Wanted: Ethical Applicants
In response to the scandals sweeping through corporate America, companies are now taking a closer look at the ethical track records of those aspiring to sensitive corporate positions. Those seeking key financial posts can expect a thorough background check, according to CareerJournal.com. Companies fear that hiring anyone with any history of improper dealings or shaky financial reporting could torpedo company stock prices. "Companies will be looking for integrity," says Franklin Allen, a finance professor from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. Meanwhile, companies have to worry about more than just juggled books. According to a study by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners in Austin, Texas, corporate crime is on the upswing overall. ACFE cites 663 cases of occupational fraud that cost companies a staggering $7 billion last year.
On the Job Front
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA - United Airlines is closing half of its ten Bay Area ticket offices. The company has not determined which five sites will close, but all locations combined currently employ 65 people . . . BART will trim 70 employees as it works to balance its budget.
FREMONT - Everdream has reduced its ranks by 12 people, or 10 percent of total staff. The company is a desktop management services provider.
LODI - Tomato and peach processing company Pacific Coast Producers held a job fair last week to fill some of the 700 seasonal positions it has open.
MENLO PARK - Robert Half International is developing a subsidiary to house the 760 former Arthur Andersen employees the staffing firm recently hired.
MILPITAS - Waukesha Electric Systems will close its local plant by the end of the year, resulting in the loss of 400 jobs. The Wisconsin-based company makes power transformers.
NEVADA CITY - The company that recently purchased Grass Valley Group is moving its video router manufacturing facility here. With the move, Thomson Multimedia will add 25 jobs to the area.
PLEASANTON - Electronic systems company CPU Technology plans to create 90 new jobs.
RANCHO CORDOVA - Telecommunications company WorldCom is eliminating 20 percent of its worldwide employees. The July cuts will include 294 jobs in Sacramento and Rancho Cordova.
ROCKLIN - Database software company Oracle has let go 200 of the 550 people it employs locally.
SACRAMENTO - Thanks to a contract with Regional Transit, CAF USA needs 80 to 100 employees for its light-rail-car test and assembly facility at McClellan Air Force Base. The company is headquartered in Spain.
SAN JOSE - IBM has laid off the first of what is expected to be thousands of workers company-wide. Locally, the company's Storage Systems Group said good-bye to 200, however many may be offered other IBM positions.
SANTA CLARA - Networking specialist 3Com Corp is merging two business units that will trigger an undetermined number of layoffs.
VACAVILLE - Biotech company Large Scale Biology has cut its workforce by a third, eliminating 58 positions.
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