Survey finds optimism among area employers

Lawrence-area employers are expected to increase their hiring pace during the third quarter, according to a survey by Manpower Inc.

The survey found 40 percent of the companies interviewed planned on hiring more employees during the July-through-September period, while none planned to decrease staffing levels. The findings mark the second consecutive quarter that the survey has found strong hiring patterns. In the second quarter, 37 percent of companies planned on hiring workers, while none planned a decrease.

“I think employers are finally starting to feel better, especially in the manufacturing sector,” said Nancy Slabaugh, a manager in Manpower’s Lawrence office. “I think we’re starting to see a trend.”

The survey found significantly more optimism among employers than a year ago. In the third quarter of 2003, 13 percent of employers were predicting an increase in hiring, while 10 percent intended to cut back.

Technology

‘Large-scale’ attack disrupts Internet sites

Several major Web sites — including Yahoo!, Microsoft and Google — were inaccessible at times early Tuesday due to what the company that distributes them online called an attack.

The problem began about 9:45 a.m. and lasted about two hours, said Jeff Young, a spokesman for Akamai Technologies Inc., whose network of servers mirror some of the Web’s top destinations to improve their performance.

Young called it a “large scale, international attack on Internet infrastructure.” However, there was no evidence that nonAkamai infrastructure was affected.

Amit Yoran, head of the Department of Homeland Security’s cybersecurity division, declined to comment on the alleged attack and its scope, deferring questions to Akamai.

Regulations

No-spam list rejected

The Bush administration said Tuesday it would not create a national do-not-spam registry to discourage unwanted e-mail, fearing it could backfire and become a target list for new victims.

The Federal Trade Commission told Congress that senders of unwanted sales pitches might mine such a registry for names. Its chairman, Timothy Muris, quipped that consumers “will be spammed if we do a registry and spammed if we do not.”

Regulators instead proposed broad adoption of new authentication technology that would make it more difficult to disguise the origin of unwanted e-mails.