Jobs are a'Opening

The Wall Street Journal reported today that job openings increased in October to the highest level since before the 2008 financial crisis. "But," cautions the article, "the increase in job openings in October didn't translate into increased hiring. Companies hired 4.20 million people during the month, down slightly from September's 4.21 million. That could be a sign that companies are struggling to find workers with the necessary skills to fill the positions they have open."

Also from The Journal, a question whether the tax freeze for the wealthy will create jobs (answer: probably not). This will certainly be an issue debated for the next two years until they have to talk about this issue once again.

Lastly, USA Today talks about Baby Boomers who are going back to work after they turn 65, mostly because of the increased age at which you can file for Social Security. But about 25% of these workers are unable to physically work at that age anyway, says the article, which, ironically, means that they will have to file for disability which would increase the imbalances of Social Security. With 25% of Boomers equaling about the population of New York State, this is not a small issue.

Too Old? Not in the Workplace

One of the forms of discrimination that may be more prevalent than people think and which many people know very little about is age discrimination.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has facts about age discrimination here: click here

And the United States Department of Labor has information here: click here

But this issue is not as cut and dry as many people would think. Recently my dad was unemployed for a while and while trying to get a new job, he did everything he could to hide his age because of his perceived bias on the part of the people who he was interviewing with.

And he's not the only one...the Supreme Court will hear five Age Discrimination cases according to the Washington Post: click here

The Christian Science Monitor also takes up the issue putting out the issue of: when can people sue for age discrimination: click here

Although this would seem to be a cut and dry area, many companies have policies against older employees and many fire older, tenured employees to bring in younger ones.

And then there's an article from the Boston Globe saying that colleges, companies, and state officials in Massachusetts are giving incentives for young people to stay in state: click here

Although this seems like a good, practical idea with many Baby Boomers retiring and a need for these young workers, how can giving these incentives to young workers and not to the older ones NOT be age discrimination? Would someone have a case against these organizations that provide this incentive?

We'll find out quite soon after the Supreme Court ruling...

Super Tuesday

On Super Tuesday we hope all of you got out and vote because the only wrong vote is one not cast...

First, continuing our story from yesterday is HR Daily Advisor which asks if Baby Boomers are driving us towards a health care crisis: click here

Second, from Bootstrapper's HR Bible, 100 articles every Human Resources professional should read: click here

Lastly, from a personal blog, a person's opinion about their job working in human resources: click here

Getting Over the Football Hangover

A record number of you tuned in to the biggest sporting event on the planet and yet the head coach of the New England Patriots never saw the end of the game. He, like an estimated 2 million of you, called in sick. In the aftermath of an amazing football game that will definitely go down in history, a Human Resources lesson that can definitely be learned is that leader and manager should never leave subordinates alone, especially during the toughest of times, no matter how frustrated they may be...

That said, large, large congratulations go out to my football team, the New York Football Giants who improbably and amazingly banded together as a team and won a game that few ever gave them the chance to win. It took catching balls off their helmet and overcoming great adversity throughout the season and the game, but they held steadfast and deserve this win. And they deserve this talk to be about their great job rather than another team's choke.

In other news...we decided to pick on Tiki Barber, the running back who retired from the Giants before this past season and criticized the team...by running articles about retirement:

First from USA Today, word that Baby Boomer's eagerness to retire could cost them: click here

Also from USA Today, an article about early retirees trying to fill a gap in their health coverage: click here

Lastly, MSNBC talks about a hearty premium plan that we could pay for health insurance: click here