November 26, 2003

Happy Thanksgiving!
Posted by Jason Butler at 11:22 AM

All of us here at the Job Blog would like to wish you all a happy and safe Thanksgiving holiday!
--------

...

 

November 25, 2003

Economy grows at best pace since 1984
Posted by Douglas Eisenhart at 2:28 PM

Here's some welcome news on the economy:

The economy roared ahead at an astounding 8.2 percent annual rate in the third quarter, the fastest pace in nearly two decades and a much stronger performance than previously thought. It raises hope that a long spell of lackluster business activity is finally over.

Wow. We needed that. Next, more jobs.

And on that note, time to take a break, get together with your family, and eat some turkey. A very Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!
--------

...

Hanging in for the long haul
Posted by at 1:56 PM

The latest economic forecast predicts strong growth but a slow job recovery.

The survey of 34 forecasters by the Philadelphia Fed was almost as upbeat, predicting GDP growth of 2.9 percent this year and 4.3 percent in 2004.

However, forecasters cautioned that the nation's unemployment rate, currently at 6 percent, will not come down quickly because strong productivity growth, the ability to produce more with fewer workers, would delay the need for employers to hire back laid-off workers.

--------

...

 

November 21, 2003

Job of the day
Posted by Jason Butler at 11:46 AM

Tech support for the mob.
--------

...

 

November 20, 2003

Next stop Massachusetts?
Posted by at 11:02 AM

An article from today's Boston Globe: "Hoping to mine gold from the Golden State" shows the plusses and minuses (the weather) of having your business headquarters in Massachusetts versus California.
--------

...

 

November 19, 2003

Blame it on the kids
Posted by Douglas Eisenhart at 1:10 PM

A new book written by a Harvard Law prof and her daughter explores the cause of so many families in financial trouble in the US today - even when they are bringing in two incomes:

. . .Mother and daughter authors Elizabeth Warren and Amelia Warren Tyagi have gone after it in "The Two-Income Trap: Why Middle-Class Mothers and Fathers Are Going Broke." They have analyzed numerous case studies on barely-making-it parents, debt-ridden parents, and bankrupt parents. They have concluded that in today's economy, having children has become the dividing line between the solvent and the insolvent -- that today's parents are working harder than ever and falling desperately behind even with two incomes.

Read the entire review.

--------

...

Has the Mass. Tech industry hit bottom?
Posted by at 12:17 PM

This Boston Globe article ("Mass. falls behind Florida in tech jobs") on the state of the Tech industry in Mass. may not be surprising news to many in the industry but, it does offer a glimmer of hope that we may have bottomed out:

The report tracks what may turn out to be the trough of the technology recession, with US states continuing to hemorrhage high-tech jobs across a broad range of fields. Nationally, high-tech employment fell by about 540,000 to 6 million jobs in 2002. But extrapolating from nine-month figures, the association estimated the job loss for 2003 will narrow to about 234,000. There were no comparable 2003 estimates for individual states. "It appears that we are now losing fewer jobs in the technology arena," Platzer said.

That may be the case in Massachusetts as well. "We don't have a crystal ball, but a lot of people believe we've hit bottom," Doherty Johnson said. "It looks like things are beginning to pick up."

--------

...

 

November 18, 2003

Where the new jobs are
Posted by Douglas Eisenhart at 10:23 AM

This week's TIME magazine cover story is all about jobs:

New disappointments, new adventures, new cities, new lifestyles and new challenges. And brand-spanking-new jobs. But don't call it a boom — yet. Call it a job thaw. Even as the first blasts of winter are whipping across much of the U.S., the economy's red-hot third-quarter performance seems to be loosening jobs from the cold clutches of corporate managers.

Read TIME's full treatment with multiple stories and sidebars.
--------

...

Hiring at Logan
Posted by Jason Butler at 9:05 AM

Logan Airport is desperately seeking screeners.

Facing a shortage of workers during the year's busiest travel season, the agency responsible for security screeners at Logan International Airport is turning to shopping centers and other public places as informal recruiting stations as it tries to beef up its work force.

--------

...

 

November 17, 2003

Rural areas labor to save jobs
Posted by Douglas Eisenhart at 4:52 PM

As this article from USA TODAY tells us, it's not just cities that are feeling the hurt in jobs:

Rural areas created factory jobs more rapidly than urban areas for most of the 1990s, but lost them far faster from 1998 through the recession. The gap is closing, but rural manufacturers are still in layoff mode, according to the Center for the Study of Rural America at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.

--------

...

Blame it on wireless?
Posted by Douglas Eisenhart at 1:54 PM

The latest news from Verizon jumps out at one for the sheer numbers involved:

Verizon Communications Inc. on Monday said 21,000 employees have accepted an early-retirement buyout offer and will leave by the end of the week as the No. 1 U.S. telephone company works to cut costs to offset weak local phone sales.

At least they aren't flat out layoffs. See the full story.

--------

...

 

November 13, 2003

One McJob, hold the slap in the face
Posted by at 1:55 PM

Taking one out of the unfair and unbalanced handbook, McDonalds recently took issue with the latest edition of the Springfield-based Merriam-Webster Dictionary , for adding a new term to the common lexicon: "McJob" which has been defined as "low paying and dead-end work."

In an open letter to Merriam-Webster, McDonald's CEO Jim Cantalupo said the term is "an inaccurate description of restaurant employment" and "a slap in the face to the 12 million men and women" who work in the restaurant industry.

--------

...

Boston is a "Brain-gain" city
Posted by Jason Butler at 9:48 AM

The Washington Post writes about cities where all the smart people go, cities like Seattle, San Francisco, and yes, Boston.

[Venture capitalist and new Seattle-ite Sam] Long is part of an elite intercity migration that is rapidly remaking the way American cities rise and fall. In the 2000 Census, demographers found what they describe as a new, brain-driven, winner-take-all pattern in urban growth.

"A pack of cities is racing away from everybody else in terms of their ability to attract and retain an educated workforce," said Bruce Katz, director of the Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy at the Brookings Institution. "It is a sobering trend for cities left behind."

--------

...

Women in male-dominated industries
Posted by Jason Butler at 9:36 AM

This morning's New York Times examines the trend of women breaking into traditionally male-dominated industries.

Ms. Simpson and Ms. Patané are breaking into one of the last male strongholds, home repair and renovation and other jobs that require using tools and getting hands greasy, from plumbing to car maintenance. It is just the beginning of a trend, but it is a real one. The Center for Women's Business Research in Washington reports that the fastest growth in women's entrepreneurship is found among businesses not typically associated with them, like construction and transportation.

--------

...

 

November 12, 2003

Networking for the introverted
Posted by Jason Butler at 11:59 AM

If you are an introvert like me, you probably find networking torturous. The Brazen Careerist gives us a five-step plan on networking for introverts.

I learned that people who are good at networking are interested in other people. And they are good storytellers. After that, I was able to go almost anywhere and talk with people. Good talkers recognize that there's something interesting about every person, and it's their job to get them talking about it. But you can't just bombard people with questions. You also need to reveal things about yourself. The best way is by telling fun and interesting stories that make you look good.

I found this link at the outstanding Fast Company Now weblog, a section I read daily.
--------

...

Take this job and *$%#@ it...
Posted by at 9:52 AM

Overworked? Stressed? Fed up? Join the club (Figuratively speaking, of course, present company excluded) as it appears in a Society for Human Resource Professionals job satisfaction survey that 8 in 10 workers are a flight risk, poised to jump ship as soon as this stubborn jobless recovery finally picks up.
--------

...

 

November 11, 2003

It's about the music, man
Posted by at 11:22 AM

Thinking of a career switch? How about one in the music industry? Berklee College of Music's Berklee Shares site is a place where you can find free music lessons that you can download, share and trade with your friends and fellow musicians. Via Metafilter.

Berklee Shares is:

Individual self-contained music lessons developed by Berklee faculty and alumni.

Free and open to the music community around the world.

A library of MP3 audio, QuickTime movie, and PDF files.

A glimpse into the educational opportunities provided by Berklee.

--------

...

Globe, pressmen agree to 9-year pact
Posted by Douglas Eisenhart at 10:15 AM

Following on my previous blog on lean manufacturing, BostonWorks' parent organization, The Boston Globe, and its pressroom workers union have agreed to a new nine-year contract that, among other provisions, allows the paper to reduce staff in exchange for other worker gains:

The pressroom union agreed to changes that will let the newspaper cut costs through leaner production staffing and greater operating flexibility, while the newspaper agreed to escalating annual payments to offset employee costs in nonwage areas such as pension, health, and other benefits. The contract also calls for lump-sum bonus payments to all union members on the payroll when work force reductions are implemented this month and again in 2005 and 2008.

"This long-term labor agreement provides job protection and excellent benefits for our pressroom employees while addressing the critical long-term needs of the Globe to have staffing at a competitive level and to gain more operating flexibility for our ever-changing market," said Gregory L. Thornton, the newspaper's senior vice president of employee relations and operations.

--------

...

'Lean manufacturing' program helps plants compete, save jobs
Posted by Douglas Eisenhart at 9:22 AM

Faced with the continuing loss of business and thousands of jobs to lower-cost overseas suppliers, some local manufacturers are not sitting still. A new process called "lean manufacturing" is one approach that may help firms compete and keep jobs:

Machine operator Joe Scafidi didn't think it would work.

Now, six months after Standard-Thomson [Waltham] began switching from traditional assembly-line production of thermostats for the auto industry to "lean manufacturing," Scafidi, 46, is a believer. He is among the first of the company's 270 workers to train in the process, and the contrast between his work area and other sections of the 160,000-square-foot plant is stark: no clutter on the floor, no extra inventory stored at the site.

--------

...

 

November 7, 2003

Let's hope it's a trend
Posted by at 10:59 AM

Now turning to some more sanguine and less Homer-esque news, the latest job numbers came out and the U.S. Economy created jobs last month. Somewhat noteworthy for one of New England's top sectors, professional and business services, which added 43,000 jobs in October. But for another premiere industry, Technology, New England may be a victim of its own tech success.
--------

...

Duh-oh! The cruller is no more
Posted by at 10:26 AM

Whether its grabbing one on the commute to work or finding a few boxes on the way into the office, I never met a donut I didn't love (my waist will attest to this fact). Professed weaknesses include chocolate frosted, jelly, old-fashioned, glazed donuts and glazed or old-fashioned crullers. Which is why I'm especially sad to hear that the cruller is no more.
--------

...

Milk of Amnesia and Death by Chocolate Stout
Posted by at 10:18 AM

Everyone's got a few dream jobs floating around and one of mine is to be a professional beer brewer. I mean, who wouldn't want to be the next local boy imbiber, spreading the sudsy gospel a la Jim Koch or Dan Kenary and Rich Doyle? The daily workload might look something like this:

• 10 a.m. - Roll out of bed, drink gratuitous amounts of coffee to alieve most recent hangover. Count millions in frat boy profits.


• 11 a.m. - Check on fermenting beer created in drunken brainstorm night before. Sample newest flavors created in prior drunken brainstorms.


• noon - Have beers with a side of lunch.


• 1 p.m. - Play foozeball and frisbee golf with brewmasters. Think of funny names for new beers like No Disputin' Putin Russian Imperial Stout, Smokey the Beer, Floppin Crappie, Monkey Paw, Old Numbskull, Death by Chocolate Stout, Honey Act Your Sage, Stumblin Monk Abbey Ale, Milk of Amnesia and Train Wreck of Flavor.


• 2 p.m. - Taste test latest batch of beer with whoever is still standing.


• 3 p.m. - Count millions raked in by amazing beer-induced marketing concept.


• 4 p.m. - Call it a day, kick back and have a cold brewski.

--------

...

The soft flicker of job growth
Posted by Jason Butler at 9:16 AM

Today's Globe reports on reasons to hope.

[T]wo reports released yesterday yielded tentative evidence that existing work forces are close to being maxed out and that companies may finally start hiring again. More details could emerge today when the Labor Department is set to release its October employment report.

"We're seeing the light at the end of the tunnel," said Nariman Behravesh, chief economist for the forecasting firm Global Insight. "You get this picture that businesses are coming out of their shell and starting to spend more and hire more."

--------

...

 

November 5, 2003

Mon dieu! It's allright to surf at work
Posted by at 4:27 PM

A new book titled, "Managing Web Usage in the WorkPlace: A Social, Ethical, and Legal Perspective" is asserting that doing personal Web surfing while on the job can lead to better time management, stress reduction, improvement of skill sets and helping to achieve a balance between work and personal life.

--------

...

Illegally in the U.S., and never a day off
Posted by Jason Butler at 3:51 PM

The New York Times has an outstanding article on the plight of illegal aliens working for Wal-Mart's subcontracters.

Last February, Pavel responded to an intriguing Web site that boasted of cleaning jobs in the United States paying four times what he was earning as a restaurant manager in the Czech Republic. He flew from Prague to New York on a tourist visa and took a bus to Lynchburg, Va., where a subcontractor delivered him to a giant Wal-Mart.

Pavel immediately began on the midnight shift and said he soon learned that he would never receive a night off. He said he worked every night for the next eight months. In this way, Pavel, who refused to give his last name, became one pawn among hundreds employed by subcontractors that clean Wal-Mart stores across the nation, paying many workers off the books.

--------

...

 

November 4, 2003

Passion catalyst
Posted by Jason Butler at 3:25 PM

This is a really interesting weblog by Curt Rosengren about finding a job which matches your passions.

--------

...

 

November 3, 2003

My flaws can beat up your flaws
Posted by Jason Butler at 9:11 AM

Fast Company tells us that in order to project workplace power we must admit our flaws, even revel in them.

Why are self-criticisms a stronger statement of power than a Brooks Brothers tie? Explains Christensen: "When you say something self-critical about yourself, others think, 'It's easier to be with this person, because they know themselves.' "

Given that, what are the best flaws to claim as your own?
--------

...

U.S. workers see hard times
Posted by Jason Butler at 9:03 AM

This morning's Globe talks about just how far the offshoring trend has gone.

To the surprise of white-collar programmers who thought themselves immune, many of their jobs have turned into "grunt labor" positions exported to India, China, Russia, and other countries and filled with skilled but less expensive workers. IBM Corp., Oracle Corp., Microsoft Corp., EMC Corp., and other high-tech leaders have set up software design and maintenance centers in India, and scores of other large companies have farmed programming work to Indian consultancies.

--------

...