September 30, 2003

News flash: Big Brother still watching
Posted by at 11:29 AM

Every year there's some series of firings at big companies like IBM, ATT, Apple, Compaq, Dow Chemical, even here at The New York Times, where employees are let go on the grounds of e-mail abuse.

The truth is, if you think you are the only one reading your work e-mails, or seeing your instant messages for that matter, think again.
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Mr. Unemployed? Meet Ms. Uninsured
Posted by at 10:33 AM

Having been among the ranks of the unemployed, I well know the pain of monthly COBRA payments and having to buy direct from HMOs. At the time, I neither had the stomach nor circumstances to go without as some must, or else freely choose to do. I felt my gut lurch again when I read in the NYT's today that there's been another spike in the number of uninsured directly correlating to the rising ranks of the unemployed.

The number of people without health insurance shot up last year by 2.4 million, the largest increase in a decade, raising the total to 43.6 million, as health costs soared and many workers lost coverage provided by employers, the Census Bureau reported today.

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September 29, 2003

Teachers learning about frustration
Posted by Douglas Eisenhart at 2:06 PM

At age 23, Dan Mullaney went back to school and worked hard to transition from being a chef to becoming a high school chemistry teacher. But recently, he's found, the state is making his new life a little more difficult than he had anticipated:

Mullaney, now 36, says he made the switch because he wanted to be in an environment that gave priority to learning and growing. But nine years later, as he pursues his master's degree under changing teacher certification regulations, he wonders why state education officials are making it confusing and frustrating for those who simply want to teach.

Read the story from today's Globe.

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Know thyself, love thyself, get job grasshopper
Posted by at 12:53 PM

Career Journal has some salient advice about managing your career (or job search) with grace.

Managing your career with grace means knowing what to focus on and what to give up. It means being able to move beyond past reversals and obsolete goals rather than dragging the same old baggage along with you. Above all, it means knowing what work will best match with your strengths, needs and values so that you can make the right choices at the right time.

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New wave of business
Posted by Jason Butler at 11:23 AM

Saturday's Globe reported on the opening of the new Legal Seafoods processing plant, and the implications for Boston's seafood industry and job creation.

Since 2000, eleven other seafood processors besides Legal [Seafoods] have moved into three new buildings with 105,000 total square feet, including the $10.5 million, 65,000-square-foot Harbor Seafood Center, said Lowell L. Richards III, chief of development for the Massachusetts Port Authority, which manages Boston's commercial port, Logan International Airport, and much of the city's waterfront real estate. ...

"The Legal plant demonstrates that Greater Boston is among the world's top fish processing locations and that the port is still a center for skilled blue-collar jobs."

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MLB has no love for working folks
Posted by Jason Butler at 11:20 AM

It's ok, we don't actually want to see the Red Sox playoff games anyway. At least, that's what Major League Baseball seems to think.

By scheduling the first two games between the Red Sox and Oakland at 10pm Wednesday and 4pm Thursday, MLB has ensured that no one working a regular 9-5 shift will be able to see either game.

And they wonder why football is more popular than baseball these days....
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John Hancock sold for $10,900,000,000
Posted by Jason Butler at 10:54 AM

Boston icon John Hancock has been sold. The good news: the deal safeguards most jobs.

Executives yesterday said Hancock would remain a "major employer" in Massachusetts, where it has 3,800 people, and Manulife 600 more. Hancock also extended for four more years a deal it had made with state regulators that would guarantee at least half of Hancock's work force would be based in Massachusetts.

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September 26, 2003

Falling Down
Posted by Jason Butler at 11:34 AM

Salon today has an article about the troubles of a formerly "professional" couple, now among the underemployed struggling to make ends meet.

A much older gentleman stopped, looked at me and said, "Young lady, did you go to college?" I smiled and said yes and handed him his stub. He shook his head and walked away. I was, to him, not just another slacker, but one with graying hair. I wanted to run after him and recite my C.V., list my accomplishments, and then push him down the stairs. I wanted to scream at him as he walked into a show, "It's not me, it's the economy!" and then shove him, hard, in the back.

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Finding freedom in the corporate life
Posted by Jason Butler at 9:12 AM

The New York Times profiles J. Robert Carr, one of many entrepreneurs who return to corporate life.

At a time when tens of thousands of workers are starting out on their own, some seasoned entrepreneurs are finding that the independent life, while rewarding, can be too difficult. Whether it is the limited support staff, the rising cost of employee benefits or the difficulty of getting work from cost-cutting companies, life for some entrepreneurs - or lawyers or doctors in private practice - is more stressful than it has been in years. As a result, some are deciding that the corporate world looks more appealing.

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Even an MBA can do it!
Posted by Jason Butler at 9:09 AM

This is my favorite ad of the moment, it's in heavy rotation during the Patsies games -- Even an MBA can do it!
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I want to be a SportsCenter Anchor
Posted by Jason Butler at 9:03 AM

ESPN is running a contest where you can get your dream job, SportsCenter Anchor

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September 25, 2003

Harvard at $7.50 per hour
Posted by Jason Butler at 9:28 AM

The Chronicle of Higher Education profiles a student who has written a book on the service workers at Harvard University.

There is a deliberate aura of wealth and power at Harvard, and it is tended to by more than a thousand workers. They dust the portraits, polish the oak panels, and prune the trees. They cook the food and guard the campus; they work in every room of every building, day and night, and yet one of their frequent complaints is that the nation's most perceptive students and scholars simply do not see them.

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September 24, 2003

Blow-up job offers
Posted by Jason Butler at 9:09 AM

This morning's Globe reports on the plight of recent college graduates whose firm job offers have "blown up" due to the economy.

Employers whose financial fortunes sour suddenly have in recent years yanked supposedly firm job offers from new graduates, leaving even those from top-drawer schools such as MIT, Harvard University and Stanford University in the lurch and forced to find other employment. These "blow-up offers," as college administrators call them, are continuing fallout from a US job market that shrinks, month after month, and they disrupt the well-laid plans of aspiring lawyers, consultants, or executives.

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September 23, 2003

Best companies for working mothers
Posted by Jason Butler at 8:52 AM

Working Mother magazine rates the 100 best companies for working mothers.
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Greenbush commuter-rail project approved
Posted by Jason Butler at 8:52 AM

Today's Globe reports that Governor Romney has approved of the Greenbush commuter-rail project, a train line which will run from Boston to Scituate, opening up the South Shore to mass transit and improving the lives of many commuters.

One leg of the former Old Colony rail system, Greenbush will carry an estimated 8,600 commuters and leisure travelers each weekday from the Greenbush section of Scituate to Cohasset, Hingham, and Weymouth before connecting with existing lines in Braintree for the final 9.5 miles to Boston's South Station. MBTA officials yesterday said the trip from Greenbush to Boston would take a little less than an hour and include seven station stops.

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September 22, 2003

Slow economy aids Army recruitment
Posted by Jason Butler at 11:07 AM

Can't get a job in the civilian sector? Join the Army.

Army recruiters have always offered educational benefits, job security and training skills to prospective soldiers. But recently they have been armed with more logistical support and a growing arsenal of financial incentives that look even more enticing in a down market.

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September 19, 2003

Offshore-a-palooza
Posted by Jason Butler at 12:36 PM

Roughly half of the booths at the TechxNY (formerly PCExpo) trade show in New York are plugging offshore development, with Indian firms fighting against the Chinese, Romanians slandering former Russian comrades, and Nepalese firms telling executives that even though their royal family had a little trouble, they can still meet your ship date.

It's poetic in a way; the nations of the world have come together as one in New York, bidding for the chance to take your job.

"I'm just starting to see a small uptick in my business, and so I came to look at new business equipment," said Mike Monroe, who runs a small graphic design shop in Manhattan. "And I'm not at all pleased with what I'm seeing here.

"Given the economy, and how this city is still struggling to come back from economic disaster, I think this is neither the time nor the place to host a 'let's take your jobs away' tradeshow."

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Fewer get workplace health plans
Posted by Douglas Eisenhart at 12:32 PM

From today's Globe, an article about a disturbing trend in health benefits for employees:

Americans who receive health insurance through their employers have dropped to less than one-half of all workers from about two-thirds a decade ago, according to a report on the nation's health coverage released yesterday by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Automation and its effects on employment
Posted by Jason Butler at 9:32 AM

Salon addresses the question of "What will become of society when robots take all our jobs?"

Will technology send us to the unemployment line? In general, economists have a hard time answering this question. The relationship between job growth and productivity growth is complex, and even during today's "jobless recovery" economists are arguing about whether recent productivity gains are helping or hurting Americans. But one thing appears certain -- many of the jobs we rely on today will soon vanish from the American landscape.

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The new Forbes 400
Posted by Jason Butler at 9:20 AM

Forbes Magazine has released their annual list of the 400 richest Americans.

For the 31st consecutive year, I am not among them. Guess I better get back to work....

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September 16, 2003

Romney eyes tax cut for job creation
Posted by Jason Butler at 9:12 AM

Governor Romney yesterday proposed a tax cut for companies which create manufacturing jobs. Business leaders are excited, but Beacon Hill Democrats remain skeptical.

The governor's package was praised by members of the business community, who wanted him to get more involved, but greeted with skepticism by Beacon Hill Democrats, many of whom support a competing proposal by House Speaker Thomas M. Finneran that would give more direct grants to companies that create jobs. State senators held a hearing on Finneran's $110 million proposal yesterday, and are working on their own bill.

Legislative leaders were particularly reluctant to embrace Romney's call to grant tax rebates to firms that add new manufacturing jobs. Senate Ways and Means chairwoman Therese Murray said she believes targeted tax cuts generally don't help create jobs.

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September 15, 2003

Pictures from the Fenway Job Fair
Posted by Jason Butler at 12:26 PM

If you weren't able to make it to last Wednesday's Job Fair at Fenway Park, check out the photo gallery to see what you missed.

Channel 5 was there covering the event -- watch their report.

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Pregnancy Discrimination
Posted by Jason Butler at 12:20 PM

The New York Times reports on employer discrimination against mothers-to-be.

With the economy uncertain and many companies looking to keep down costs and pare their employment rolls, growing numbers of workers are filing charges of pregnancy discrimination.

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Volunteer fairs for Boston
Posted by Jason Butler at 12:08 PM

Volunteering in your community is one of the best ways of networking for jobs while doing some good. To help you find an organization which matches your interests and abilities, check out the these volunteer fairs:

9/16: Fidelity and Boston Cares are co-hosting an Community Volunteer Fair from 11am-2pm at Boston City Hall Plaza -- Government Center with more than 40 non-profit organizations from Greater Boston.

9/18: The Boston Center for Adult Education hosts their 14th Annual Volunteer Fair at the Boston Marriott Copley Place from 4-8pm.
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September 11, 2003

Separated at birth?
Posted by at 12:11 PM

Photo cutline: Carlton Fisk, Trot Nixon and Byung-Hyun Kim mug up at the BostonWorks Big Help Job Fair at Fenway Park -- NOT!

Entirely more believable, from left to right, here's Doug, Jason and I in full regalia posing as our ball playing counterparts at yesterday's fair. A hearty kudos to all the employers, job seekers, and BostonWorks staffers who came out to help make yesterday a memorable event. We sincerely hope some of you were lucky enough to hit pay dirt. Stay tuned folks: we'll be posting a full photo gallery of the fair by this weekend for your viewing pleasure...
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Employees pay more for health insurance
Posted by Jason Butler at 9:04 AM

The New York Times reports that employees are paying 48% more out of their own pockets for health insurance than they did just three years ago.

Almost two-thirds of large employers raised the amounts that employees are contributing to the cost of their health plans this year, and 79 percent say they will do so again in 2004, according to the study, by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research and Educational Trust.

Other health care experts are projecting that 2004 will be the fourth straight year of double-digit increases in health insurance premiums.

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September 10, 2003

The Job Fair at Fenway is Today!
Posted by Jason Butler at 9:05 AM

Where can you see 50 exhibiting employers, plus these very pretty job bloggers?

At Fenway today, for the Job Fair, from 1-6pm. If you come over, make sure to say hi. We'll be wandering the park in our BostonWorks jerseys.
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September 9, 2003

Lawyers Push to Keep the Office at Bay
Posted by Jason Butler at 10:38 AM

The New York Times reports on how some lawyers are cutting back on their insane hours.

Many law firms that offer flexible work schedules struggle to meet both the personal priorities of their employees and the needs of clients, who expect, and pay for, round-the-clock service. "In most instances the overhead is the same whether you work full or part time," said Marci Krufka, a legal consultant at Altman Weil, in suburban Philadelphia, which advises law firms. "The problem is that law firms look at part-time lawyers in terms of short-term cost rather than long-term investments."

CareerJournal talks about the difficulties lawyers face when changing careers.

While the urge to change careers is healthy, many lawyers haven't thought through the implications and consequences of making a switch. They're reacting rather than taking the initiative and being proactive. Despite all the shark jokes, lawyers are human and bleed when you prick them. The pain they're feeling about their careers may be distorting their judgment.

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Older Workers Are Thriving Despite Recent Hard Times
Posted by Jason Butler at 10:37 AM

More 55-64-year-old workers hold jobs today than before the recession.

These older workers, particularly women, are enjoying an unusual late-in-life success — as survivors of the disintegrating job security that began to spread through the work force early in their careers, undermining pensions and lifetime employment. Layoffs and retirement reduced their ranks in the recession in the early 1990's and its aftermath, but not this time.

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Combating College-Grad Stress Syndrome
Posted by Jason Butler at 10:37 AM

Business Week gives advice to the coming senior class.

Jerry Houser of Caltech's Career Development Center says students who are anxious about the job search might procrastinate, which can then make their anxiety worse. He tells them to start looking early and stick with it, likening his role to being more like a parent than a counselor. "You'd think students would get more active because of the fear and the uncertainty," he says. "They actually hide or get less active."

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September 8, 2003

Job Hunting Resources: A Big Help Special
Posted by Douglas Eisenhart at 1:08 PM

In addition to our usual weekly features and columns, this week in the BostonWorks section of the Sunday Globe we published three special items to be an extra "Big Help" to job seekers:

Choosing a coach tells you how a career coach or counselor can help steer you toward the right work and job for you;

Networking tips lets you know what the experts all agree - never underestimate the power of schmoozing - and tells you what you can do to get your network moving; and finally

The top ten career books provides an annotated list recommended by experts - career counselors, coaches, and recruiters - of the best works in print to get you where you need to go in your career.

If you prefer the face-to-face approach, make history by joining BostonWorks this Wednesday at the first-ever job fair held at legendary Fenway Park. For more info, visit The Big Help Job Fair @ Fenway Park.
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September 5, 2003

The Big Help!
Posted by Jason Butler at 4:32 PM

On Sunday morning we will release The Big Help, Boston's largest recruitment section of the season. Make sure to pick up your Sunday Boston Globe!

I've been watching the sales folks over the past couple of weeks (making sure to stay out of their way...), and this section is looking pretty good.

I'm also very excited by The Big Help Job Fair @ Fenway Park, which will be held from 1-6pm this Wednesday, rain or shine.

All your favorite BostonWorks job bloggers will be there, so make sure to drop by and say hi!

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Free MIT courses?
Posted by at 12:44 PM

Not quite, but if you're thinking of looking for work outside your field maybe you can expand your horizons through MIT OpenCourseWare, where you can peruse lecture notes, handouts, quizzes etc. of fascinating, and somewhat unusual areas of study such as Psycholinguistics, Urban Transportation, Non-linear Programming and Cognitive & Behavioral Genetics. (Via Metafilter)
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Mixed signals
Posted by at 10:41 AM

In the continuing saga of our jobless recovery, The AP is reporting that employers unexpectedly slashed jobs in August.

Friday's reports no longer reflected a cyclical economy trying to add jobs after a recession -- "which is depressing," said Sung Won Sohn, chief economist at Wells Fargo. Analysts had expected companies to add some jobs last month.

Deeper concerns now are focused on long-term structural problems in the economy, such as a flood of U.S. jobs going overseas. "We have simply seen the tip of the iceberg," Sohn said. "I think it will get worse, not better."

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September 4, 2003

Buffalo man pays for unemployment
Posted by Jason Butler at 1:05 PM

This is sad: a Buffalo man gets kicked off unemployment for an unpaid gig.

John Bothe was unemployed with time to spare -- so he paid a radio station about $1,000 for air time to showcase his talents as host of a Saturday sports show. ... The state Labor Department determined that Bothe's unpaid radio gig qualified as work and disqualified him from receiving unemployment benefits.

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September 3, 2003

Twenty-something and loving it
Posted by Douglas Eisenhart at 4:32 PM

They may be in lower-level jobs, stymied by their inability to move up, impatient with the current tight conditions in the workplace, and more. So ABCNews asks the question: can the twenty-somethings (or "quarterlifers") in the workplace be happy with their lot?:

How can beleaguered quarterlifers escape their funk and find meaning in life? After all, they've got a lot of good years ahead.

For starters, quarterlifers might want to consider being more realistic, says Tom Johnston, managing partner of WorldBridge Partners, a national executive search firm. Young people who were in college during the dot-com boom of the late 1990s, especially, have a distorted view of the workplace, he says.

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Career Calculus
Posted by Jason Butler at 10:22 AM

An interesting way to look at your career's progress, in which the calculus is not a metaphor.

In basic calculus we learned that the first derivative of a function is the "rate of change" of the value of that function with respect to another variable. In the case of your career, the other variable is time. The basic equation for a developer career looks like this:

C = G + LT

C is Cluefulness. It is defined as an overall measure of your capabilities, expertise, wisdom and knowledge in the field of software development. It is the measure of how valuable you are to an employer. It is the measure of how successful your career is. When you graph your career, C is on the vertical axis.

G is Gifting. It is defined as the amount of natural cluefulness you were given "at the factory". For each individual, G is a constant, but it definitely varies from person to person.

L is Learning. It is defined as the rate at which you gain (or lose) cluefulness over time.

T is Time. It is on the horizontal axis of your career graph.

Here is Johanna Rothman's take on the concept.
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Doing what it takes
Posted by Jason Butler at 9:09 AM

The New York Times reports on how frustrated job-seekers are going further in their attempts to find a job, any job.

"These times are rife with the temptation to do extreme things," said Andrew Sherwood, chairman of the human resources firm Goodrich & Sherwood Associates, which is based in New York. "More and more, necessity is a driver. Job seekers have moved from the cocky 'buy me if you like' approach of the '90's to doing and saying whatever it takes to get a job."

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Job Czar?
Posted by Jason Butler at 9:05 AM

President Bush will create high-level government post to focus on manufacturing job creation and maintenance.

On a rain-soaked Labor Day trip to a factory training center, Bush said he had directed Commerce Secretary Don Evans to establish an assistant position to focus "on the needs of manufacturers." Keeping factory jobs is critical to a broader economic recovery, the president said, his outdoor venue ringed by cranes, backhoes and bulldozers.

Bush said the nation has lost "thousands of jobs in manufacturing." In fact, the losses have soared into the millions: Of the 2.7 million jobs the U.S. economy has lost since the recession began in early 2001, 2.4 million were in manufacturing. The downturn has eliminated more than one in 10 of the nation's factory jobs.

The New York Times is dubious.

Considering that over 80,000 jobs have been shed for each month of his incumbency, President Bush's announcement that he is creating a new undersecretary of commerce post devoted to job creation is notable for its feebleness. The only detail yet clear is that the post is to be devoted to the "needs of manufacturers," and that is hardly a confidence builder for the 9 million trying to find work plus the millions more who have given up.

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September 2, 2003

Blue-collar and proud of it
Posted by Jason Butler at 2:17 PM

Here's an interesting site, by a fellow Hollistonian, extolling the benefits of blue-collar work.

The objective of BLUECOLLARANDPROUDOFIT.COM is to direct and educate people interested in pursuing blue collar positions. We’re here to promote the blue collar workers of American and to let everyone know it’s OKAY not to be a “high tech”er.

The FAQ has many suggestions for starting your own business.

How do I avoid the troublesome customer?

I have found as most of us know, first impressions are very important. You could size a person up almost in minutes with their voice, expressions and demeanor. If they sound pleasant, easy, cooperative, this is a good one. But if they call quickly and say, “If you give good price, you will get job”, that’s someone you should get away from fast.

Some people even voluntarily express to you that they are picky. “I want a perfect job and I’ll be home to oversee the project”. If you hear that, Head For The Hills.

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How innovative are you?
Posted by Jason Butler at 2:17 PM

Fortune Magazine does a quick and dirty quiz to determine your inclination to innovate.

Here's my score:

You're a left-brain thinker. Left-brainers are logical, analytical, and organized - well suited for turning a good idea into a reality. Your ideal partner is a right-brain visionary who will help you look at situations creatively.

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The vanishing American Dream...
Posted by at 1:25 PM

Former Globe Deputy Managing Editor Tom Ashbrook and now host of On Point Radio talks with a panel about "The Betrayal of Work, how 30 million American men and women -- one in four workers -- work in jobs that pay poverty wages, provide minimal or no benefits, and allow little flexibility and time for quality child care. How can we restore fairness to America's economic order?"

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Ruling clouds future of retirement plan
Posted by Douglas Eisenhart at 10:15 AM

Time to check the details of your firm's retirement plan? A story in today's Globe reports that some cash balance plans at major Massachusetts companies may be jeopardized by a recent court ruling:

As many as 93,000 people working at almost half of Massachusetts's 25 largest employers are covered by cash balance retirement plans and could be affected by a recent court ruling that found the plans rob many older employees of retirement benefits.

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September 1, 2003

Off the clock
Posted by Douglas Eisenhart at 7:24 PM

From today's Labor Day edition of the Boston Globe, Globe staff writer Diane Lewis reports on the tendency for many workers in today's workforce to give up overtime pay:

Now, as the nation observes Labor Day and labor leaders direct harsh words at a Bush administration plan to redraw the rules for overtime, the verbal salvos pass unnoticed over the heads of many US workers. For them, overtime is a myth, no matter what the law books say.

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