ManpowerGroup News Release (10/21/15)

ManpowerGroup reported revenue of $5 billion for the third quarter of 2015, down 8.2% (up 5.8% in constant currency) from $5.4 billion in the third quarter of 2014. Net earnings totaled $123.9 million, down 5.1% (up 9.5% in constant currency) from $130.5 million in the year-ago quarter. U.S. revenue in the 2015 third quarter totaled $769.6 million, down 3.9% (down 3.9% in constant currency) from $800.5 million in the 2014 third quarter, attributed primarily to softer demand in light industrial staffing, down 9% in the quarter. “Based on where we see the U.S. and, in particular, Europe, our view is that both of those regions could be seeing better growth in 2016 compared with 2015, notwithstanding some softness and choppiness in those economies,” said Jonas Prising, ManpowerGroup chief executive officer.

Business Wire (10/20/15)

Volt Information Sciences Inc. on Tuesday reported that it has appointed Michael Dean to serve as the company’s president and chief executive officer, effective immediately. Dean has served as Volt’s chairman of the board since May 2015 and as interim president and CEO since June 2015. Dean will remain a member of the board, but will no longer act as chairman. Concurrent with this announcement, the board of directors has appointed Dana Messina, a current board member, as chairman.

Silicon Valley Business Journal (10/15/15) Bryce Druzin

An initiative to raise California’s minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2021 has enough signatures to qualify for the November 2016 ballot, according to SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West, which is promoting the measure. California requires 366,000 signatures for initiatives to be placed on the statewide ballot. SEIU-UHW West political director Arianna Jimenez says the union has a goal of reaching 610,000 before submitting the signatures to the California Secretary of State’s office in January 2016. If passed, the Fair Wage Act of 2016 will increase the state’s minimum wage to $11 in 2017. The wage will subsequently increase $1 each year until it reaches $15 in 2021. After that, the wage will increase to match changes in California’s Consumer Price Index for urban workers.

Toledo Blade (10/20/15) Tyrel Linkhorn

Unionized employees of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles began voting on Oct. 20 on a tentative labor contract. There is uncertainty about the number of jobs the automaker has promised to protect at the Toledo Assembly Complex. Fiat Chrysler employs approximately 5,000 workers at the plant. About 1,000 of those workers are classified as temporary part-time employees. The complex also has another 1,000 employees who work for Kuka and Mobis, which are on-site parts suppliers.

The contract proposal that company and union negotiators agreed to this month includes a commitment to maintain the current workforce and contains a provision to include “positions associated with Kuka and Mobis.” Temporary workers, however, are not mentioned. While temporary part-time employees are not meant to be needed long term, the Toledo plant is unique in that nearly one in five Fiat Chrysler employees is classified as temporary. Nearly half of the company’s overall temporary part-time employees work in Toledo. United Automobile Workers officials and local union officials have yet to comment on whether those 1,000 temporary positions would be preserved.