Google Wants You To Map Businesses

With so much data to crunch, firms need them—and will pay up

(NEWSER) - Forget the nerdy image: In today’s digital world, statisticians are hot, the New York Times reports. Big firms like Google need number-crunchers to parse piles of data, and they’re willing to pay for it—a statistician with a PhD can rake in $125,000 in his or her first year on the job. “I keep saying that the sexy job in the next 10 years will be statisticians,” says Google’s chief economist. More»

This essential question needs to be answered, but it's complex

(NEWSER) - We toss around the phrase all the time, but how do we define what makes a “good job” good? It’s a key question—and a complex one—as we look to the future of our economy, writes Michael Lind in Salon . Among the factors:

• Unions: We often call manufacturing jobs “good” ones, but that wasn’t the case until they were unionized. Service-sector jobs, meanwhile, are often seen as "bad" jobs, but they might see huge benefits from unionization.

Social network sneaks around search giant's block

(NEWSER) - Angered by Facebook’s data export policies, Google barred Facebook users from importing Gmail contacts last week—but Facebook quickly found a way around the problem, the Guardian reports. Calling for a “world of true data liberation,” Google labeled the social networking site a “data dead end” because users can’t easily export their contact data from the site. More»

Google hired 786 employees in Q1

(NEWSER) - If you went to MIT, the economy shouldn’t look half bad. Tech companies are hiring again, often even fighting over top recruits, the Wall Street Journal reports. Yesterday, Google announced that it had hired 786 employees in the first quarter, and said it expected to “continue hiring aggressively throughout the year.” The announcement came alongside a stellar earnings report that showed a 37% profit jump for the company. More»

Workers on furloughs aren't granted—or won't allow themselves—time off

(NEWSER) - Sure, required time off beats a layoff—but that can be tough to remember as many continue working through their furloughs, the New York Times reports. Some worry their jobs are at stake if they don’t keep working; others just can’t get their employers to schedule days off. And “sometimes it’s just too busy at work,” notes one employee. “You start to feel guilty.” More»