Careers & Education

Offering the right assortment of merchandise to customers, at the right stores, and at the right price - that's "precision retailing" and it's what the Hudson's Bay Co. plans to accomplish with a little help from SAS business intelligence software.

Times, they are a-changin' for network professionals. Pay, which has always been good, is rising -- though perhaps not fast enough for the IT workforce's taste. But the trade-off for those cushy paychecks -- brutal hours and inflexible schedules -- has also begun to fade, according to Network World's 2006 Salary Survey.

Wikinomics provides many case studies of different successful forms of business collaboration already under way. One company that is showcased as a shining example of "customer co-creation" in the book is growing by leaps and bounds.

While the demand for IT talent is strong, companies are not adding staffers at the same frenetic pace they were a few years ago. The Robert Half Technology Hiring Index and Skills Report offers vital information on the types of IT skills employers are seeking today.

Not only does IT matter, it's at the heart of the biggest change in the century, says Don Tapscott, pundit and CEO of New Paradigm.

Nortel Networks announced a net reduction of 1,100 jobs globally last month, part of a previously announced business transformation plan designed to improve its performance.

While companies like Siebel, Microsoft and Salesforce.com might come to mind first when thinking of customer relationship management (CRM) software, PSC Industrial Services chose a product from a small Toronto company to automate its North American sales force.

Intel Corp. executives told employees they would cut 1,000 management jobs in an effort to rebound from poor profits in recent quarters, the company said. The layoffs will be complete by the end of July, and will be spread across Intel divisions worldwide, said company spokesman Bill Calder.