November 20, 2009
Tory on Boomers: Tough in a Rough Economy
Women For Hire CEO Tory Johnson is impressed by how baby boomers have dealt with the recession: they won't give up. "With the 20- and 30-somethings, the attitude is, ‘No one is hiring, what’s the point of going to a job fair?’ ” Tory tells The New York Times. “With the boomers, it’s, ‘Even if there’s one job, I’ll try.’ ”
New Hair Tests Spot Drug Use at Work
Newer workplace drug tests using hair samples reveal 10 times as many job applicants and employees taking cocaine and methamphetamine than had been found in urine tests. Quest Diagnostics hair data for the first time shows that in the first half of 2009 cocaine was found in three of every 1,000 urine tests performed on job applicants and employees, whereas hair testing found cocaine in 32 of 1,000. For every 1,000 tests, methamphetamine showed up once in urine and nine times in hair. But overall since 1988, drug use in the workplace is down sharply. USA TODAY.
November 19, 2009
Big Brother Watching at Work? Not so fast
In past years, courts showed sympathy for corporations that monitored personal email accounts accessed over corporate computer networks. Generally, judges treated corporate computers, and anything on them, as company property. But now, courts are increasingly taking into account whether employers have explicitly described how email is monitored to their employees, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Raises on the Rise?
Many employers are planning to reinstate merit increases in 2010, The Wall Street Journal reports. But some experts say base salaries are unlikely to return to pre-recession levels anytime soon. Of 555 large U.S. employers polled in October, 83% said they will give out raises next year, while only about half did so in 2009, reports Lincolnshire, Ill.-based Hewitt Associates Inc. None anticipate pay reductions next year, after 10% cut salaries in 2009.
Holiday Jobs: Get in Line
With the unemployment rate hovering at 10% and with already employed people looking to make money by taking second jobs, competition for retail, movie theater, package-delivery and other holiday posts is fierce, USA TODAY reports.
November 18, 2009
Smoking at Work? Even Smokers Support Bans
Even smokers support bans to prohibit lighting up in the workplace, according to a new survey. The international poll of nearly 5,000 people showed that nearly three-quarters of workers who smoke and 87% of employers support a smoke-free work environment. "Overall the results demonstrate global support for workplace smoking bans," said study author Michael Halpern. "This study shows support for additional programs and policies to increase those bans and assist employees with smoking cessation."
Sucking Up to the Boss Can Work -- But Backfire
Bosses are now told to praise down because paychecks are no longer enough to motivate employees. But praising up can be problematic, USA TODAY reports: of 22 CEOs interviewed, 17 said brown-nosing never helped their careers, but 20 said employees should compliment the boss if they are sincere about it. "Women are way way better at it because they are more subtle, more facile half-truth tellers," says Just Ask a Woman CEO Mary Lou Quinlan.
November 17, 2009
Entrepreneurs: It's Safe to Return to Corporate Life
Some employers may question why an entrepreneur would want to return to the corporate fold when they have been running their own shop. Michelle Goodman says job changers should focus on how they're ready for new challenges and better resources and not dwell on the reasons their business didn't work out. They also may have a better chance with a startup, she says.
Overseas Moves on Rise
Job search here going poorly? If you're thinking of opportunities abroad, you're not alone. USA TODAY reports that more Americans are finding jobs overseas. Hot markets: India, China, Brazil, United Arab Emirates and Singapore. "It suddenly looks like there may be better opportunities outside the U.S. It is a phenomenon we haven't had before," says Manpower CEO Jeff Joerres.
November 2, 2009
From California to the Streets of New York: Tory Johnson Sees Everything is Possible
From LA…
What impressed me the most last week at Maria Shriver’s California Women’s Conference was not the star power—CBS anchor Katie Couric, White House advisor Valerie Jarrett and former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, among others—but the positive and upbeat mood among the thousands of women who attended this estrogen expo.
These smart women are clearly looking forward—not back—and seem anything but depressed, despite their state’s hard hit economy. I could feel it in the room as I spoke to them about my own fired to hired story and then afterward in their thoughtful and probing questions about today’s job market.
Tory Johnson