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BlackBerry outage frustrates bankers

"It's one of those things -- you don't realize how important it is to breathe, until you can't do it," said the New York-based banker, who declined to be named because he was not authorized to speak about the subject on behalf of his bank.The banker is one of millions of BlackBerry users in various regions around the world who have been plagued by service disruptions over the last three days, with North American users of Research in Motion's popular handheld device being the latest to get hit on Wednesday.Wall Street honchos and others who tend to spend more time on their BlackBerry than perhaps with their families were left frustrated at the service disruption.The sentiment may prompt more banks and law firms to start using rivals such as Apple's iPhone and Google's Android-based devices -- a move that would not bode well for Research in Motion, which is already losing market share.Law firm DLA Piper, which has 4,200 lawyers worldwide, is accelerating discussions about making a switch to iPhones and Android devices, said Don Jaycox, chief information officer."This has brought it to the front-burner," Jaycox said. "It will cause more people to opt for other choices."It would join several Wall Street banks that already allow employees to use other devices to connect to company networks.Credit Suisse earlier this year started allowing bankers and other employees to use their Apple and Android devices on the company network. Barclays Capital allows some employees to use iPhones and iPads. Standard Chartered switched from BlackBerry to iPhones for many users several months ago.At Sagent Advisors, an independent investment bank in New York, 10 percent to 15 percent of the users have switched to iPhones, while a similar number have taken up Android devices."It is still mostly BlackBerry but quickly moving away," said Terrence Barron, Sagent's head of marketing and communications. "Over time there has been much more of sliding over to Android devices and iPhones for us."Research in Motion advised clients of the outage in the Americas and said it was working to restore services. The company wasn't immediately available to comment on this article.The switch away from BlackBerry comes as more employees demand to be allowed to use their iPhones, iPads and other smart phones on company networks. Some do not want to carry two devices, and some prefer tablets such as iPads over laptops.One of BlackBerry's main selling points -- Research in Motion's top-tier security features -- is also no longer unique.Mobile device management companies such as Good Technology and MobileIron are offering alternatives that are making it possible for banks and other firms to make the switch.Banks also have an incentive in allowing employees to use their own devices, as it can save on what the company has to pay for the BlackBerry service plan.Credit Suisse, for instance, has seen about one-third of its 25,000 BlackBerry users switch to Apple or Android devices this year, saving the bank millions of dollars, said Stephen Hilton, the bank's global head of technology infrastructure services.The bank even offered employees a rebate to pay termination fees on existing BlackBerry contracts to make the switch."We are seeing very rapid adoption of this 'consumer technology' platform," Hilton said. "I suspect this (outage) would be another reason why people may reconsider at refresh what device they buy."'REAL PAIN'The disruption on Wednesday left many bankers at a loss."I rely on BlackBerry and these outages have been a real pain," said a senior M&A banker at the London office of an international bank, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.A Houston-based investment banker who focuses on the energy sector deals said he copied himself on an email to make sure it went through.A colleague who was traveling, he said, called from the road in "panic" because he had not received any emails for a couple of hours.But while the disruption was frustrating, the banker said they had not been frequent enough to force a change at his firm. The last big outage in North America happened two years ago."If BlackBerry were down every other day it would be a pretty big issue," the banker said. "It just forces you to actually call your assistant. It's like the old days, when you had to talk to people."

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On the Move: Ameriprise hires from MSSB, Merrill

In Kansas, former Merrill adviser Darren Pracht has joined Ameriprise's Wichita office. He has been registered with the firm since Oct. 7.Ameriprise's Don Froude, president of the firm's Personal Advisors Group, told Reuters the company has primarily been recruiting seasoned advisers who have already built up a strong client base."Our model now, instead of bringing in the novices, is now recruiting experienced advisers," Froude said at the Reuters Wealth Summit last week. "That's how we're expanding our side of the business."Pracht manages $85 million in assets under management, while Spicehandler manages $55 million, according to an Ameriprise spokesman.Spicehandler had previously worked for more than a decade at Citigroup , later joining Morgan Stanley Smith Barney after the merger of Morgan Stanley's wealth management unit and Citi's Smith Barney in June 2009.Pracht had been with Bank of America for more than a decade.

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INSIGHT-Wisconsin clash spotlights US labor-management rift

OSHKOSH, Wisconsin Oct 13 (Reuters) - Oshkosh Corp has been a rare lifeline for the beleaguered United Auto Workers, one of the few American manufacturers to have added significantly to its ranks of well-paid union workers in a brutal decade for factory hands.But now, as the UAW renews conciliatory contracts with major automakers that have dismissed tens of thousands of hourly workers, union employees are turning against Oshkosh.Tim Jacobson, 32, is among the workers who have rejected a new contract forged by union leaders with the maker of military vehicles and fire trucks. They are marching in the streets of this university city on Lake Winnebago to denounce an employer that has nearly doubled its UAW staff to 3,100 over the five-year span of its last union contract.Jacobson himself was hired by Oshkosh two years ago, less than a month after he was laid off from a nearby Harley Davidson plant."What's disgusting?" Jacobson shouts, carrying an American flag as he leads a line of 150 workers at a recent rally downtown. "Union busting," the crowd responds.This seemingly paradoxical labor standoff stems from grievances almost unique to Oshkosh, whose profits have been flush in recent years, and from a broader animus between labor and management, both nationally and in particular in Wisconsin, where a clash over the power of public-sector unions transfixed the country over the summer."Frankly, a lot of people here are pissed off," Jacobson said. Workers complain that the new contract erodes work rules, security and seniority rights - such as a demand that workers can be required to work up to ten Saturdays per year. Particularly galling to them is the company's call for more temporary, non-union positions. When Oshkosh sought union approval to hire as many as 300 temporary workers starting in 2013 as part of its original contract offer, the workforce rejected it.The most recent rejection, on Saturday, was the second in a week. The company had offered as much as an 8.5 percent raise and $2,000 signing bonus to offset to rising healthcare premiums. Oshkosh had attempted to craft a similar deal in 2010, a year before the contract's expiration, and met resistance then as well.An outright strike is unlikely. UAW and Oshkosh officials returned to the bargaining table on Wednesday. A third deal, without any demands for temporary worker provisions, will likely be handed to workers this weekend, according to people familiar with the talks. These people expressed confidence that the third attempt for ratification will work.If it goes through, the victory for the UAW could well be overshadowed by friction it is facing with a much bigger member, Ford Motor Co .Dissent isn't a new phenomenon for the UAW. In Detroit - home of the union's core constituency - workers have shown a willingness to vote down automaker contracts in even the worst of times. And now, as Ford seeks ratification for a new deal that includes lucrative bonuses, there is widespread concern that workers there will vote no. As of Thursday, two Ford factories had rejected a proposed four-year deal, throwing its ratification into doubt.And with protestors on the streets of Oshkosh, Wisconsin where even the deep erosion of the industrial heartland has been kept at bay, the thread of distrust sewn into labor-management relations is proving difficult to sever.Oshkosh's desire to bring in temps follows a pattern set by most of the nation's industrial heavyweights, such as Caterpillar Inc, who want to meet shorter-term production needs without having to bring on another crop of permanent employees. Workers here firmly believe this will lead to an inevitable loss of union jobs."Our members have been getting very angry out there," UAW Local 578 President Nick Nitscke recently said while standing in the lobby of the Oshkosh hotel, the site of the labor negotiations. He pointed to a street corner where hundreds of workers have protested several times in recent weeks. "They do not want anything to do with temp workers."PICKET FEVERThis schism between the workers and their union has many outside observers scratching their heads, coming as it does with the rest of the country plagued by economic malaise.Oshkosh has been on a roll thanks to winning big contracts to build military vehicles in recent years, though it now faces new headwinds as government-spending cuts and increased competition squeeze the defense industry. Management has been hitting this theme hard.In a letter accompanying its first offer to UAW workers last month, Chief Executive Charles Szews said, "the company's offer takes into consideration today's economic realities for our principal customer, the U.S. Department of Defense, which is facing hundreds of billions of dollars in budget reductions." Workers are largely dismissive of that outlook.Like many others in the area, Rep. Gordon Hintz, a Democrat representing Oshkosh, sees the current conflict as at least partially influenced by the protests over public-sector unions that polarized public opinion, just 87 miles to the south in Madison. The Occupy Wall Street movement is also energizing workers, he said. "Does Wisconsin have picket fever? Yes, I think there is a little of that."A broader anxiety is also underpinning the workers' resistance, says Mike Schroeder, a longtime Oshkosh worker recently elected as a chief bargaining steward. "People have not gotten the entire story of what is really going on here. This isn't really about money," he said. "This is about job security."A significant portion of Oshkosh's workers here were hired as the company was scrambling to fill orders from the Department of Defense, while other Wisconsin manufacturers -- including Kohler Co., Harley Davidson, and Mercury Marine - were laying people off and, in some cases, hiring more temps. As a result, Oshkosh was able to hire skilled manufacturing workers who harbored a deep resentment toward non-unionized employees doing short-term work.

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Dollar and euro hit NY session highs versus yen

The euro hit a high of 107.44 and last traded at 107.24, up 1.3 percent on the day.U.S. stocks rallied, with the Standard & Poor's 500 index on track for back-to-back weekly gains for the first time since early July. U.S. Treasuries prices fell.

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UPDATE 3-Berlusconi wins confidence vote but still weak

* Analysts expect new tumble, early electionsBy Philip Pullella and Gavin JonesROME, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi won a vote of confidence on Friday, giving his struggling centre-right government a new, but probably short, lease of life.Berlusconi, who said before the vote that the country would be thrown into economic and social catastrophe if his government collapsed now, won the vote 316 for and 301 against.The result was in doubt until the last minute and even some centre-right members expressed uncertainty and showed nervousness before the vote on whether the government would pull through.The situation was so tense that some in the centre-right went into last-minute horse-trading meetings with Berlusconi, who is trying to contain a rebellion in his coalition.There was even doubt until the last minute if the quorum making the vote valid existed since most of the opposition boycotted the first round of the vote.One coalition parliamentarian, Francesco Nucara, told the chamber he was voting to save the government for the good of the country but openly expressed dissent with the way Berlusconi was running the centre-right and his choice of ministers."You have put some people in your government who would not be worthy to be doorkeepers in some of your companies," Nucara said in his address before the vote.The prime minister's administration has been plagued by scandals, economic stagnation and intense pressure from financial markets.Berlusconi was forced to call the vote after his divided and undisciplined coalition suffered an embarrassment when it failed to pass a routine budget provision on Tuesday.The prime minister was holding a cabinet meeting immediately after the vote to re-present the budget measure defeated on Tuesday, a result that Berlusconi wrote off as just an "accident" because some parliamentarians arrived late.TEMPORARY REPRIEVEWhile the vote gave Berlusconi a reprieve, analysts say it will be just a matter of months only before a new crisis hits, and Italy is likely to hold elections next spring, a year early.In a note to clients, Barclays Capital called the results: "A confidence vote that doesn't give much confidence"."In many ways, this is the worst possible outcome at a time when the eurozone itself is in disarray. It will do little to stop the rot and exposes Italy and the eurozone to further uncertainty in the coming weeeks and months," said Nicholas Spiro of Spiro Sovereign Strategy in London.Berlusconi told parliament on Thursday the fall of his government would be "a victory for those who want to see (Italy) fall into decline, catastrophe and the kind of speculation we have seen for months in Europe and Italy".Several newspaper editorials on Friday highlighted the lack of new ideas in Berlusconi's speech to parliament a day before the vote was taken, describing him as paralysed by a fear of aggravating tensions in his coalition."Not one new thought was expressed. Absolutely nothing. A complete vacuum," said Luca Ricolfi in La Stampa daily."Berlusconi has by now become a factor that is immobilising and freezing Italian politics."A number of centre-right deputies were absent from Tuesday's vote, infuriating Berlusconi and feeding suspicions that some stayed away to raise their bargaining power in the coalition.He is facing internal challenges from a number of ministers, most notably from Economy Minister Giulio Tremonti, who are unhappy with his leadership and the damage his personal and legal woes have done to Italy's reputation.The prime minister is on trial in four separate cases, accused of fraud, corruption and paying for sex with a minor.President Giorgio Napolitano entered the fray this week, expressing deep concern about the viability of government and demanding a "credible response" to Italy's acute problems.A Reuters survey of about 20 analysts said on Thursday that Italy was already in recession, would barely muster any growth in 2012 and would miss the government's fiscal deficit targets.Its sovereign debt has been downgraded in the past month by Standard & Poor's, Moody's and Fitch, and since early August it has relied on the European Central Bank to buy its bonds to prevent yields rising to unsustainable levels.

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UPDATE 2-Winnebago posts decline in profit, shipments

* Backlog, inventory also downOct 13 (Reuters) - Winnebago Industries Inc , the largest U.S. motorhome maker, posted a lower fourth-quarter profit and said shipments fell due to a weak economy."While we experienced improved market conditions in the first half of fiscal 2011, we were disappointed to see the negative effects caused by falling consumer confidence throughout the remainder of the year," CEO Randy Potts said in a statement.Sales of Winnebago's motor homes are heavily dependent on discretionary spending by consumers. A fragile economy and slow jobs growth have dampened consumer confidence in recent months.Forest City, Iowa-based Winnebago, which sells its motor homes under the Winnebago, Itasca and ERA brands, said motor home deliveries during the quarter fell 6.5 percent to 1,088 units. Dealer inventory fell 4.2 percent.Backlog at the quarter-end fell 10 percent to $74.7 million.The company's fourth-quarter net income was $3.5 million, or 12 cents a share, down from $4.9 million, or 17 cents a share, a year ago.Revenue rose 6 percent to $130.5 million due to price increases.Last month, Winnebago's rival Thor Industries Inc posted a better-than-expected quarterly profit but said sales of motorhomes fell 10 percent.Winnebago also competes with Navistar International's Monaco brand of recreational vehicles (RV).RV shipments in 2011 are expected to total 247,500 units, up 2.1 percent, according to a forecast by RV industry analyst and director of consumer surveys at the University of Michigan, Richard Curtin.Curtin said RV sales are expected to face continued challenges because of slow growth in jobs, incomes and credit market, and continued weakness in the housing market.Shipments are expected to fall 2 percent in 2012 to 242,400 units, according to Curtin.Winnebago's shares closed at $7.65 on Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange. They have lost almost 40 percent of their value in the last six months.

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Infosys says not in talks for buying Thomson Reuters unit

The Press Trust of India news agency had reported on Wednesday that Infosys was keen to acquire the Thomson Reuters' healthcare business. The Business Standard newspaper also had reported on Sept 15 that Infosys was close to buying the business for $700 million to $750 million.Thomson Reuters said in June it was planning to sell the unit, which supplies healthcare data and analysis to companies, government agencies and healthcare professionals. The business generated revenue of about $450 million in 2010.Infosys posted quarterly results on Wednesday, following which its executives told reporters the company was looking for acquisitions across sectors including healthcare and life sciences.

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FEATURE-So many US manufacturing jobs, so few skilled workers

* Shortfall in computer, math and science training* Siemens has more than 3,000 jobs open* Study sees a shortage of up 1.5 mln workers in 2020By Lucia MutikaniWASHINGTON, Oct 12 (Reuters) - U.S. manufacturers are failing to fill thousands of vacant jobs, surprising when 14 million people are searching for work.Technology giant Siemens Corp., the U.S. arm of Germany's Siemens AG , has over 3,000 jobs open all over the country. More than half require science, technology, engineering and math-related skills.Other companies report job vacancies that range from six to 200, with some positions open for at least nine months.Manufacturing is hurt by a dearth of skilled workers."What we have been saying for quite a while is that even though there is a high unemployment rate, it's very difficult to find skilled people," said Jeff Owens, president of ATS, a manufacturing consulting services company.A survey by ManpowerGroup found that a record 52 percent of U.S. employers have difficulty filling critical positions within their organizations -- up from 14 percent in 2010.Owens said his company, which counts manufacturing behemoths Caterpillar and Motorola among its clients, has at any given time about 200 open positions ."We are pro-actively working to fill them. It can take 90 to a hundred days, probably, to fill them," he told Reuters. "We are creating jobs. We just don't necessarily have the right people to fill them."On average, companies usually take seven weeks to fill job openings.MISMATCH OF SKILLS AND JOBSMost of the jobs hard to fill are for skilled trades, Internet technology, engineers, sales representatives and machine operators.Yet American colleges are producing fewer math and science graduates as students favor social sciences, whose workload is perceived to be manageable, leading to a skills mismatch.Math, engineering, technology and computer science students accounted for about 11.1 percent of college graduates in 1980, according to government data. That share dropped to about 8.9 percent in 2009.An aging population of skilled workers is adding to the problem. As the baby boomers retire, there are fewer skilled workers available to replace them."Many of the younger kids that are coming out of college have been discouraged to go into manufacturing," said Dennis Bray, president and CEO of Contour Precision Group."A lot of the college graduates have chosen a curriculum and degree that does not give them the necessary science and math skills to be of immediate benefit to companies such as ours."Contour Precision, based in Clover, South Carolina, does contract work for the energy and aerospace industries. It is currently looking for six technicians. It has had positions open since last year.Unemployment in manufacturing is at 8.4 percent, below the overall rate of 9.1 percent. According to the Labor Department's latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover survey, there were 240,000 open jobs in manufacturing in August up 38.7 percent from a year ago.The problem is sufficiently serious that businesses are pushing Congress to address the issue of visas and help them hire more high-skilled foreigners.STRUCTURAL UNEMPLOYMENT?These companies' inability to fill open jobs suggests that part of the unemployment problem confronting the nation could be more of a structural nature rather than a downturn in the business cycle.Two years after the end of the worst recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s, about 14 million Americans are still unemployed.In September, nearly 45 percent of them had been out of work for six months or more. The longer people are out of the workforce, the more dated their skills become, making it even harder to reintegrate them into the labor market.The types of jobs available are also changing.Medium-skilled repetitive tasks that can be computerized continue to disappear. First, it was from from the factory floor, but it also affects the back office, where processing and support jobs are declining.The strongest job growth is concentrated in healthcare and the scientific, technical and computer fields, which usually require at least a post-secondary education."The old jobs are not coming back. We need to invest in education and training to get people prepared to fill these high-skilled, high-wage jobs of the future," said Eric Spiegel, president and CEO of Siemens Corp.Siemens is recruiting in states where unemployment is high. Pennsylvania, Florida, Texas, North Carolina, New Jersey, California, Illinois, Georgia and New York have jobless rates that range from 8 percent to 12.1 percent.According to the Conference Board, workers with computer and math or science skills have a far better chance of getting a job, with one worker applying for every three of these types of jobs advertised. In contrast, there are roughly three people for every advertised job in sales.PLENTY OF WELL-PAYING JOBSFew of the thousands of jobs open in the manufacturing sector are low-wage positions.Workers at the very low levels can earn as much as $30 an hour, with annual salaries for engineers ranging from $75,000 to $100,000. At Siemens, the average potential salary offered for its open positions is $89,000 a year.Manufacturing lost its appeal during the 1990s when companies started moving production to Asian countries like China, in search of cheap labor. But rising wages in China are forcing some companies to bring production back home.Although manufacturing accounts for about 12 percent of U.S. gross domestic product and about 10 percent of total non-farm employment, it has been the main pillar of support for the economy and one of the highest-paying sectors.The shortage of skilled workers is also compounded by the depressed housing market, which is making it tough for Americans to relocate to where the jobs are.The housing market crash has left many people with home loans owing financial institutions more than what their houses are worth, making it difficult for them to sell.BRING IN THE ARMYIn hopes of addressing the skills gap, companies such as Siemens and ATS are turning to the military, targeting veterans. Siemens is embarking on apprenticeship programs, while ATS is running training programs for young people."We have found that veterans have extensive technical training and experience that they gain through military service, and these skills are extremely valuable to us and match up well with many of our over 3,000 open positions," Spiegel said.Siemens has hired 450 military veterans so far this year.Others are teaming up with professional bodies like the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME), which has developed online courses to support its members."We are not filling the pipeline with enough candidates for these positions. This problem has been ongoing for the last three or four years," said Mark Tomlinson, CEO of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers.But the long-term solution lies in revamping the nation's education system to meet the current challenges and invest more in vocational training, industry leaders say."Often people say we do have vocational training, but it's geared towards yesterday's technology and yesterday's job opportunities," said ATS's Owens. "I am not sure the educators are on the mark with what exactly needs to be taught for today's environment."

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FEATURE-So many US manufacturing jobs, so few skilled workers

* Shortfall in computer, math and science training* Siemens has more than 3,000 jobs open* Study sees a shortage of up 1.5 mln workers in 2020By Lucia MutikaniWASHINGTON, Oct 12 (Reuters) - U.S. manufacturers are failing to fill thousands of vacant jobs, surprising when 14 million people are searching for work.Technology giant Siemens Corp., the U.S. arm of Germany's Siemens AG , has over 3,000 jobs open all over the country. More than half require science, technology, engineering and math-related skills.Other companies report job vacancies that range from six to 200, with some positions open for at least nine months.Manufacturing is hurt by a dearth of skilled workers."What we have been saying for quite a while is that even though there is a high unemployment rate, it's very difficult to find skilled people," said Jeff Owens, president of ATS, a manufacturing consulting services company.A survey by ManpowerGroup found that a record 52 percent of U.S. employers have difficulty filling critical positions within their organizations -- up from 14 percent in 2010.Owens said his company, which counts manufacturing behemoths Caterpillar and Motorola among its clients, has at any given time about 200 open positions ."We are pro-actively working to fill them. It can take 90 to a hundred days, probably, to fill them," he told Reuters. "We are creating jobs. We just don't necessarily have the right people to fill them."On average, companies usually take seven weeks to fill job openings.MISMATCH OF SKILLS AND JOBSMost of the jobs hard to fill are for skilled trades, Internet technology, engineers, sales representatives and machine operators.Yet American colleges are producing fewer math and science graduates as students favor social sciences, whose workload is perceived to be manageable, leading to a skills mismatch.Math, engineering, technology and computer science students accounted for about 11.1 percent of college graduates in 1980, according to government data. That share dropped to about 8.9 percent in 2009.An aging population of skilled workers is adding to the problem. As the baby boomers retire, there are fewer skilled workers available to replace them."Many of the younger kids that are coming out of college have been discouraged to go into manufacturing," said Dennis Bray, president and CEO of Contour Precision Group."A lot of the college graduates have chosen a curriculum and degree that does not give them the necessary science and math skills to be of immediate benefit to companies such as ours."Contour Precision, based in Clover, South Carolina, does contract work for the energy and aerospace industries. It is currently looking for six technicians. It has had positions open since last year.Unemployment in manufacturing is at 8.4 percent, below the overall rate of 9.1 percent. According to the Labor Department's latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover survey, there were 240,000 open jobs in manufacturing in August up 38.7 percent from a year ago.The problem is sufficiently serious that businesses are pushing Congress to address the issue of visas and help them hire more high-skilled foreigners.STRUCTURAL UNEMPLOYMENT?These companies' inability to fill open jobs suggests that part of the unemployment problem confronting the nation could be more of a structural nature rather than a downturn in the business cycle.Two years after the end of the worst recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s, about 14 million Americans are still unemployed.In September, nearly 45 percent of them had been out of work for six months or more. The longer people are out of the workforce, the more dated their skills become, making it even harder to reintegrate them into the labor market.The types of jobs available are also changing.Medium-skilled repetitive tasks that can be computerized continue to disappear. First, it was from from the factory floor, but it also affects the back office, where processing and support jobs are declining.The strongest job growth is concentrated in healthcare and the scientific, technical and computer fields, which usually require at least a post-secondary education."The old jobs are not coming back. We need to invest in education and training to get people prepared to fill these high-skilled, high-wage jobs of the future," said Eric Spiegel, president and CEO of Siemens Corp.Siemens is recruiting in states where unemployment is high. Pennsylvania, Florida, Texas, North Carolina, New Jersey, California, Illinois, Georgia and New York have jobless rates that range from 8 percent to 12.1 percent.According to the Conference Board, workers with computer and math or science skills have a far better chance of getting a job, with one worker applying for every three of these types of jobs advertised. In contrast, there are roughly three people for every advertised job in sales.PLENTY OF WELL-PAYING JOBSFew of the thousands of jobs open in the manufacturing sector are low-wage positions.Workers at the very low levels can earn as much as $30 an hour, with annual salaries for engineers ranging from $75,000 to $100,000. At Siemens, the average potential salary offered for its open positions is $89,000 a year.Manufacturing lost its appeal during the 1990s when companies started moving production to Asian countries like China, in search of cheap labor. But rising wages in China are forcing some companies to bring production back home.Although manufacturing accounts for about 12 percent of U.S. gross domestic product and about 10 percent of total non-farm employment, it has been the main pillar of support for the economy and one of the highest-paying sectors.The shortage of skilled workers is also compounded by the depressed housing market, which is making it tough for Americans to relocate to where the jobs are.The housing market crash has left many people with home loans owing financial institutions more than what their houses are worth, making it difficult for them to sell.BRING IN THE ARMYIn hopes of addressing the skills gap, companies such as Siemens and ATS are turning to the military, targeting veterans. Siemens is embarking on apprenticeship programs, while ATS is running training programs for young people."We have found that veterans have extensive technical training and experience that they gain through military service, and these skills are extremely valuable to us and match up well with many of our over 3,000 open positions," Spiegel said.Siemens has hired 450 military veterans so far this year.Others are teaming up with professional bodies like the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME), which has developed online courses to support its members."We are not filling the pipeline with enough candidates for these positions. This problem has been ongoing for the last three or four years," said Mark Tomlinson, CEO of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers.But the long-term solution lies in revamping the nation's education system to meet the current challenges and invest more in vocational training, industry leaders say."Often people say we do have vocational training, but it's geared towards yesterday's technology and yesterday's job opportunities," said ATS's Owens. "I am not sure the educators are on the mark with what exactly needs to be taught for today's environment."

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David "The Hoff" Hasselhoff wants his own video game

The "Baywatch" actor is Electronic Arts's latest pitchman in online videos for "Burnout Crash," a racing video game on Xbox Live with the motion controller, Kinect. But he's not stopping there: He wants a game of his own, he told Reuters this week."I've wanted to develop my own game so this was a way of seeing if this works and maybe we can take this one step further with using the same concept as 'Burnout Crash,' and maybe do something with the Hoff," he said.Hasselhoff said he's in talks with Electronic Arts (EA) about developing some kind of game or app. The videogame company could not immediately be reached for comment.The 59 year-old actor said he signed on with EA after the company sent him the game and it reminded him of driving stunts he'd help create on his hit 1980s TV show, "Knight Rider.""I saw the game and said, 'this is what 'Knight Rider' is about,'" Hasselhoff said."Knight Rider," the TV show in which Hasselhoff fought crime in a talking car, went off the air in 1986.(Writing and Reporting by Liana. B. Baker, Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

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Libya's NTC fighters find 25 corpses in Sirte

A commander with the National Transitional Council (NTC) said the corpses had been there for at least five days.

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TEXT-Fitch rates India's FINO at 'Fitch BBB(ind)'

-INR250m term loan facility (including INR100m of letter of credit): assigned 'Fitch BBB(ind)'/'Fitch A2(ind)'-INR400m cash credit facility (including INR200m of bank guarantee): assigned 'Fitch BBB(ind)'/'Fitch A2(ind)'-INR400m fund-based facility (including various non-fund based facilities): assigned 'Fitch BBB(ind)'/'Fitch A2(ind)'-INR150m fund-based facility (including INR100m non-fund based facility): assigned 'Fitch BBB(ind)'/'Fitch A2(ind)'-INR100m term loan facility: assigned 'Fitch BBB(ind)'/'Fitch A2(ind)'The ratings are based on a consolidated view of FINO, its subsidiaries and group company FINO Fintech Foundation. The ratings reflect the company's current strong liquidity position post the INR1,500m investment by Blackstone GPV Capital Partners (Mauritius) VI-B FDI Ltd (Blackstone) in July 2011, the high growth potential of India's financial IT services industry and the market leadership enjoyed by the company. The ratings also factor in FINO's ability to offer a wide range of last-mile services relating to banking, insurance, government services and retail across India, based on its technology as well as its nationwide network of 20,000 business correspondents (BCs).Over the past four years, FINO had received large foreign direct investments, including INR2,440m through preference shares in three tranches. Based on its criteria "Treatment of Hybrids in Corporate and REIT Credit Analysis", Fitch has considered INR240m Class A & INR700m Class B preference shares as debt, and provided 50% equity credit to INR1.5bn Class C preference shares. Fitch expects FINO to report a sharp increase in revenues in the financial year ending March 2012 given the expansion of its network of BCs in the past 12 months and increased number of services offered. In Fitch's assessment, this is likely to translate into a concomitant large increase in EBITDAR profits for the year as well as an improvement in leverage (adjusted debt net of cash/operating EBITDAR) to below 3.5x for FY12 (FY11: 6.79x).The ratings are constrained by revenue concentration in few clients (the top three clients accounted for 66.7% of revenues in FY11), significant working capital requirements and expected moderation in profit margins due to increasing competition and higher operating costs. FINO has had a stretched receivables position (195 days in FY11) due to payment delays by clients (banks and government). Its large inventory levels are attributed to stocks of imported smart cards required to support its business requirements as well as stocks of imported equipment for sale. With the industry attracting several new entrants, Fitch expects a moderation in the company's operating margins over the next three to five years.Increase in scale of operations while maintaining leverage at less than 3.5x through FY13 may result in positive rating action. Conversely, a slowdown in revenue growth accompanied by decline in margin contribution from its various business segments may result in negative rating action. In particular, increase in leverage to over 5.0x or decrease in operating EBITDAR/(gross interest expense + rent) to less than 1.5x on sustained basis may undermine ratings.Incorporated in 2006, FINO provides end-to-end technology and operational solutions to banks, insurance companies and the government to extend their outreach to low-income people who do not have access to insurance and banking. For FY11, the company reported consolidated revenues of INR1,862.5m (INR1,002m in FY10), and EBITDA margin of 10.93% (-1.84%).

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UPDATE 1-Soccer-Turkey beat Azerbaijan to secure playoff slot

The Trabzonspor striker fired the ball into the net in the 60th minute after a long through ball by substitute Selcuk Inan sent him clear.Euro 2008 semi-finalists Turkey needed a win to ensure a definite place in the playoffs but Belgium's 3-1 loss to group winners Germany meant a draw would have sufficed."I think it's a compliment for the team in a very difficult season in Turkish football to have accomplished the playoffs," the Dutch manager said of Turkey's performance."It was not a very difficult game. I think we started the first period of the game very well, we made a good press, we were playing a very good possession play," he added.Turkey looked the better side from the start, with Real Madrid midfielder Hamit Altintop sending several shots just wide of the Azeri goal during the first half.They controlled the second half too and after Yilmaz made the breakthrough he was denied a second goal when his shot was well saved by the Azeri keeper in the 84th minute."Azerbaijan played extremely defensive so we had difficulty in finding many chances," Yilmaz said."We suffered a lack of confidence after the Germany game, but it's important what our team does rather than other teams. We want to participate in Euro 2012 really bad and it doesn't matter who we face in the playoffs now, we will do our best."Turkey, who suffered a 3-1 home defeat by Germany last week, finish the campaign in second place with 17 points, behind Germany, who won all 10 of their games. Azerbaijan finished fifth in the six-team group on seven points.Turkey will now compete in the playoffs in November to try and secure a place in Euro 2012."Hopefully the players are getting better and better ... we will watch them closely in the upcoming weeks, in Turkey and outside Turkey and we'll see to make a very competitive team for the upcoming difficult games," said Hiddink.