recruitment-service-for-global-agri-food-businesses_24526.html

Recruitment company sees rising wage pressure

There's widening disparity in wages between the semi and under-skilled workers and skilled workers in high demand in certain industries.

Recruitment company Hays says while wages have not kept up with inflation, there is wage pressure for highly skilled workers, especially in construction.

It says that indicates skill shortages for key talent.

Hays spokesman Jason Walker says their latest report suggests a three point plan to combat the mismatch of skills availability, including the need to attract the relevant people through targeted immigration.

That includes overseas workers, incentives and what sort of courses are being offered.

Source  http://nz.finance.yahoo.com/news/recruitment-company-sees-rising-wage-015113191.html

Recruitment agencies facing £25k pensions setup hit

The ‘substantial’ cost to recruitment agencies of pension auto-enrolment has been revealed by professional employment organisation Parasol.

Research carried out by Parasol forecasts that agencies employing temporary workers on a PAYE basis could face an initial setup cost of at least £25,000, as they battle to get to grips with the legislation.

This figure includes three months of senior internal resource, legal advice, director input, time spent engaging with clients, plus payroll software upgrades.

Parasol arrived at the sum after consulting with agencies to find out the steps they intend to take in preparation for the legislation, though the exact cost will naturally vary for each agency. 

According to Parasol’s modelling, an agency with 800 workers who earn an average of £18,000 a year on PAYE can expect a total year-one cost of around £81,995 from the October 2013 staging date if 60% of workers opt out.

If just 30% of agency workers decide to opt out, the projected cost – including initial setup – rises to £111,242.

Meanwhile, Parasol estimates that compliance with the legislation will cost a smaller agency – with about 250 workers each earning £25,000 annually on PAYE – a total of £49,812 assuming an opt-out rate of 60%.

The predicted cost to an agency of this size, over the first 12 months from the February 2014 staging date, would increase to £64,200 if 30% of workers opt out. 

Anita Whittle, Chief Operating Officer at Parasol, said: “The new pension auto-enrolment legislation is undoubtedly going to have a major impact on all recruitment agencies that pay workers directly – both from an administrative and a cost perspective.

“In terms of costs, there are not only pension contributions to consider, but also the costs of setting up the pension scheme where agencies will need to take external and costly advice. In addition, changes will most likely need to be made to internal systems.

“Finally, there are also ongoing costs associated with the administration of the pension scheme. Resources will need to be allocated to managing new processes such as assessing workers, opting workers in and out of the scheme, communicating with the pension provider and making the required deductions from workers’ pay.”

Warrington-based Parasol has provided professional employment services to more than 47,000 employees since its launch in 2000.

The company works with major recruiters including Hays, Alexander Mann Solutions, Capita Resourcing and Reed. Parasol offers contractors full employment and employment rights, saving agencies money and mitigating the risks they are exposed to.

Anita added: “The auto-enrolment legislation is undoubtedly well intentioned, but coming hot on the heels of AWR it creates yet another headache for recruitment agencies that are working hard to maintain margins in the face of challenging market conditions.

“Obviously the cost of the legislation to an individual agency will depend on the specific measures it decides to take. However, our research clearly demonstrates that large parts of the recruitment industry will have to shoulder a significant financial and administrative burden.  

“It is likely that some clients will resist attempts to pass on the cost of auto-enrolment. Many agencies that pay workers directly through PAYE schemes will therefore have no option but to examine the alternatives on offer, such as using professional employment organisations, in order to limit their liability and remain competitive.” 

For more information on Parasol’s calculations, visit: http://www.parasolgroup.co.uk/for-recruiters/pensions/pensions-calculator/

Source  http://www.onrec.com/news/news-archive/recruitment-agencies-facing-%C2%A325k-pensions-setup-hit

Proof WA needs foreign workers

An extensive report has backed business claims that more migrant workers are needed in WA. 

The report, released today, concluded that Australians in the eastern states were too reluctant to make the move west, and universities are not adequately preparing students.

Numerous WA resource companies are forking out between $7000 and $65,000 on each application to bring in an overseas worker on a 457 visa because they cannot attract workers from the east.

The Edith Cowan University research found government incentives to encourage people to cross the Nullarbor were not enough, forcing businesses to recruit elsewhere.

Lead researcher Susanne Bahn said Australian workers viewed relocating to WA as the equivalent to moving overseas and government initiatives were not enough of an enticement.

"With a lack of willing or available Australian recruits, resources companies are left with little alternative other than to plug the recruitment gaps with specialist skilled migrant workers," she said.

While Dr Bahn is not the first to voice this view, it is understood that this is the first time the matter has been  thoroughly researched.

During the research, Dr Bahn questioned resources companies and recruitment agents about their use of the 457 visa.

"Participants indicated that they had encountered reluctance from Australian recruits about relocating to WA," she said.

"Moving away from family and friends, the fly-in, fly-out working arrangements, a lack of social infrastructure and accommodation with reasonable rents, and the perceived high cost of living were the main reasons."

Dr Bahn also found resource companies sometimes required highly skilled workers who had received specialist training often not available in Australia.

Migrant workers could help up-skill the Australian workforce and better prepare graduates to “hit the ground running”.

"The resources companies want graduates that can hit the ground running, graduates who can take responsibility for multimillion dollar equipment for example," Dr Bahn said.

"We found that there is a lack of 'work ready' university graduates.

"Higher education institutions need to rethink how they deliver courses that feed the resources sector to include more on the job placements for the duration of their degree.

"Highly skilled migrant workers can also pass on their knowledge and skills to Australian workers thereby training them in new and innovative practices.

"Modern Australian has been built through skilled migration and it appears that this is a trend that is likely to continue with benefits for workers, employers and the nation," Dr Bahn said.

Unions have been outspoken in their opposition to enterprise migration agreements which would see a portion of workforces on some big resource projects being brought in from other countries.

In light of the report's findings, national resource industry employer group Australian Mines and Metals Association is calling for wider acknowledgement and acceptance of these challenges in public and political debate on enterprise migration agreements, 457 visa schemes and temporary skilled migration more generally.

AMMA executive director Minna Knight said government figures showed that of the 45,000 new jobs in Australian mining created in 2012, 98.7 per cent were filled by Australian workers.

"However this industry study demonstrates that temporary migration schemes are still very important to Australia's overall skills strategy," Ms Knight said.

Read more: http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/proof-wa-needs-foreign-workers-20121107-28xsg.html#ixzz2BWWW2h86

Locals paid $4 an hour at Nauruan detention centre

NAURUANS recruited to work at Australia's reopened detention centre in the Pacific are being paid as little as $4 an hour, up to 10 times less than the Australian citizens working alongside them in kitchens, as guards, cleaners and as maintenance and office workers. 

 

Last month, Julia Gillard was critical of billionaire Gina Rinehart's suggestion Australians must compete with Africans prepared to work for $2 a day, saying it was "not the Australian way to toss people $2, to toss them a gold coin, and them ask them to work for a day".

But it has emerged that some residents of Nauru, the republic where more than 25 per cent of the population were assessed as living below the poverty line in 2006, are not happy that their people are being paid at a different rate to Australians by a contractor engaged by the Gillard government.

Resident Clint Deidenang acknowledges that $4 an hour is not a low wage in Nauru, but says the pay rates for the estimated 70 indigenous Nauruans employed by Transfield Services are much less than they first thought they would receive when they were recruited by the logistics and maintenance company. Mr Deidenang said there were high hopes and much excitement last month when Transfield representatives came to the Nauru Aussie Rules grand final to hand out flyers about work opportunities at the new detention centre.

"People quit their jobs to work for the detention centre because they thought it would be a lot of money for their family," Mr Deidenang said. "It turned out to be not very different and much less than the Australians get."

The Australian has been told the locals' rates of pay range from between $4 and $10 an hour.

By comparison, Australian detention centre workers employed by subcontractor Wilson Security for Transfield Services on Nauru are believed to earn about $40 an hour including allowances. Detention centre workers employed at the Christmas Island immigration detention centre by subcontractor MSS are paid $38 an hour including meal allowances.

The Department of Immigration and Citizenship yesterday defended Transfield Services, which told The Australian it was unable to comment under the terms of its agreement with the government.

"Transfield, as with all service providers, is required to ensure its staff are paid in accordance with relevant regulations, awards and conditions," a departmental spokesman said. "It's not appropriate for the department to go into detail about individual salaries or the pay and conditions except to say that the department is satisfied that Transfield is meeting its contractual obligations in relation to all of its staff."

Mr Deidenang, who works for a Nauruan construction company, said his people were paid more when the detention centre was run by the International Organisation for Migration during the Howard government. "My twin cousins were both working for them as lifeguards earning a monthly pay of $1600," he said. 

"Nauruans will never ever forget that glorious day."

Yesterday a spokesman for the IOM said: "We feel we paid appropriate market rates after consultation with the government and our own research."

A spokesman for the Nauruan government, Rod Henshaw, believed different rates of pay applied when the detention centre was open under the Howard government but the $4 an hour some were now earning was equivalent to what a senior public servant earned in Nauru.

There were other benefits from negotiations with Transfield, Mr Henshaw said.

"One of the conditions was that where possible (and appropriate) support service organisations would employ staff from local communities and purchase goods and other services locally where possible. The rationale behind this was based on the experience last time when huge amounts of food and other products were flown in. But against that, it must be said there was very little of that in supply on Nauru in 2001 and the imports were necessary. These days the economic climate is vastly improved and therefore Nauruan private enterprises have grown accordingly."

Source  http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/immigration/locals-paid-4-an-hour-at-nauruan-detention-centre/story-fn9hm1gu-1226505683189