This is my 30,000 foot look at events in the ICT industry for March 2011. What you see here is a précis of the monthly report I produce, which will be available in more detail at the News section of the Eagle website, where you will also find back issues. 

I think it’s interesting to look back and see what was news in previous years, and how it might affect news today. Perhaps one of the most noticeable things I see is that some of the most successful and largest companies have a track record of growth through acquisition, and with practice they get very good at it! 

Four years ago, in March 2007 Cisco was “on a tear” announcing 3 acquisitions, including the $3.3 Billion purchase of WebEx, plus Microsoft paid about $800 Million for Tellme networks.  In March 2008Microsoft announced three separate deals (one reputedly in the $100Million range); the biggest deal of the month was AOL’s $850 Million purchase of social networking company Bebo; Acer paid $290 Million for E-Ten and Synopsis paid $227 Million for another semiconductor company Synplicity.  Two years ago in March 2009we continued to suffer through tough economic times and record unemployment.  Google was in the news for creating a $100 Million venture fund. There was not a ton of actual M&A activity in March 2009 but Bell Canada surprised, picking up “the Source” and the break-up of BearingPoint, post Chapter 11, benefited Deloitte and PwC amongst others around the world.  March 2010saw a continuation of the economic recovery.  It was a quiet month for M&A activity with CA’s pursuit of the “cloud computing” world providing some activity with its two purchases, 3Tera for reputedly about $90 million and Nimsoft for $350 million.  Chordiant was bought by Pegasytems for a little over $160 million, and the other notable purchase was Avnet’s $340 million buy, Bell Microproducts.  

March 2011 is dominated by world events, notably the news of Japan’s earthquake, tsunami and subsequent nuclear woes.  In addition UN involvement in Libya and general unrest in the Middle East has been a daily story.

Here in Canada the ICTC warn of looming skills shortages in the technology space … no surprise for those of us in the staffing business but in some ways it’s good for now, because it means low unemployment for skilled workers.  Canada’s GDP also exhibited growth this year that exceeded the shrinkage of last year, another good indicator of Canada’s strong economic performance.

Around the world the economic recovery is generally proceeding well, with good worldwide news coming via JPMorgan’s PMI and KPMG’s Pulse reports … both very positive.  At the greater EU level things look very positive with some very strong performance by countries like Germany, however the UK, Ireland and Greece continue to struggle in their recovery.  There was also better news out the the US with employment improving and growth in the US GDP. 

In the technology world the big event of the month has be AT&T’s announcement of a $39 Billion deal to buy T-Mobile.  While there were no other mega-deals of this nature it was a fairly busy month in the M&A world.  There were some big name companies out adding to their capabilities … Montreal’s Radian6 was snapped up by Salesforce.com for about $276 million; Facbook made a couple of acquisitions in the mobile space Snaptu and Beluga; YouTube paid about $50 million for Next New Networks;  McAfee bought database security firm Sentrigo; Cisco bought portal company newScale; Teradata bought data analytics start up Aster data … a continuation of the consolidation in the red hot data space;  and OpenText bought a mobile app development tool vendor WeComm.  Lots of activity in that mobile space!

In other news Microsoft scored one for the good guys, taking down the Rustock botnet and thus reducing spam in our in-boxes!   IBM coughed up $10 million to settle charges of bribery brought by the SEC.  Another senior tech executive (Rajiv Goel from Intel) was named in the ongoing hedge fund insider trading case involving Raj Rajaratnam.  Last mention for this month goes to the University of York which has egg on its face after inadvertently sharing private data on 17,000 of its students … it seems this happens all too often!

That’s what caught my eye over the last month, the full edition will be available soon on the Eagle website.  Hope this was useful and I’ll be back with the March 2011 industry news in just about a month’s time. 

Walk Fast and Smile. 

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Kevin Dee is CEO of Eagle (a Professional Staffing Company)
Want to know where Canada’s hot jobs are?   Visit the Eagle Job Centre!
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Here I am again talking about health and fitness again!  I firmly believe that we perform better in all aspects of our life, AND cope better with stress when we are healthy and fit.  So whatever your status in life, getting in a little better shape will benefit you and hence the reason for these blog entries.  A couple of weeks ago I blogged about Nutrition Myths, and today I wanted to share the result of a recently published list of 10 great health foods from the Mayo Clinic.   These 10 health foods were chosen because they meet at least three of the following criteria: 

• Are a good or excellent source of fiber, vitamins, minerals and other nutrients
• Are high in phytonutrients and antioxidant compounds, such as vitamins A and E and beta carotene
• May help reduce the risk of heart disease and other health conditions
• Are low in calorie density, meaning you get a larger portion size with a fewer number of calories
• Are readily available  

The foods on this list are as follows: 

Apples: Apples are an excellent source of pectin, a soluble fiber that can lower blood cholesterol and glucose levels. Fresh apples are also good sources of the vitamin C – an antioxidant that protects your body’s cells from damage. Vitamin C also helps form the connective tissue collagen, keeps your capillaries and blood vessels healthy, and aids in the absorption of iron and folate. 

Almonds: Almonds are packed with nutrients – fiber, riboflavin, magnesium, iron and calcium. In fact, almonds have more calcium than any other nut, and one serving provides half of your body’s Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) of vitamin E. 

Blueberries: Blueberries are a rich source of plant compounds (phytonutrients). As with cranberries, phytonutrients in blueberries may help prevent urinary tract infections. Blueberries may also improve short-term memory and promote healthy aging. 

Broccoli: Besides being a good source of calcium, potassium, folate and fiber, broccoli contains phytonutrients – a group of compounds that may help prevent chronic diseases, such as heart disease, diabetes and some cancers. Broccoli is also a good source of vitamins A and C – antioxidants that protect your body’s cells from damage. 

Red beans: Red beans – including small red beans and dark red kidney beans – are good sources of iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, copper and thiamin. They’re also an excellent low-fat, low-calorie source of protein and dietary fiber. Red beans also contain phytonutrients that may help prevent chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease and cancer. 

Salmon: Salmon is an excellent source of omega-3 fatty acids – a type of fat that makes your blood less likely to form clots that may cause heart attacks. Omega-3s may also protect against irregular heartbeats that may cause sudden cardiac death, decrease triglyceride levels, decrease the growth of artery-clogging plaques, lower blood pressure and reduce the risk of stroke. 

Spinach: Spinach is high in vitamins A and C and folate. It’s also a good source of riboflavin, vitamin B-6, calcium, iron and magnesium. The plant compounds in spinach may boost your immune system and may help keep your hair and skin healthy.

Sweet potatoes: The deep orange-yellow color of sweet potatoes tells you that they’re high in the antioxidant beta carotene. Food sources of beta carotene, which are converted to vitamin A in your body, may help slow the aging process and reduce the risk of some cancers. Sweet potatoes are also good sources of fiber, vitamins B-6, C and E, folate and potassium. 

Vegetable juice: Vegetable juice has most of the vitamins, minerals and other nutrients found in the original vegetables and is an easy way to include vegetables in your diet. Tomato juice and vegetable juices, which include tomatoes, are good sources of lycopene, an antioxidant which may reduce the risk of heart attack, prostate cancer and possibly other types of cancer. Some vegetable and tomato juices are very high in sodium, so be sure to select the low-sodium varieties. 

Wheat germ: At the center of a grain of wheat is the wheat germ – the part of the seed that’s responsible for the development and growth of the new plant sprout. Though only a small part of the wheat seed, the germ is a highly concentrated source of nutrients, including niacin, thiamin, riboflavin, vitamin E, folate, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, iron and zinc. The germ also contains protein, fiber and some fat. 

SO WHAT you may ask … the magic comes in trying to substitute some of these items into your diet instead of some of the  “other” stuff you might currently eat. 

Are you going to switch out your French fries for broccoli … probably not!  BUT you can start to make some changes. 

1.  Eat a small handful of almonds mid morning and mid afternoon.  They will make feel less hungry when it comes time to have your next meal, reducing your temptation to overeat … plus they are good for you.
2. If you are prone to dessert could you have some low fat whipped cream and blueberries instead of ice cream?
3. Could you have salmon once a week instead of red meat?
4. Could you snack on an apple in the evening instead of the bad stuff? 

There are lots of small ways to improve your nutritional intake, without changing your life wholesale.  In fact the worst thing you can do is to try and change everything … it doesn’t work, you need to slowly introduce good habits and perhaps reduce your intake very gradually … just slightly smaller portions.  Then you have a chance of sticking to it! 

It is interesting that the Mens Health Abs Diet (and Women’s Health Abs Diet) promotes a set of “good” foods very similar to those shown here.  You can read about their Power Foods here.

Give it a try … change your whole life by feeling better! 

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Kevin Dee is CEO of Eagle (a Professional Staffing Company)
Want to know where Canada’s hot jobs are?   Visit the Eagle Job Centre!
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The following was written by a friend of mine, Jim Stechyson a successful businessman in the Ottawa scene for many years.
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Inspiration

Last night I attended the annual Fight for the Cure event in Ottawa – an amateur and “white collar” boxing event dedicated to raising funds for cancer patients and their families in the Ottawa area.

The fundraiser was a first class event organized by a group of entrepreneurs in their mid twenties who are already thinking about how they can give back to their community at such an early stage of their careers! There’s inspiration for you!

My good friend Kevin Dee was one of eight local business executives who volunteered his time (and body!) to get in the ring and compete against another fellow exec in a friendly match mixed in with the amateur bouts.

I’ve attended many fundraisers over the years. They always have the objective of providing the attendees with a chance to socialize, have good time, and enjoy some entertainment and, of course, the opportunity to donate to the cause – So I pretty much expected the same with FFTC. What I didn’t expect was to walk from the evening feeling an unusually high level of emotion.

Kevin’s was the fourth match of the evening. After watching the first “white collar fight” it was obvious that these “board room warriors” had taken the event very seriously and dedicated significant time to incorporate training into their busy schedules.

 So – why the emotion? To begin with, after going down once in the first round, the referee stopped the fight part way through the second – Kevin lost his match. Watching my friend fall to the canvas bothered me. It upset me…there…I said it. Of course the emotion would have been very different if the outcome had been the opposite and by the end of the evening I’m sure he was over it, Kev knew what he signed up for and saw it through to the end. Even if the outcome in the ring wasn’t what he’d hoped for he accomplished his greater goal by helping to raise money for a very worthwhile cause.

But, the fact is, I wasn’t over it. Watching my friend put himself through what he later told me was “one of the hardest physical workouts he’s ever endured” for the sake of charity helped me to realize that I’m not doing enough to give back and his performance last night inspired me. I’ve known Kev for almost 15 years and truly admire his passion but this time his commitment and generosity really hit home. I don’t plan to step into the ring – I`ll leave that to the “English Bulldog” but today I signed up for the Ride the Rideau fund raiser for Cancer research – a 100km bike ride along the Rideau River. Training starts tomorrow!!

We all have the capacity to give more back to our community in one way or another. Find your inspiration and get started!! Thanks for giving me mine Kev!
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Thanks Jim … you are a class act my friend!

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Kevin Dee is CEO of Eagle (a Professional Staffing Company)
Want to know where Canada’s hot jobs are?   Visit the Eagle Job Centre!
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Tomorrow is the big event … my boxing debut in a charity gala called the Fight for the Cure which is raising money for cancer research.  If you feel like donating a few dollars then go to the FFTC website and select the Buy Tickets link … there is a place to just make a donation, GREAT CAUSE and THANKS!

Today I thought I would give an interview about this event , because I have been asked a lot of questions, and it might be a different way to write a blog entry (shades of my childhood … so tell me about scoring that winning goal in the FA Cup Final?) … here goes!

Interviewer:  Mr. Dee tell us about the event.

Kevin:  This is the fourth year of the Fight for the Cure, a white collar boxing event to raise money for cancer research.  There will almost 600 people at the Hampton Inn in Ottawa, eating a nice dinner and enjoying 4 white collar fights featuring local executives plus four bouts featuring top amateurs.  Final Round Boxing(Matt Whitteker) is the driving force behind this with some great sponsors.

Interviewer:  So Mr Dee you are one of the white collar boxers … you look a little old for that, do you mind telling me just how old you are?

Kevin:  Sure … I’m 55.

long pause …

Interviewer:  Ahhh that makes you older than my dad!  Sooooo … can you tell the listeners just WHY you are doing this?

Kevin:  Sure …

1.  I am involved with numerous charities and this is a great cause to support;

2.  It’s a challenge … and I like a challenge;

3.  I was asked to get involved … that usually gets me

Interviewer:  How long have you been training, and what was involved?

Kevin:  I started in November, so about 4 or 5 months.  I had a little hiccup in the middle when I sprained my MCL, but generally it has been once or twice a week of boxing specific training  since then … plus my regular workouts on other days.  The last few weeks have been a little more intense.

Interviewer:  Had you ever boxed before?

Kevin:  Nope.  I did however grow up in 1960′s/70′s Liverpool which meant a certain willingness to “mix it up” if needed.  I have also been known to get the odd red card through my soccer career, so I’m not really averse to a little physical stuff.

Interviewer:  Are you nervous?

Kevin:  To be honest I don’t think about it too much.  I was actually more nervous the first time I sparred, and then again when I sparred against someone who wasn’t my coach.  The final “dress rehearsal” last week had some pretty spirited sparring … so I feel ready.

Interviewer:  Boxing is a tough sport … have you been hurt along the way? 

Kevin:  A couple of bloodied noses and a black eye, plus I sprained my MCL while in the ring sparring with someone a fair bit bigger.  Truth be told, I had hurt the knee a few days earlier skiing … so it wasn’t all because of boxing.  The other stuff is minor and it is quite amazing how it just comes with the territory.

Interviewer:  Are you worried about Saturday night?

Kevin:  I think I’m ready.  I’ll be disappointed if we don’t put on a good show for the crowd, they have paid good money for a great cause and deserve good entertainment.  That’s my only worry.  I don’t expect it to be much different than last week’s sparring.

Interviewer:  Would you do it again?

Kevin:  No … it’s something unique to add to my list of “life experiences” and I’m glad I did it.  I think I am probably pushing the age limits a little, so I will make this my first and only fight.  I will stick with the training … it has been amazing!

Interviewer:  Is there anything you are looking forward to once the bout is over?

Kevin:  I will have a very good scotch!  I have been on the wagon since the new Year … so that will taste good!

Interviewer:  Thanks for this

Kevin:  You’re welcome.

In the game of football (the heathen North American game, played with a rugby ball … not the real football) teams move the ball down the field in the hope of scoring a touchdown.  They might move that ball a long way in a given “play” or they might move it just a yard or two, but the goal is to keep “moving the ball” forward.

In the “game” of life its really not that different … there is a “ball” for almost every aspect of the “game”, and we need to move that ball forward in order to reach our goal.

In your relationships there are goals, whether stated or just “there” … it might be about reaching various stages in that relationship; moving from acquaintance to friend; to good friend; to close friend; to trusted advisor; etc.   This happens by building on that relationship, investing time and energy, thought and emotion in that relationship; we are moving the ball along a continuum … but there is no “touchline”, because it keeps moving as the next goal comes into focus. 

When you stop moving that ball your relationship is in jeopardy.

If you are a salesperson pursuing a sale then you need to move through a sales cycle, that can be very short or very long and complex, depending upon what you are selling.  In a complex sale there are many different “buyers” and “influencers” and in order to reach your goal (the touchdown) you need to keep moving the ball through that sales cycle (down the pitch) … which means you need to move that ball a lot more than for a less complex sale.  But in every case that ball needs to move.

When you stop moving the ball through the sales cycle you are either in trouble, or maybe you have won that specific deal … at which point the next goal (touchdown) is in sight and its time to get that ball moving again.

Life is full of “goals” whether we write them down and have a defined plan to get there ; OR we fly by the seat of our pants and hope we get there.  Always moving towards the goal we have a chance at success … stopping, forgetting the goal, ignoring the goal or just plain laziness will likely cause us to not get there … or best case take a lot longer to get there.

Are you moving the ball … in your career, in your relationships, with your health? 

Are you consciously moving those balls, or are you moving them on autopilot?

Do you have a plan to get the ball down the field as fast as possible … or are you making it up as you go? 

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Kevin Dee is CEO of Eagle (a Professional Staffing Company)
Want to know where Canada’s hot jobs are?   Visit the Eagle Job Centre!
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On Saturday I climb in the ring and go toe to toe for three rounds, each two minutes long but feeling like a lot more!  Its all to raise money for cancer research … so, as I have said before I am donating blood in a non-traditional way for a good cause!

Let’s face it … I’m not so young any more, in fact I am 55 years old and about to have my first boxing match!  Yeah … not much else to say there!

Tonight we have the weigh in at the Heart and Crown pub, in the ByWard Market in Ottawa … all of the white collar boxers will be there  showing off our streamlined bodies (covered up by lots of clothes).  There will probably be the obligatory “trash talking” … all designed to up the interest level and raise more money.

You can find out more about the event  at the Fight for the Cure website … which has some videos from last year.   Sometime after the event a new video will go up … aired on the big night … showing this year’s batch of pugilists going through the training.  I haven’t seen any iron lungs or defibrilators come out yet, although we have all felt in need through these last months!

I have written about the event a couple of times … and will probably do a wrap up afterwards, but it is one more thing to cross off my bucket list!

Item number 2,347.  Get in a boxing ring in front of 600 people and get beaten for 6 minutes!  …. DONE March 2011

Here are my previous entries on this subject …

Are you Willing to Give  … Blood?

Boxing, Training, Injuries, and Kevuary

If you would like to make a donation to the cause because you feel sorry for me … thats OK.  You can go to the buy a ticket page of the FFTC website and there is a spot to just make a donation.

——————————————————————————————— Kevin Dee is CEO of Eagle (a Professional Staffing Company) Want to know where Canada’s hot jobs are?   Visit the Eagle Job Centre! —————————————————————————————————————————————–

There is a poem called “the dash” which is about the importance of living our lives well.   It suggests that you think about things you might do to enrich your life.

Here are some easy things you could do starting today. 

Work.

1.  Make a conscious decision to do the best job you can … every day.

2.  Take note of all the distractions you have in your day … chatting, surfing the internet, smoke breaks etc.  make a decision to reduce them by at least 50%.

3.  Determine to take one course/training program each year that will add to your marketable skills.

Health and Fitness

4.  Make time for 30 minutes of exercise a day … it could replace some TV time, a nap, half your lunch hour.

5.  Make a couple of small changes in your diet … (a) eat 90% of what you have been eating; (b) eat healthy stuff a little more and the processed/fast food/dessert a little less.

6.  Get a checkup … annually (and listen to what you are told).

Outside Work

7.  Do something for charity … give a little time.

8.  Make a list of your friends … do something spontaneous for each of them over the next while. Make them (healthy) dinner, send them a card, buy them a book, invite them for an exercise walk etc.

9.  Make a plan for yourself … something special that you can look forward to, save for, build towards etc.  Maybe a holiday, a special piece of jewelry etc.

All the Time

#10.  Walk fast and smile.  Adopt a glass half full attitude to life … its all inside your head, and life is much more fun when you are smiling!

If you do all of these things I guarantee you will feel better.

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Kevin Dee is CEO of Eagle (a Professional Staffing Company)
Want to know where Canada’s hot jobs are?   Visit the Eagle Job Centre!
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It is a common known fact that we all enter this world in much the same way.   What is different is the circumstances into which we are born.  We might be born in a third world country, in an oppressive regime, in a poor world with little education … or we might be born into the “free world” with education, various levels of prosperity and the opportunity to pursue our own “dream”.

What we do next is all up to us … not our parents (although there is a period where they have significant influence), not the government (although they get antsy if your break their rules), not our future employer, educator or any other “influence” in our lives.  We are responsible for our own selves!

There are many examples of people who have done great things with their life … in all walks of life, charitable efforts, humanitarian work, politics, business, sports or whatever they choose to pursue.

However the vast majority of people CHOOSE to be mediocre.  They don’t push themselves.  They don’t  put in the effort.  They lead their lives hoping to win the lottery, counting down the days to retirement, avoiding responsibility, doing the minimal possible to “get by”  … and blaming management, the government, “the man” for all their problems.

I don’t care what circumstances you are born into, you CAN improve your lot in life … and make a difference.

If you are lucky enough to be born into this “free world” and you squander this huge gift of circumstance then that is your choice.  If you want to blame “the man” for your situation then go for it … I’m not listening!

In my world anything is possible.  In my world I can make a difference.  In my world I am responsible for me!

Seth Godin suggests that it is a shame when people work so hard to make their jobs smaller … relentlessly smaller.

I say it is infinitely worse when people work so hard to make their lives smaller.   Are you taking responsibility for you … or are you getting smaller? 

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Kevin Dee is CEO of Eagle (a Professional Staffing Company)
Want to know where Canada’s hot jobs are?   Visit the Eagle Job Centre!
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 CANADIAN JOB MARKET – Mini update Feb Mar 2011

The events of the past couple of months have had a significant impact on the markets … the tsunami and subsequent nuclear fears in Japan, coupled with the popular rising in the middle East have caused a fair bit of uncertainty, reflected throughout the markets. 

Canada’s relative stability, resource based economy and recent performance through the recession makes it a fairly safe bet for investors … so the Canadian Dollar remains very strong, still close to parity and as we speak it is trading at 99c U.S. The TSX is down about 300 points at 13,718, from this time last month, which is not so bad given the world events!   The price of oil means a lot to Canada’s Western economy and with it hovering around $100 a barrel and expected to be $116 a barrel this year the oil companies, and Canada’s Western economy, should have a good year.

For Eagle, February is normally a short month from a billing perspective and thus always impacts the revenue numbers.  As expected the numbers were lower, however, we did see an increase in the number of billable resources which is indicative of a steady increase in demand for skilled resources.  The number of orders from clients was also up about 10% over January, with approximately the same number of resumes coming in the door from people looking for work.  All of this is consistent with a continued steady growth in resource demand in the marketplace.

More Specifically:

The GTA (Greater Toronto Area) is the largest economic centre in Canada, has the most “head offices” and therefore can be expected to be a big demand market for people.  In February (the) we saw an increase in the already heavy demand from our clients … with the financial services sector and telecommunications industries leading the charge.  In addition, we are seeing an increase in demand from most industries, the system integrators, media, retail and insurance are some that are picking up the pace.

In Toronto we are reaching that “tipping point” where finding resources is becoming a major challenge, and with many people now receiving multiple offers … which shifts the balance of power a little.  Clients need to make their decisions quickly if they want to get the best people.

The types of people in demand cover a broad spectrum, with a big demand for “niche” industry skills such as banking or telecommunications specialties, in addition to Architects, Business Analysts, Project Managers, Senior & Intermediate accounting staff and even an increase in demand for developers. 

In Western Canada, as previously mentioned, the price of oil being almost $100/barrel means that many Calgary based companies have money to invest in their systems.  This creates demand throughout the “systems” of suppliers, and ancillary companies supporting that economy.  So Calgary is booming and Edmonton is busy, but expecting to get busier as a part of the booming oil economy.  In Alberta, like Toronto, we are seeing the pendulum swing to being a market where the skilled resource can pick from several jobs.  This makes it tough for companies to get the people they want unless they move very fast!   February was a month were we started to see some signs of increased demand in the BC market too, a market that never seems to have the same torrid needs of a Calgary or Toronto but increased demand is always welcome . and a good sign that things in general are picking up.

Eagle’s Eastern Canada region is mostly Ottawa and Montreal, as we spend less time focused on the Maritimes … however we are seeing signs of increased demand for people in the Maritimes too.  Ottawa is not extremely busy but there is a continuous demand as departments plan for the future and change their means of accessing resources.  We saw a big shift at Canada Revenue Agency, with CGI the loser of a large contract and a number of small companies are now supplying contract resources there … which creates demand and activity.  Montreal remains quite busy, and it is still largely driven by the financial services and telecommunications clients. 
The following are some facts/indicators we are watching as of time of writing:

> The price of oil skyrocketed with the middle east disruption, and is currently at $100.80 a barrel, with a one year forecast of $116.

> At 13,718 the TSX lost about 300 points from last month’s reading of 14,027.

> The Canadian dollar continues to be strong and remains north of 99 cents US.
> Prime remains at 3% however there continues to be talk about when this will go up again!
> Canada added 15,000 jobs (322,000 in the last year) and the unemployment rate remained steady at 7.8%.

> Eagle experienced growth again in February, in the number of candidates applying, in the number of orders received from clients and in the number of people billing.

 Summary:

All of this means that despite the terrible events in Japan and the upheaval across the Middle East, Canada is still in a recovery/growth mode.  In fact, its two largest markets (Calgary and Toronto) are seeing very active demand and signs of skills shortages.  The demand across all markets is generally up and we are moving from an “employer driven” market to an “employee driven’ market.  Hence my “standing advice” to ANY company needing people  (a) Start the process now with a strong PLANNING phase; (b) develop very clean processes to find, screen, choose, hire and onboard these new resources; and (c) know that you will have a lot of competition and therefore speed in decision making will be critical!

That was my monthly look at the Canadian job market and some of its influences.

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Kevin Dee is CEO of Eagle (a Professional Staffing Company)
Want to know where Canada’s hot jobs are?   Visit the Eagle Job Centre!
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St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated annually on March 17th in honor of Ireland’s patron saint.  

Little is known of Patrick’s early life, though it is known that he was born in Roman Britain in the 4th century, into a wealthy Romano-British family. His father and grandfather were deacons in the Church. At the age of sixteen, he was kidnapped by Irish raiders and taken captive to Ireland as a slave.  It is believed he was held somewhere on the west coast of Ireland, possibly Mayo, but the exact location is unknown. According to his Confession, he was told by God in a dream to flee from captivity to the coast, where he would board a ship and return to Britain. Upon returning, he quickly joined the Church in Auxerre in Gaul and studied to be a priest.

In 432, he again said that he was called back to Ireland, though as a bishop, to Christianise the Irish from their native polytheism. Irish folklore tells that one of his teaching methods included using the shamrock to explain the Christian doctrine of the Trinity to the Irish people. After nearly thirty years of evangelism, he died on 17 March 461, and according to tradition, was buried at Downpatrick. Although there were other more successful missions to Ireland from Rome, Patrick endured as the principal champion of Irish Christianity and is held in esteem in the Irish Church.

St Patrick’s day in Ireland  is a religious holiday similar to Christmas and Easter, with grand parades, community feasts, charity shows and  the mass. The parades, shamrocks, and green beer are provided primarily for tourists … although the Irish drink their share too!   In fact, it has turned out to be one of the most celebrated events in Ireland and a major tourist attraction.

In North America and the rest of the world the day is celebrated by many, with parades and various activities.  In Chicago for instance they turn the river green with food dye!   It is also one of the busiest days of the year for bars and restaurants!

So … happy St Paddy’s day, don’t hurt yourself too much!

Irish saying …