Employment patterns during the recovery: Who are getting the jobs and why?

Employment gains during the recovery have differed sharply depending on workers' level of education, age, and gender. Workers with high levels of education, workers age 55 and older, and men have experienced the strongest employment gains in the recovery. ; Sahin and Willis analyze these employment patterns and find that the patterns appear to reflect two key factors: long-term trends and cyclical fluctuations. The strong employment growth for highly educated and older workers is a continuation of longer term shifts toward a more highly educated workforce and the aging of the baby boom generation. The employment gains for men are associated with men having a stronger cyclical attachment to the labor force when labor market conditions are weak. ; Employment and population patterns suggest that weak demand rather than a mismatch of workers and jobs is the primary explanation for the sluggish recovery. While highly educated workers have experienced the largest job gains, the demand for these workers has not kept pace with the growing population of highly educated workers. Regarding the skewed gains for men, evidence suggests that men are more likely to accept less desirable employment opportunities in periods of weak labor demand, signified by high unemployment and falling wages.

Just Green Transitions and Global Labour Organisations

This report presents the findings from two research projects undertaken under the programme Adapting Canadian Work and Workplaces to Respond to Climate Change: Canada in International Perspective, based in York University, Ontario, Canada

Unions and the green transition in construction in Europe: contrasting visions

The construction industry, responsible for 40% of European Union (EU) end-use emissions, is targeted as a major area of transformation particularly through the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive requiring nearly zero energy building (NZEB). Through a case study approach, union responses to EU strategy on the implementation of energy efficiency standards are evaluated in Denmark, Germany, Italy and UK (Scotland), presenting a varied picture, from minimal acknowledgement to broad support along the lines of ecological modernisation to radical transformation. Radical appraisals of the industry and its exploitative and high-carbon practices are rare, though engaging with the employment and vocational education and training (VET) implications. The article presents a labour-centred alternative to a technical-driven transition agenda, focusing on how the labour process needs to change in a sector dominated by small firms, self-employment, a fragmented labour process, and often low levels of VE

Why radical transformation is necessary for gender equality and a zero carbon European construction sector

This chapter is set in the context of European Union (EU) policy to reduce environment carbon emissions through the European Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), which – despite EU equality objectives – remains gender-blind and in accordance with ecological modernisation, technology-driven, and oriented to innovation. Difficulties in implementing the EPBD relate to vocational education and training (VET) and the labour process requirements for nearly zero energy building (NZEB). The reasons for the failure of VET and labour market policies and practices to improve the participation of women and what is needed to overcome barriers to their inclusion are highlighted. Combined, the requirements for the inclusion of women and a sustainable construction process, provide the pillars on which a transformed industry can be constructed. In examining local and organisational examples of where women have been successfully included and/or NZEB has been achieved, the ingredients are identified for developing an eco-equitable and socially useful construction sector and the coalition of actors involved – above all the public authorities, VET institutions, unions, women in construction, and environmental organisations

Scalar diffraction field calculation from curved surfaces via Gaussian beam decomposition

Cataloged from PDF version of article.We introduce a local signal decomposition method for the analysis of three-dimensional (3D) diffraction fields involving curved surfaces. We decompose a given field on a two-dimensional curved surface into a sum of properly shifted and modulated Gaussian-shaped elementary signals. Then we write the 3D diffraction field as a sum of Gaussian beams, each of which corresponds to a modulated Gaussian window function on the curved surface. The Gaussian beams are propagated according to a derived approximate expression that is based on the Rayleigh-Sommerfeld diffraction model. We assume that the given curved surface is smooth enough that the Gaussian window functions on it can be treated as written on planar patches. For the surfaces that satisfy this assumption, the simulation results show that the proposed method produces quite accurate 3D field solutions. (C) 2012 Optical Society of Americ