Who's hiring?

• Trade show organiser easyFairs has announced it is hiring 100 new staff by the end of 2009, following the launch of new shows in the UK, Germany, Spain Scandinavia, France and Colombia in 2008.

• The US Food and Drug Administration has announced a hiring plan which includes more than 1,300 new jobs over the next few months.

• Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, is building up to 27 new stores in Canada by 2009, and will be employing around 6,000 staff.

• Dublin-based technology firm Origina is to double its workforce as part of a €3m (£2.3m) expansion. The move to hire another 60 personnel will allow it to compete for large IT service contracts in Europe.

Who's firing?

• UBS is cutting 5,500 jobs in response to market turmoil. The troubled Swiss bank has written off $37bn (£18.5bn) since the credit crisis hit.

• Coldwater Seafood has confirmed 180 jobs will be lost at its Worcestershire plant as it transfers operations to the firm's two sites in Grimsby, North-East England in June.

• Carlson Marketing is closing its Bristol office, with 42 job losses. 

• McCarthy & Stone, which specialises in building retirement homes, is to cut 100 jobs from its 1,170-strong workforce. The move has come in response to tougher market conditions.