---

BACK TO TOP
|

[Hawaii Inc.]

NEW JOBS

>> CB Richard Ellis Hawaii Inc. has hired Randi L. Allmon and Courtney Hannah as assistant property managers, Heather Clark as a property accountant and Maureen A. Miller as a human resources and accounts receivable assistant. Allmon will manage Perry Building on South King Street in Moiliili and assist senior property managers. She was previously an HTH Corp. property manager. Hannah will assist in Koko Marina Shopping Center's ownership transition. Clark will compile financial reports for commercial property managers and owners. Miller will be responsible for benefits, enrollments and administrative duties in the human resources department.

PROMOTIONS

>>Richard Quinn has been promoted to associate at Helbert Hastert & Fee. He joined the company in 2000 as a senior planner and designer. His work at the firm has focused on urban design, community planning and landscape architecture projects in Hawaii and throughout the Pacific.

>> Castle Resorts & Hotels has named Jordan Joanou to director of revenue management and reservations, while Christie Takashima has been promoted to contracts manager. Joanou will manage all of the company's property, including more than 2500 units throughout Hawaii, Kauai, Oahu, Maui, Molokai, Saipan and New Zealand. Takashima will assist the sales and marketing team with wholesale contracts.

RECOGNITION

>> Andre Dolor took second place in the national "I Am the Greatest" GATF Web Press Skills Contest. Dolor is web foreman for Hagadone Printing Co. The contest, a battle of problem-solving and web offset press operating skill, is sponsored by the Graphic Arts Technical Foundation.

---

BACK TO TOP
|

Severance most generous in health care, IT fields

Who offers the most severance pay?

The healthcare, energy, and IT industries tend to provide the most generous severance packages to laid off top executives, according to The Global Severance Practices Survey.

The worldwide poll of 1,500 firms in 32 countries by Right Management Consultants found that 50 percent of the firms in the three industries mentioned above offer one month or more of pay for every year worked.

"While no single industry has a corner on fairness when it comes to severance packages, the health care, energy, and IT industries tend to use a more liberal formula when calculating severance packages for top executives," said Geof Boole, executive vice president of Right Management's career transition business.

The survey found that the banking, chemicals, and utilities industries were more likely to offer two weeks' severance pay for every year of service. Most industries said they offered mid-level employees one or two weeks of severance pay for each year served. Approximately 75 percent of the companies polled said severance pay was based primarily on the number of years the executive had been with the firm. Forty percent of the firms offered one week of pay for each year worked.

According to the study, the least generous industries were engineering, construction, and the logistics field. Of those polled, 42 percent said top executives received less than one week of severance pay for each year of service. Thirty-five percent offered the same rate -- of one week per year served -- to departing technical employees.

By contrast, 19 percent of the firms in banking offered midlevel workers a month of severance for each year served.

Hotels mulling free Net service

Business travelers wary of paying high fees to access e-mail or the Internet are getting a reprieve. Thanks to the growing popularity of WiFi, the cheap technology for wireless that ensures high-speed Internet access, some hoteliers are offering Internet access to guests.

Eventually, hoteliers say, Internet access will be just another free commodity in hotel rooms, provided with the regularity of a continental breakfast.

Though most hotels have speedy Internet connections, they often charge per-night fees of between $10 and $25 to use the service. WiFi is changing that, said Keith Gilbert, president of Park Lodge Hotel Group of Walthan, Mass., because the cost of installing the equipment is minimal -- between $5,000 and $10,000 to outfit an entire property.

Some workers fib to extend days off

We're not above lies when it comes to extending our weekends.

One in five adults admit they have planned to call in sick to extend their weekend into three days, according to a survey by Orbitz, the airline-owned travel company based in Chicago.

Young adults 18 to 34 are more likely than older colleagues to call in sick when they're really not, with 32 percent in that group doing so.

But at other times, work can be the excuse for avoiding a trip.Twelve percent said they have fibbed to their friends or family using a work-related excuse to avoid visiting.

Business down sharply at 45th Paris Air Show

LE BOURGET, France >> Dealmaking declined nearly 30 percent at the Paris Air Show from two years ago, but organizers said yesterday they are hopeful economic conditions will improve in time for the next edition in 2005.

The 45th air show wrapped up yesterday, opening its doors to the public for a day of aerial displays by aircraft.

Yves Bonnet, who heads the air show, said the total value of deals announced at the eight-day show fell to $32 billion from about $45 billion at the previous rendition in 2001.

The airline industry is struggling to survive after the 9/11 attacks, the SARS outbreak, wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and general economic gloom.

European plane maker Airbus was the big winner in sales, announcing a total of about $20 billion in preliminary aircraft deals and firm orders from airlines Emirates, Korean Air and Qatar Airways.

Archrival Boeing received a preliminary deal to sell nine planes worth about $1.5 billion to Korean Air.

Gas prices rise less than 1 cent nationally

CAMARILLO, Calif. >> Gas prices nationwide increased slightly over the past two weeks as tighter crude oil supplies and scattered refinery glitches ended a recent price slide, according to an industry survey yesterday.

The average price for a gallon of self-serve gas nationwide, including all grades and taxes, was about $1.54 Friday, according to the Lundberg Survey of 8,000 stations. That was an increase of .67 cents from June 6, the date of the last survey.

Though the increase was slight, it was the first price rise since prices peaked on March 21 at $1.76 per gallon, said analyst Trilby Lundberg. The decreases were driven by falling oil prices after the Iraq war.

Lundberg said the increase was a result of crude oil prices reacting to a move by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to tighten supplies as of June 1. A few problems at U.S. refineries also crimped output, she said.