May 16, 2003

Workplace boomeranging
Posted by jbutler@bostonworks.com">Jason Butler at 11:01 AM -

The Times reports on how more workers are returning to previous employers.

It is an increasingly common phenomenon, workplace experts say, as attitudes of both employers and employees have adapted to the ups and downs of the economy over the last decade. Companies, realizing that worker loyalty has all but vanished, are more willing to rehire people they know to be honest and competent, no longer considering them turncoats. Likewise, ambitious employees who once might have regarded a move back to their old place of employment as a step down in their careers are today more likely to take whatever they can get.

I'm a boomeranger myself -- I worked for New York Times Digital while I was at Abuzz, then, after a year away, I rejoined the New York Times Company here at BostonWorks. I found my previous experience at the company beneficial in minimizing ramp-up time; if you already have a reputation and you already know all the players, you can get right to work.

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Various species of bosses
Posted by jbutler@bostonworks.com">Jason Butler at 10:59 AM -

The Wall Street Journal gives us a field guide to the various species of bosses.

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Unplugging PowerPoint
Posted by jbutler@bostonworks.com">Jason Butler at 10:58 AM -

Business 2.0 on how PowerPoint frustrates, with special guest commentary from Edward Tufte.

The problem with PowerPoint is that instead of being a visual tool used to illustrate certain elements in a presentation, the slides have become the whole presentation. Sure, there are some outstanding public speakers who can use PowerPoint with wit and confidence, but those presentations account for a small fraction of those trillions of slides generated each year. Just as using a word processor doesn't make someone a better writer, structuring presentations with PowerPoint won't improve the quality of an individual's ideas.

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May 15, 2003

Maybe "Daddy Day Care" isn't too far off
Posted by noseworthy@bostonworks.com">Nicole Noseworthy at 5:04 PM -

While many articles tend to focus on women becoming increasing involved in occupations that have been traditionally male-dominated, the current employment struggle has men now looking at work in industries that have long been primarily associated with women, such as nursing, teaching, and child care. Case in point, the movie "Daddy Day Care," starring Eddie Murphy, which explores what happens when a father gets let go from his job, the mother goes back to work full-time, and they need to make ends meet. Eddie Murphy's character decides to start a day care center staffed by men.

TIME Magazine is featuring an article exploring the possibilities and potential that traditionally female-dominated industries offer men:

More and more men are heeding the call, taking up occupations traditionally dominated by females. Searching for more meaningful work or simply desperate for a paycheck in a sluggish economy, they are applying in increasing numbers for jobs or training in nursing, child care, housekeeping, teaching. The jobs are often crying out for more applicants, and offer solid, if unspectacular, pay.

Of course there was also "Mr. Mom" starring Michael Keaton back in 1983. But I think the mom went back to staying at home.

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Merger talk, closed doors, toys boss, new drug
Posted by deisenhart@bostonworks.com">Douglas Eisenhart at 2:36 PM -

In this week's industry updates:

Two of the biggest financial players in town, Fleet and Hancock, flirted with a merger over the past few months. More Finance news.

Very sadly and after a long financial struggle, 117-year old Waltham hospital will close its doors. More Healthcare news.

Providence-based Hasbro tapped a new CEO. More Retail news.

And the Good News Story of the Week goes to Milliennium Pharmaceuticals of Cambridge, whose cancer drug Velcade got FDA approval a year ahead of schedule. More Biotech news.

Read all this week's industry updates.

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Grads not glad
Posted by deisenhart@bostonworks.com">Douglas Eisenhart at 2:04 PM -

Following up on mine of yesterday ("Road Trip") on new college grads, this piece from today's New York Times gives a little insight into the very tough job market facing the Class of 2003. One sign, among others:

. . .Applications to Teach for America, which recruits college graduates to teach for two years in public schools in poor neighborhoods, have more than tripled in the last two years; Wendy Kopp, the program's founder, said the economy appeared to be one reason. Americorps, the national service program that pays $9,300 a year, and the Peace Corps have also become more popular and more selective.

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We'll take what we can get
Posted by deisenhart@bostonworks.com">Douglas Eisenhart at 1:44 PM -

Following Dean's blog from yesterday, today's Globe article on employment in the region also finds some good news in an otherwise bleak local picture:

. . . The education and consulting sector, driven by university enrollments that burgeon in economic hard times, posted meaningful growth, gaining 4,000 jobs, or 3.2 percent, in the quarter.

Even better:

John Bitner, chief economist at Eastern Bank, said the struggling state economy -- which has shed nearly 170,000 jobs since early 2001 -- could finally hit bottom and resume job growth by the end of the year.

So hang in there. What goes down must go up. And all signs suggest we are a lot closer to the end of this thing than the beginning.

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May 14, 2003

Signs of life
Posted by dwong@bostonworks.com">Dean Wong at 3:39 PM -

From The Boston Business Journal, a recent Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce report shows a slight rise in job creation in Q1. Another BBJ story further indicates that while the state's economic decline continues, there is hope on the horizon.

According to Chamber data, the top five industries created 2,500 jobs during the first quarter of 2003...

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Road trip
Posted by deisenhart@bostonworks.com">Douglas Eisenhart at 9:13 AM -

What do do when the end of college nears and the real world looms? These two seniors came up with a different approach:

Mike Marriner was a biology major, headed for med school. Nathan Gebhard was a business major, probably destined to be some kind of consultant. Both attended Pepperdine University in California, and both agreed they did not like the career paths they had chosen. But what to do?

Road trip, of course.

They wrote the story of what they discovered - and how - in a new book, Roadtrip Nation: A Guide to Discovering Your Path in Life (Ballantine, $13.95). Read the article from the Honolulu Advertiser. Learn more at the Road Trip Nation web site.

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May 12, 2003

Dual-earner couples, facing a layoff, more
Posted by deisenhart@bostonworks.com">Douglas Eisenhart at 4:48 PM -

From BostonWorks in the Boston Sunday Globe this week:

At the work-family conference in Boston last weekend, cosponsored by the Brandeis University Community, Families & Work Program, and by Boston University's journalism school, Barry Bluestone, director of the Center for Urban and Regional Policy at Northeastern University, reported that the time squeeze falls hard on two-earner couples juggling work schedules, day-care pickups, and children's sick days.

"Living on the edge of a layoff" reports one couple's means of coping with an impending job loss.

Our regular column "Out in the Field" reports: women's workforce presence is stronger, but pay still lags; more employers base perks on performance; many execs expect the economy to improve in the 2d half of the year.

The Job Doc says an inventive search strategy can clinch an offer.

"All work and no play make Jack a dull boy", so take your toys to work with you, exhorts this week's View from the Cube contributor.

Read all this week's BostonWorks stories in the Globe.

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