The Financial World and the Job Market

It'll be interesting to see the fallout in the job market from the current financial crisis, but some effects are already seen...

The first article is from the New Jersey Law Journal and probably won't work for most of you...but the important part is just to read the title and then find a way to get your hands on the article: Pru Appeals in Suit Charging it Paid Off Plaintiffs' Lawyers: click here

Next, an interesting lesson from Yahoo! News via the AP on what can happen with mergers/takeovers and job layoffs as HP surprises Wall Street in this article: click here

(H/T to Wendy for those)

The Wall Street Journal (with a nice, new look) continues with an article sure to cause a little head scratching to most of America...the Executive job market is still healthy: click here and a video here

Next from the Journal is a very interesting article about trying to get Fannie Mae's and Freddie Mac's employees to stay as the mortgage giants go through some difficult times: click here

Going quickly to the Boston Globe's, Boston.com Monster.com HiringHub HR Center HR Blog, word that this isn't your father's job fairs--something new is in the air: click here

Lastly, in an article form the Journal, we learn that GMAT scores are being canceled...a lesson to employers that sometimes test scores aren't really all that reliable: click here

We've also added a great new feed from the WSJ on our right: click here

Staycation

It's certainly a buzzword according to the New York Times (click here) and, well, the Washington Post has been using it since 2005 (click here)...but what does it mean?

The Washington Times has some answers here (click here), but the Orlando Business Journal just reported that fewer than 1 in 10 Americans actually plan staycations (click here)

It's one way of offsetting the high gas prices, and the Arizona Republic has some other ways that employers can help in that process: click here

And, lastly, Thomson Reuters came out with some job data today which says that the job market is softening like the polar ice caps (they left out the part about the polar ice caps, however): click here

:)

The Complaint Department

Somebody's got a case of the Mondays!

Here's a list of seven employee complaints for this Monday:

1) Your employer is watching over you...even as you work at home (an article about telecommuting surveillance from the Wall Street Journal's Career Journal): click here

2) Your former employer is delighting in your layoff (well this Workforce Management article says that if they do, they're going to hell -- Management hell): click here

3) Your former employer is suing you (this may turn out really, really poorly according to the Laconic Law Blog): click here

4) My employer is making me copy on both sides of the paper among other money-saving operations (Fistful of Talent talks about Budweiser's integration into InBev...a good article also about combining cultures in company's and HR's responsibility in that): click here

5) The superstar employee on my team is getting $20-$25 million in severance (while this is probably not your company, this article is an interesting view on the Brett Favre situation in Green Bay from the HR Capitalist and how they blow the term "Golden Parachute" totally out of the water): click here

6) My young co-workers are hopping from job to job and making more money than me (Perfect Labor Storm 2.0 has an article confirming job hopping among Gen Y/The Millenials): click here

7) I just have lots of complaints (well About.com's Human Resources blog compiled a list of the top ten employee complaints): click here

TXT MSG Monitoring

Fredrikson & Byron P.A. starts us off on All-Star Tuesday with an article about the employers right to monitor text messaging and e-mail being as strong as ever: click here

Following that note, Workforce Management says that Human Resources technology spending is still growing according to the recent studies of Towers Perrin and AMR Research: click here

In other news, the Staffscapes blog reports that the Federal Minimum Wage will increase July 24th: click here

The HR Capitalist talks about employees who hate employers but refer them anyways: click here

And Recruiting Trends asks if passive candidates can leverage superior job security terms: click here

Follow Up on Direct Deposit...

Way back in February, Jennifer wrote a "What I'm Hearing" post on Direct Deposit: click here

Jennifer's conundrum dealt with putting a finger on a good reason people wouldn't use Direct Deposit...

Well this week at work, I've overheard three different conversations (office eavesdropping is for another post...) of people talking about direct deposit.

The first is an employee who is new but could not figure out how to set up the direct deposit. One of the things that employers, and especially Human Resources, need to make sure to do is to allow for an easy and simple process for employees to enroll in direct deposit.

The second was from an employee who has been employed for 9 months and is not enrolled in direct deposit talking to one who is a lot more tenured and is enrolled. The formers' said she was so happy it was not only a Friday, but a payday. The latter said that since they had direct deposit, they had no clue when a payday was coming up. This is one of the hesitations of people to getting direct deposit because they lose out of the joy of the paycheck coming every other week. Some of this is remedied by the bonus checks being delivered in person or in paper form.

The last was actually a conversation overheard on the work shuttle where someone commented that they were reducing their carbon footprint by enrolling in direct deposit. Getting rid of the paper trail of checks and opting out of paper statements is a great--albeit small--way to help out the environment...and check with your bank; there may be financial benefits for opting out of paper statements/checks also...

So there are some answers for you, Jennifer :)

Scott McClellan's Exit Interview

I wonder if the White House does exit interviews or this is how their employees express their displeasure (via MyWayNews): click here

This is Human Resources worst nightmare. A former employee not only decides to air his displeasure about his former boss and many former co-workers, but decides to do so in a very public and scathing way. And this is not just any boss and any form of public rebuking, but but the President of the United States and a very well-publicized book about his behavior as the Commander-in-Chief.

US News and World report writes the McClellan is just another Dilbert, a powerless employee with a lousy manager: click here

This is not a normal employee-employer relationship where it can be easier for the former to complain about the behavior of the latter. But this certainly brings to light that employees have a hard time expressing their displeasure of their bosses while in the job but after they leave the position, feel more free and easy to express their real feelings.

Maybe Scott McClellan should have just had a good exit interview...

So That's What Those Pirates in that Commercial Were Singing About!

The FreeCreditReport.com guys will be happy with this article from Forbes which says that you should get your Credit Report checked before your employer does: click here

(Well at least they should pay those guys so they don't have to be pirates anymore...)

Next, from the Sun-Times News Group and the Naperville Sun, an article about a Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM) that warns that no one is immune from sickness: click here

Lastly, from USA Today's On Deadline section (referring to a 2006 Forbes article),would you like to bring your baby to work every day?: click here

Judgment Calls

Harvard Business School and the Conde Nast Portfolio Insight Center starts us out on this Monday as we close out March with an article about making difficult judgment calls: click here

The Boston Globe continues with an article about employers using personal references to attempt to limit liability: click here

The Washington Post picks up our strike coverage with the actors (not the writers this time) who are facing some opposition: click here

A Plethora of Articles...

We have a plethora of articles for you to get you ready for your next week...

We start out with a Vault video on how employers are using social networking sites to snoop on employees: click here

Next, from USA Today, word that employers are paying more to relocate workers: click here

Next, from Fast Company, a look at the job outlook for 2008 and where all the top jobs will be: click here

Back to USA Today, word that small manufacturers are desperately seeking skilled staff: click here

Going back to an article we talked about a long ways back, MSNBC has word that the verdict of a woman spanked at work has been overturned: click here

Lastly, a blog entry about, of all things, Human Resources in the video game world of Second Life: click here

It's Holiday Time

Happy Holidays to everyone (Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, Ramadan, Bodhi Day, Winter Solstice, Festivus, and whatever other holiday you celebrate)...

In the spirit of the holidays, we have an article starting you off from the New York Times about the office party being a tightrope walk: click here

The Associated Press on Google News has word on the government revising rules on illegal immigrants and the employers that get penalized: click here

CNNMoney has a report on the economy that says that jobless claims have dipped and indicators have shown slow growth: click here

The Vault Blog has advice for both sides when an interviewee is rejected: click here

From HR Matters and HR Answers an article about health obligations under the FMLA: click here

Also, from the same source, a Q&A about pregnancy leave when not covered by the FMLA: click here