Employee Participation

The number of people seeking U.S. unemployment benefits was unchanged last week, suggesting modest but steady gains in the job market.

According to the Randstad Engineering Employee Confidence Index, which calculates overall confidence among U.S. engineering workers, confidence is at 64.9 in the first quarter of 2012, marking the highest level of confidence recorded since the third quarter of 2007 at 66.2.

An estimated 2,100 jobs could be lost at the American Airlines maintenance hub in Tulsa after mechanics rejected the company's final labor contract offer, the embattled airline confirmed Tuesday.

The number of people applying for U.S. unemployment benefits ticked down last week after dropping sharply the previous week, evidence hiring could pick up this month.

Seventy-five percent of U.S. workers report feeling increased job security while 54 percent anticipate a turnaround in the job market this year, according to a recent study by Randstad, a human resources and staffing company.

Although most (87 percent) of white collar employees of multinational companies work virtually at least partially, most of these employees encountered challenges in virtual work as only 16 percent had any training for this type of work, according to a study by RW3, an intercultural communication training organization.