What the Bank of America shake-up means for you (BLOG)

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The recent executive shakeup at Bank of America followed by reports of massive layoffs at the bank may leave you wondering what the turmoil means for you - either as a client of the banking colossus and Merrill Lynch, the brokerage firm it owns, or as a shareholder.

As experts ponder these moves - which include the departure of Sallie Krawcheck, head of the bank's wealth management unit and Merrill's public face - they see a rocky period in the days ahead for the company's shareholders, but not necessarily its clients.

IF YOU ARE A MERRILL LYNCH CUSTOMER

What should Merrill customers do? If you like your financial adviser, a shake-up at the top shouldn't impact a good financial planning relationship. "This announcement does not affect how Merrill Lynch financial advisers interact with clients," says Selena Morris, a Bank of America spokesperson. "By reorganizing Bank of America around its three core client groups, the company is ensuring that it delivers the best of what it has to offer to clients."

Larry and Sandy Reed of Oak Park, Illinois, say they aren't going anywhere with their investments because the connection they have with the firm - and their adviser - is deep.

"We've worked with Merrill Lynch since 1981 because my uncle worked there at that time, and my grandfather had given us stock through Merrill Lynch for our wedding," Sandy Reed says. While she initially came to Merrill because of family ties, she takes comfort these days in Warren Buffett's decision to invest $5 billion in Bank of America last month.

The Reeds find other Bank of America headlines troubling, including those involving controversial mortgage practices at Countrywide Financial, which the bank purchased in 2008.

Existing clients should ponder whether Bank of America's financial woes will put too much pressure on the company to change its bottom line - meaning that Merrill's advisers may have a new agenda, such as pushing products that generate the most profits for the bank.

"Is the adviser doing what's best for me, or is the adviser doing what's best for the company?" says Jack Waymire, founder of Paladin Registry, an information services provider that rates financial advisers. "I would view Merrill Lynch more as a distribution system to sell products; in this environment, Bank of America just tells Merrill Lynch to sell its products."

That may not pose problems on its own. But Waymire, author of "Who's Watching Your Money?", believes Merrill Lynch and other big Wall Street firms now put their profits way ahead of investor gains.

"If you've got these household names handling your money, you may feel relatively safe," he says. "Merrill has all these resources, and they're using sales skills to convince you they're experts. The advisers are not even managing the money half the time. It's a big, big mess and it's not going to be cleaned up anytime soon."

The bank disagrees. "These comments are woefully dated and do not reflect the reality of how our financial advisers serve their clients," says Bank of America spokeswoman Morris. Nine out of 10 clients would recommend a Merrill adviser to their family and friends, she notes. "The average length of our relationship with clients is 13 years, and our client attrition rates are in the low single digits," adds Morris. "Our training program for advisers is the longest and most rigorous in the industry."

Moreover, Merrill Lynch "is hiring in a big way," says David A. Geracioti, editor in chief of Registered Rep magazine and RegisteredRep.com. This has generally meant forcing out financial advisers who produce less than $400,000 per year -prompting some defections of long-time Merrill advisers to the likes of HighTower, a Chicago-based aggregator of financial adviser firms.

For customers sticking with Merrill, such as the Reeds, there is good news: "Client assets have held up pretty well, all things considered," Geracioti says. "The only way Bank of America would spin out its best-performing unit is if it had to 'burn the furniture' to raise capital. In fact, Merrill Lynch is the crown jewel of Bank of America, one of the bright spots in an otherwise troubled company."

IF YOU ARE A BANK OF AMERICA SHAREHOLDER

Bad news has dogged Bank of America since the 2008 financial crisis. The bank has lost half its share value since January and reported an $8.8 billion quarterly loss in July. Much of that loss is related to a settlement over lingering mortgage problems, stemming from the bank's ill-timed purchase of Countrywide Financial. And reports estimate layoffs of 40,000 employees in the coming months (see http://link.reuters.com/nav63s).

By realigning its management team, the Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank is another effort to turn fortunes around. David Darnell, who rose to a newly-created co-COO position, will direct retail banking and take over Krawcheck's duties, which include supervising more than 16,000 financial advisers.

"If you're a Merrill investor, you're a Bank of America investor now," says Bill DeShurko, author of "The Naked Truth About Your Money" (Penguin) and president/owner of 401 Advisor, LLC in Centerville, Ohio. "And here's the concern: You've got a bank that's in financial trouble. There's no question about that; the stock market is not so stupid to value Bank of America at $7 a share if they didn't have serious problems."

Several brokerages are trimming their earnings estimates for the company. Skeptics say Bank of America needs an extreme makeover, which could include spinning off Merrill Lynch, a Chapter 11 restructuring or placing all of the rotting mortgages into a new entity.

Even the bulls who believe Bank of America can earn its way out of its problems freely admit that the bank's stock is not likely to do much the next several years. Says Australian hedge fund manager John Hempton, whose Bronte Capital owns a sizable stake in Bank of America: "I own a zombie bank."

IF YOU ARE A BANK OF AMERICA CUSTOMER

On the surface, Bank of America would seem, like Merrill Lynch, to fall into what Waymire calls the "too big to die" bracket. It serves about 58 million consumer and small business relationships with approximately 5,700 retail banking offices, 17,800 ATMs and an online banking system with 30 million active users, according to bank statistics.

Yet it also has one big, fat albatross on its balance sheets: Countrywide Financial. Bank of America acquired Countrywide for $4 billion, a deal that has proven a huge headache not just in dollars and cents, but in terms of the bank's reputation. "Basically all the mortgages that Countrywide produced from 2004 to 2007 were excrement," Geracioti says. "The question is: What are Bank of America's liabilities from Countrywide? Some say $100 billion, others say, 'Who knows?' The liabilities could be ginormous. The government is hassling the bank in a big way."

Bank of America has long held that Countrywide's problems were it own doing. But on September 2, the Federal Housing Finance Agency sued 17 firms - including Bank of America and Countrywide - for violations of federal securities laws in the sale of mortgage-backed securities. In an 88-page filing, the FHFA alleges that around 2005, top executives of Countrywide - which it labels as a "notorious mortgage lender" for its practice - "complained to each other at the time that BOA's appetite for risky products was greater than that of Countywide."

What does all of this mean for customers? Layoffs could impact customer service, but chances are the bank will pull out all of the stops to keep your business, which may include slashing your mortgage rate or extending any existing credit lines, assuming you have excellent credit scores.

Geracioti is a satisfied customer. The bank recently lowered the interest rate on his credit card - "by a lot," he says.

Do you really need a cover letter? (BLOG)

Consider these experts' tips before deciding to send or not to send.

Including a cover letter with your résumé is commonly considered a "golden rule" of job searching. But in this age of online applications and recruiters who need to scan material quickly, is this practice outdated?

Consider the following: For his book "Unbeatable Résumés: America's Top Recruiter Reveals What REALLY Gets You Hired," author Tony Beshara asked hiring authorities from a variety of fields, "How important is a cover letter when you are receiving résumés?" Of the more than 3,000 respondents, 86 percent said "not very important."

So if only 14 percent of the people seeing your résumé consider a cover letter important, is it worth doing?

To send or not to send

"Unless the employer specifically requests a cover letter, I would recommend that candidates do not include one," says Jen Rallis, author of "Ugly Résumés Get Jobs." "Many recruiters only spend a few minutes scanning a résumé and disregard cover letters altogether." Instead, she favors a well-written summary of qualifications at the top of the résumé, specific to the position being applied to.

Many experts, however, say a concise, targeted cover letter has value. "In a cover letter, you can precisely match your qualifications to job requirements and/or to the company to a degree that is difficult on a résumé," says Pennell Locey, senior consultant for Keystone Associates, a career-management consulting firm headquartered in Boston. "Choose no more than five key points where you feel your qualifications directly make you a standout, and highlight the specifics of those in your letter. Bullet points rather than a narrative can make it easy for an employer to read."

"From a recruiting standpoint, I would likely look at a cover letter after reading someone's résumé," says Tracy Cashman, partner and general manager of the information technology division of Winter, Wyman, one of the largest staffing firms in the Northeast. "I am more interested in examining a person's work experience and skills than reading the sometimes 'fluffy' nature of a cover letter." Still, she notes that a cover letter can be helpful, especially when it explains something that can't really be covered in the résumé itself, such as a gap in employment history or a position outside the person's obvious career track. Cashman's colleague Beverly Morgan, a partner in Winter, Wyman's human resources division, adds that a cover letter should mention anyone you know within the organization to build a personal connection.

Making the decision

Obviously, if a job ad asks for a cover letter, one should be included, because failing to do so makes you look as if you aren't following directions. Likewise, the decision is already made when an online application allows space for only a résumé. For other cases, it is difficult to tell what role a cover letter may or may not play in the hiring process.

While a cover letter is typically placed before a résumé, Beshara's survey respondents frequently said that if they read a cover letter at all, they did so after examining the résumé. Thus, applicants may want to reconsider how they approach their material, realizing that their résumé must be the attention-grabber.

When an applicant does include a cover letter, Beshara stresses that it must be concise. "I can't tell you the number of résumés I receive with a full-page cover letter that will rarely, if ever, get read ...You have to make an impact quickly, with specifics that say, 'You need to interview me.'"

Other tips Beshara has for job seekers who choose to send cover letters include:

· Having a phone conversation with the hiring authority beforehand and then referring to that call in the letter.

· Using bullet points to list accomplishments that apply to the specific job opening.

· Quantifying achievements using numbers, statistics and percentages.

· Focusing on what you can do for the company, not on your own needs.

Lastly, Beshara and others urge candidates to ditch any generic cover letters. "As a rule of thumb: If your cover letter could be true for any job/company you apply for, then it isn't targeted enough," Locey says. So if you've decided sending a cover letter is worth your time, do it right and let the reader know you wrote it just for him.



careerbulider

Are doctors' salaries the biggest problem in health care? (BLOG)

(THEWEEK)A new study suggests that doctors' six-figure salaries are the true culprit behind sky-high health care costs. Time to get out the pitchforks?

The good news for American families is that median income grew 30 percent between 1999 and 2009, according to a new study from the RAND Corp. The bad news: Health costs rose even faster, leaving many families worse off. Why are health costs rising so fast? A second study, from Columbia University, suggests that the biggest factor is doctors' pay. An American primary care doctor earned an average of $186,582 in 2008 (before taxes but after expenses), while the corresponding figure in France was $95,585. American doctors with lucrative specialties — like, say, orthopedic surgery — can earn an average salary well above $400,000. As U.S. citizens and policymakers struggle with skyrocketing health costs, should we take a scalpel to physician fees and salaries?

We can't afford doctors' greed: The upshot of this study is that "greedy American doctors are taking all of our health care money, because they can," says Hamilton Nolan at Gawker. That certainly helps explain why health care is so damned expensive here, but not why primary care physicians picked the very same day this study came out to demand a raise from Medicare. Here's an idea: "Instead of giving primary care doctors a raise, how about we give specialists a pay cut?"
"Doctors overpaid, says study; 'Give us a raise,' say doctors"

This is just the American way: The difference between what U.S. and other Western doctors earn is "eye-popping," says Julie Rovner at NPR. But don't be too quick to pin the blame on doctors: The "sure-to-be-controversial study" suggests that all "top intellectual talent" earns more in the U.S. than in other countries. So it could be that "the only way to pay doctors less is to lower salaries for [all] the top-paid people in society," and that seems unlikely.
"Pay for U.S. doctors is tops"

And our mess of a system is bigger than doctors: Our outrageously costly health care system has "a lot of moving parts," says Erika Stutzman in the Boulder, Colo., Daily Camera, and doctors aren't the only ones who "enrich themselves at a cost to the system as a whole." Sperm banks, drug companies, insurance companies, and hospital administrators share the blame. What's worse: Our health care costs are the highest in the world, but they don't even come close to buying us the world's best health care.
"Big dollars, little sense"

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Bank of America to Cut 40,000 Jobs (BLOG)

NEW YORK — Bank of America is considering cutting at least 10 percent of its work force as part of a massive restructuring, according to published reports.

The Wall Street Journal said that officials at the Charlotte, N.C. bank have discussed cutting 40,000 employees, or 14 percent of its 288,000 total staff. Bloomberg put the job cuts at about 10 percent. They each cited people that were not identified by name.

A spokesman for Bank of America wasn't immediately available to comment before business hours on Friday.

Bank of America Corp. has already cut at least 6,000 jobs this year as part of its reorganization under CEO Brian Moynihan, who has been in the top spot since last year. Moynihan earlier this week unveiled a shake-up in the bank's management ranks, announcing that two key officers will leave and the promotion of two others to share the chief operating officer role.

The bank, still struggling under the weight of toxic mortgage loans, says the moves are part of "delayering and simplifying" operations. It has more employees than most of its major competitors, and top executives have stressed the need to eliminate redundancies resulting from past acquisitions.

The Journal said that most of the job cuts are expected to be made on its consumer side. It got rid of 63 unprofitable branches between April and June and said it plans to close 750 of its nearly 6,000 locations in the next several years.

Bank of America Corp. started a cost cutting program called New BAC in the spring. Moynihan said Tuesday that the second phase of New BAC will begin next month and run through March.


ap

10 of Today’s Hottest Jobs (blog)

Believe it or not, even with the unemployment rate stubbornly high and many industries reluctant to staff up, there are employers out there who still can't find enough qualified applicants. Some are offering six-figure salaries to the right job seekers. The trick, of course, is unearthing these hidden opportunities.

We started by asking CareerBuilder to mine its vast employment database to identify promising occupations that are experiencing an under-supply of qualified applicants relative to the number of available jobs. The resulting ratio is a good indicator of hiring demand -- the lower the ratio, the greater the need for applicants. A ratio of 10.0, for example, means there are ten job seekers for every open position. A ratio of 0.5 means there are two open positions for every job seeker.

We also took a hard look at pay and growth prospects, based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Annual salary ranges reflect the rates in the 25th and 75th percentiles. Ten-year growth projections are based on BLS's expected change in the number of positions between 2008 and 2018. Finally, we filtered our choices to represent a range of industries and educational requirements. Check out our list of ten of today's hottest jobs.

1. Nurse Practitioner

Hiring demand: 0.25 active job seekers for every open position
Annual salary range: $52,980-$79,020
10-year growth projection: 22%

Job description: A picture of health. The first baby-boomers are reaching retirement age at a time when there's a shortage of primary-care physicians. Nurses are needed to close the gap. They perform many duties, from medical histories to disease management, previously handled by doctors. While hospitals are the largest employers of nurses, the fastest growth -- and best pay -- can be found in physicians' offices. At minimum, you'll need to complete a formal training program. Some nursing positions call for an associate's, bachelor's or even master's degree.

2. E-Mail Marketer

Hiring demand: 0.65 active job seekers for every open position
Annual salary range: $43,840-$84,430
10-year growth projection: 28%

Job description: Spam I am. The fragmenting of the information market makes it harder and harder to get the attention of consumers. Just as a fisherman has better luck if the bait ends up where the fish are, more companies are turning to targeted e-mail efforts to get the right message to the right audience. Technical and quantitative skills are a plus to manage large distribution lists and analyze reports on the success or failure of electronic campaigns. A bachelor's degree typically is expected of job applicants.

3. Network Security Engineer

Hiring demand: 1.07 active job seekers for every open position
Annual salary range: $57,240-$97,660
10-year growth projection: 30%

Job description: Climbing a firewall of worry. The Internet has made information more accessible, but it has also created a rich environment for identity thieves, hackers and others looking to profit by misappropriating sensitive data. Specialists in network security must be well-versed in the latest technologies for fending off cyber-attacks. A formal degree is less important than relevant computer skills. Knowledge of all aspects of information technology, from software and hardware to networks and databases, pays dividends.


4. Environmental Engineer

Hiring demand: 1.15 active job seekers for every open position
Annual salary range: $61,500-$99,180
10-year growth projection: 31%

Job description: It's easy being green. This isn't a fancy title for a trash collector, a la sanitation engineer. The interest in all things environmental -- and the public and private funding that's fueling that interest -- is creating openings for engineers to solve problems in a variety of areas, including pollution control, recycling and, yes, waste management. State and local governments are among the biggest employers, but oil and gas companies pay the best salaries. A bachelor's degree usually is sufficient to get started, but some positions require graduate work as well.

5. Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Driver

Hiring demand: 1.39 active job seekers for every open position
Annual salary range: $30,270-$46,920
10-year growth projection: 13%

Job description: Keep on truckin'. Getting behind the wheel of an 18-wheeler takes more than just a love of the open road. It also takes a commercial driver's license and, in some cases, a union card. Many aspiring long-haul drivers enroll in a course at a vocational school to learn the ropes. Prospects are much brighter for drivers of tractor trailers and other heavy trucks than for drivers of light trucks who deliver small packages, merchandise and the like. Piloting big rigs also pays a lot better.


6. Physician Assistant

Hiring demand: 1.45 active job seekers for every open position
Annual salary range: $73,040-$101,690
10-year growth projection: 39%

Job description: The doctor's assistant is in. Known as a P.A., a physician assistant does many of the same things as an M.D.: conducts exams, makes diagnoses, performs procedures, and sometimes even prescribes medications. Formal training is mandatory, as is a passing grade on a national exam, but the process is less rigorous (and costly) than med school. In the hierarchy of today's health care, the P.A. resides between a nurse practitioner and a full-fledged doctor. Just don't confuse physician assistant with medical assistant. The latter is a low-paying, albeit fast-growing, occupation that involves basic clerical and clinical tasks, such as coding claim forms and recording vital signs.


7. Social Media Manager

Hiring demand: 1.50 active job seekers for every open position
Annual salary range: $38,960-$71,820
10-year growth projection: 24%

Job description: Update your status. Facebook, Twitter and other "share" sites aren't just for friends anymore. They're integral components of professional and corporate communications strategies, too. Companies are throwing money at folks who understand how to use social media to build brands and expand markets. Look at Facebook's more than 750 million active users and it's easy to see the potential in this relatively new field. A bachelor's degree in journalism, marketing or communications is preferred.


8. Financial Analyst

Hiring demand: 1.50 active job seekers for every open position
Annual salary range: $56,310-$99,230
10-year growth projection: 20%

Job description: Crunch the numbers. Financial analysts provide guidance on investment decisions, mostly to businesses. Banks, pension funds, securities firms, insurers and similar institutions are typical employers. Metropolitan areas with the highest concentration of jobs are, not surprisingly, cities synonymous with high finance: Stamford, Conn.; Boston; New York; Wilmington, Del.; and San Francisco. A related and even faster-growing field is personal financial adviser. MBA's are common, and professional licenses may be required.

9. Software Engineer-Mobile Applications

Hiring demand: 1.67 active job seekers for every open position
Annual salary range: $69,090-$109,210
10-year growth projection: 34%

Job description: There's an app maker for that. As computer users become increasingly untethered from wired networks and smart phones become increasingly indispensible, demand for software engineers who can keep the mobile trains running on time will only increase. You'll probably need a bachelor's degree or higher to penetrate this field, but more important is proven experience with the latest mobile technologies. California is home to the most jobs overall, thanks to Silicon Valley, but Washington state has the highest concentration of jobs, thanks to Microsoft.

10. Home Health Aide

Hiring demand: 1.74 active job seekers for every open position
Annual salary range: $17,900-$24,020
10-year growth projection: 48%

Job description: Home is where the health care is. As America starts to show its age -- the first baby-boomers just turned 65 -- the need for workers to help people age gracefully will only become more apparent. That's where home health aides come in. Aides visit residences to help the elderly, disabled and severely ill with everyday living tasks (bathing and grooming, for example) and provide very basic medical services (checking pulse rates and monitoring medications). There's no minimum education level, but training may be required, depending on where you work and agency demands.

Job growth stalls, fuels recession fears (BLOG)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. employment growth ground to a halt in August, reviving recession fears and piling pressure on both President Barack Obama and the Federal Reserve to provide more stimulus to aid the frail economy.

Nonfarm payrolls were unchanged last month, the Labor Department said on Friday, as sagging confidence discouraged already skittish businesses from hiring.

It was the first time in nearly a year the economy had failed to create jobs, but economists cautioned against viewing the data as a recession signal, in part because employment was dampened by 45,000 striking workers at Verizon Communications.

Those workers have since returned to work and will be counted as on the payroll in September.

"The economy is struggling against stiff headwinds, which appear to have intensified in recent months," said Millan Mulraine, senior macro strategist at TD Securities in New York. "While it has clearly not fallen off the cliff, there is little to suggest it is anywhere close to regaining its momentum."

Investors fled riskier assets, sending Wall Street stocks tumbling, and sought refuge in U.S. Treasury debt and gold. Economists had expected nonfarm employment to rise 75,000 last month.

The unemployment rate, however, held at 9.1 percent as a survey of households found both job growth and, for the first time in a year, an expanding labor force.

With the jobless rate stuck above 9.0 percent and confidence collapsing, President Barack Obama faces pressure to come up with ways to spur job creation. The health of the labor market could determine whether he wins re-election next year.

Obama will lay out a new jobs plan in a speech to the nation on Thursday, and White House advisers said the jobs data underscored a need for action."He will be very specific about what we can do that can have a meaningful impact on job growth in the economy right away," Gene Sperling, a top economic adviser to Obama, told Reuters Insider.



The Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, John Boehner, said it was time for cooperation "to end the uncertainty facing families and small businesses, and create a better environment for long-term economic growth."

Republicans have wrangled with Obama and other Democrats over almost every policy issue and their last spat in July over raising the nation's debt limit fueled a big stock mark slump that hit consumer and business confidence.

EYES ON THE FED

The jobs data could also strengthen the hand of officials at the U.S. Federal Reserve who wanted to do more to help the sputtering economy in August. The economy needs to generate about 150,000 jobs each month just to keep the unemployment rate steady over time.

The Fed, which next meets on September 20-21, cut overnight interest rates to near zero in December 2008 and it has bought $2.3 trillion in securities to inject cash into the economy.

Despite simmering underlying inflation pressures, most economists expect the U.S. central bank to launch a third round of government bond buying to put downward pressure on longer-term interest rates, partly because the federal government appears intent on belt-tightening.

"Even the inflation hawks have to be concerned by this report," said Joel Naroff, chief economist at Naroff Economic Advisors in Holland, Pennsylvania. "With fiscal policy at all levels of government restraining growth, the Fed is the only game in town."

While employment was held back by the Verizon strike, the impact was offset somewhat as 23,000 public employees in Minnesota returned to work after a partial government shutdown.

Without the strike, private payrolls would have increased by 62,000 in August, instead of a paltry 17,000.

Still, the overall tenor of the report was decidedly weak.

Employers created a combined 58,000 fewer jobs in June and July than previously thought, and the length of the average workweek fell 0.1 hour to 34.2 hours, the fewest since January.

In addition, average hourly earnings dropped three cents and government employment fell by 17,000.

Despite massive cash injections by both the government and the Fed, sustainable job growth has eluded the economy.

"The entire recovery has been a recovery in name only. The Achilles heel of the recovery has always been the lack of job creation," said John Ryding, chief economist at RDQ Economics in New York.

About 43 percent of the 14 million Americans unemployed in August has been out of work for at least six months. The jobless rate would have been 16.2 percent if people who want to work but have given up looking for jobs and those working only part time because of economic reasons were counted.

Although hiring cooled, fairly steady readings on claims for jobless benefits, relatively strong consumer spending, continued demand for manufactured goods and increases in industrial production offer hope the economy will avoid recession.

Analysts say the economy should pick up steam from here, although they warn the recovery is so weak that any fresh shock could send it tumbling. In the first half of the year, the economy expanded at less than a 1 percent annual rate.

Obama to address Congress next week on jobs (BLOG)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama will lay out his jobs plan in a prime television time address next week to a rare joint session of Congress, the White House said Wednesday.

Obama sent a letter to House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid asking to speak to both chambers on Sept. 7 at 8 p.m (midnight GMT).

With the U.S. economy on the rails and opposition Republicans on the attack, the much-anticipated speech is expected to include proposals for economic growth such as tax credits and infrastructure spending along with calls for shrinking the deficit.

In his letter to the lawmakers, Obama said Washington must answer the call to put aside politics and do what's best for the country to grow the economy and create jobs.

White House press secretary Jay Carney said that Obama decided to seek to speak to a joint session of Congress because congressional action is needed to carry out his plans. Lawmakers will have just returned from their annual summer recess.

"He believes the venue is appropriate because of the actions that need to be taken," Carney said.

The speech will conflict with a Republican presidential debate happening at the same time in California, but Carney said that was not a consideration. "It is coincidental," he said.

He Took a Job In Iraq. What crazy thing have you done to make ends meet?(BLOG)

(MSNBC)If necessity is the mother of invention, recession is the mother of extreme job searches.

Last week, we brought you the story Jadiam Lopez, a Miami dad facing unemployment and steep credit card bills. His prospects were so bad that he took a dangerous job working as a firefighter in Iraq. His story is a stark glimpse into the world of harsh choices that many Americans are facing right now as the sluggish economy drags into its fourth year.

Have you been forced into a crazy situation by the economic downturn? As America readies for a sober Labor Day weekend, we want to hear from you. Tell us about your extreme employment situation below. But first, a little more discussion.


We know that Lopez's dilemma — stay unemployed or take a job that would have seemed crazy five years ago — is common. While we don't know how many Americans have been forced to work in a war zone to provide for their families or how many Ph.Ds are flipping burgers at midnight, there are hints everywhere.

The Labor Department says there are 14 million unemployed adults, but there's also 8.4 million "involuntary part-time workers" whom you rarely hear about. These are adults who can't find full-time jobs but are trying to make ends meet by piecing together hourly work. Some are in their chosen fields, forced to work fewer hours. But many are working in restaurants or doing other blue-collar jobs they'd never imagined. Another 2.8 million people are "marginally attached" to the labor force, meaning they'd been job hunting in the past 12 months but recently had simply given up.

Joshua Persky became the face of desperate job seekers in 2008 when the laid-off investment banker resorted to wearing a sandwich board with his phone number and walking around Wall Street. Persky became an international sensation as his poignant image catapulted around the Internet, and he got eceived a few job offers. But nothing panned out. Persky doesn't have a full-time job now, athough he is trying to parlay his fame into a business by selling a gadget called Twisplays that helps companies program digital message boards with Twitter.


Jadiam Lopez


Jadiam Lopez in a government complex in Ramadi, Iraq, posing under a U.S. flag and a flag devoted to firefighters.

There are jobs being created, albeit at a rate much lower that needed to restore the 8 million lost to the recession. In July, for example, 110,000 new jobs were created. But even this crumb of good news isn't what it seems. The National Employment Law Project says that, of the 1 million private-sector jobs created last year, most came in low-wage industries like temp work, retail or restaurants. High-wage jobs made up 40 percent of job losses during the recession, but they make up 14 percent of new jobs today, the report says.

And just because someone has a full-time job doesn't mean his or her life is normal. Last year, my colleague Allison Linn highlighted a new breed of "supercommuters": workers who drive nearly 100 miles just to get the office. The U.S. Census Bureau already had a term for people with oppressive commutes, but its definition for "extreme commuters" — 90 minutes total travel time each day —sounds eerily normal now. Needless to say, extreme commuters are on the rise, as are supercommuters.

In her careers column this week, Eve Tahmincioglu describes the lengths that job seekers are going to in an effort to attract attention. Some are making Web sites aimed at specific employers, or even writing and recording songs with lyrics like "Yes we can change the world today. Take a look at my resume.”

Active employment bulletin boards devoted to helping workers find jobs are filled with dark stories about the sacrifices workers must make now. The harshest and most obvious — steep wage cuts.

"I actually read a blog of the CEO of a recruiting firm who said that candidates should accept a 40-50% salary cut if they want to get a job," wrote one. "They are fleecing us. ... I just interviewed for a job that is identical to the one I was laid-off from last year — same exact duties, same size firm — but they are only paying $38-40K for the same job I made $70K working at. With 15 years of experience under my belt, this was more than insulting, it was downright depressing."

Deep wage cuts — extreme commutes — hazardous work — burger flipping. Has the economy forced you into an extreme situation? Let us know, below. We'll compile a report based on your stories after Labor Day.

Which Industry Works the Longest Hours? (BLOG)

Time is a relative concept. Don't worry, we're not talking in an Einstein, speed-of-light kind of way. We mean in a practical, "time flies when you're having fun" kind of way.

Most of us feel like times when we're enjoying ourselves go by quicker, while times when we're unhappy, bored or stressed seem to drag on forever. This is why sometimes, when you're at work, you can feel like you've had the longest day of your life before you even take a lunch break.

Because everybody feels like they put in long hours on the job, we wanted to figure out which workers actually dowork the longest hours. So, we dug up some statistics on who puts in the most time at work, below.

The industries that work the most

You'll probably be surprised to know that, at 44.2 hours per week, workers in mining and logging put in the most hours on the job, according to July 2011 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Those in mining and logging were followed by workers in:

-Utilities 41.7
-Durable goods 40.6
-Manufacturing 40.3
-Goods-producing 39.8
-Nondurable goods 39.8
-Wholesale trade 38.6
-Transportation and warehousing 38.6
-Construction 38.3
-Financial activities 37.4
-Information 36.6
-Professional and business services 35.7
-Trade, transportation, and utilities 34.5
-Private service-providing 33.2
-Education and health services 32.9
-Retail trade 31.4
-Leisure and hospitality 25.8

Since the weekly averages above encompass broad industries, though, employees in the jobs and subsectors within each industry may be required to put in far more time.

Doctors, for example, fall under the "education and health services" umbrella, but most work more than the industry average of 32.9 hours per week. According to BLS data, in 2008, 43 percent of physicians and surgeons worked 50 or more hours each week.

Similarly, those who work in investment banking, a subsector of the "financial activities" industry, also typically put in longer hours than the weekly average suggests.

According to Finbox.com, an online community for professionals in financial services, employees at large investment banks work closer to 60 hours per week. For example, employees at Piper Jaffray, the bank with the longest hours, work an average of 59.9 hours per week; while at both Credit Suisse and Macquarie, the two banks with the second-longest hours, workers averaged 57.8 hours per week.

The states that work the most

According to a 2010 report from the U.S. Labor Department, residents of Nevada put in the most time at work, averaging 37 hours per week. Rounding out the top-10 states with the longest workweeks were:

-Wyoming 36.7
-Louisiana 36.5
-Texas 36.3
-Kentucky 36.2
-Alabama 36.0
-District of Columbia 35.8
-Mississippi 35.6
-South Carolina 35.6
-Oklahoma 35.5




msnjobs

Unemployment in July rose in 28 states, fell in 9 (BLOG)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Unemployment rates rose in July in more than half the states for the second straight month, evidence that job growth remains weak nationwide.

The Labor Department said Friday that unemployment increased in 28 states, fell in nine and remained unchanged in 13. Those are nearly the same figures as in June, when unemployment rose in 28 states, fell in eight and was unchanged in 14.

Nationwide, hiring picked up slightly in July. The economy added 117,000 jobs, the government reported earlier this month. That was roughly double the net jobs created in each of the previous two months. And the unemployment rate dipped to 9.1 percent in July from 9.2 percent in June.

Still, hiring has slowed sharply this year — from an average of 215,000 net jobs a month from February through April to an average of 72,000 in May through July.

Growing worries that the United States could slip back into recession, combined with fears about Europe's debt crisis, have sent stocks plunging. The Dow Jones industrial average plunged 419 points Thursday. The Dow is down about 14 percent since July 21. The Dow fell further Friday, declining 20 points in mid-day trading.

The number of states reporting job gains rose to 31 in July from 26 in June. But the gains weren't always enough to lower unemployment rates in those states. An unemployment rate can increase even if jobs are added, if many more people look for work.

That's what happened in Michigan last month. It reported the third-biggest gain in jobs: 23,000. About half the gain was in government jobs, defying a nationwide trend of job cuts by state and local governments.

State officials said the gain was likely exaggerated by seasonal adjustments. Fewer school employees, for example, were laid off this summer after cuts in previous years. If seasonal layoffs are fewer than in previous years, that factor can inflate the seasonally adjusted number of new jobs.

Michigan's unemployment rate jumped to 10.9 percent from 10.5 percent, reflecting more unemployed people, even though the state added jobs. The government uses two surveys to count the number of jobs and the number of unemployed, and the two surveys can sometimes diverge.

New York enjoyed the biggest job gain in July: 29,400. The state added jobs in education and health care and professional and business services — a category that includes accounting, engineering, and temporary workers, among other professions.

Texas reported the second-most number of new jobs. It added positions in retail, transportation, education and health, and hotels, restaurants, and other leisure industries.

Texas has accounted for nearly half the U.S. jobs created since the recession officially ended two years ago, according to calculations by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. Its job-creation figures are coming under scrutiny now that Gov. Rick Perry, a Republican, has launched a presidential campaign.

Illinois reported the biggest loss of jobs last month: 24,900. It was followed by Florida, with a loss of 22,100 and Minnesota, with 19,800. Many of Minnesota's job losses stemmed from the state government's shutdown last month. State agencies temporarily laid off 22,000.

Nevada had the nation's highest unemployment rate, at 12.9 percent. It was followed by California, at 12 percent.

North Dakota had the lowest rate, 3.3 percent, followed by Nebraska, 4.1 percent.

The nation's economy slowed sharply in the first half of the year, to an annual pace of only 0.8 percent. That was the slowest since the recession officially ended.

Economists had hoped the slowdown was mostly a reaction to temporary factors. They include a spike in gas prices in the spring and supply disruptions stemming from Japan's March 11 earthquake.

But now most analysts expect the weakness to persist for the rest of this year and next.

Michael Feroli, an economist at JPMorgan Chase, has dramatically lowered his forecasts for the U.S. economy. He now expects an annual growth rate of only 1 percent in the October-December quarter, down from a previous estimate of 2.5 percent.

And the economy will expand at an annual rate of only 0.5 percent in the first half of next year, down from an earlier estimate of 1.5 percent, he predicts.

Bank of America to cut 3,500 jobs (BLOG)

NEW YORK (AP) — Bank of America Corp., the nation's largest bank, said Friday that it plans to cut 3,500 jobs by the end of September.

The cuts amount to a little more than 1 percent of the bank's workforce of roughly 288,000. But they follow a string of other layoffs, including 2,500 already announced this year.

A bank spokesman declined to say if the cuts would be concentrated in a particular part of the country, but said they would be spread across most of the business units.

"The company regularly assesses the efficiency of its businesses and at times is going to make adjustments to meet the opportunities that are in the marketplace," said spokesman Scott Silvestri. The bank has previously cut jobs in the mortgage lending and investment banking, for example, after demand for those services slowed.

Silvestri said the layoffs were not part of "New BAC," a cost-cutting program announced in May.

After this round of layoffs, the bank should have about 284,000 employees. Its roster peaked in early 2009, right after it absorbed investment bank Merrill Lynch and mortgage lender Countrywide Financial, at about 302,000.

The entire banking industry is shrinking, as new regulations and the fallout of the financial crisis force it to become smaller, simpler and less profitable. Many of the complicated investment vehicles that fueled the industry before 2008 are gone, after being blamed for causing the financial crisis.

U.S. banks employ about 2.09 million people, down from 2.21 million people in early 2008, according to data compiled by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

The finance and insurance industry made up about 8 percent of the country's gross domestic product last year, according to the federal Bureau of Economic Analysis. That's in line with where it was in 2007, before the financial crisis took hold.

Like other industries, banking has always ebbed and flowed with the markets. It started laying off investment bankers as the economy began to sputter in 2007. It laid off workers again in 2008 and 2009, as the financial crisis sent many banks into the red and forced them to take government bailouts. But 2010 provided some relief, with shares bouncing back and banks making profits, and banks even hired back some workers.

But now banks are cutting jobs again. Bank of New York Mellon Corp., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and State Street Corp., among others, have recently announced layoffs.

This latest round is different because it's coming at a time when many banks are actually posting improved profits. Analysts say the latest cuts point to permanent structural changes, not temporary market problems.

The KBW Bank Index has fallen 22 percent this month as of Friday morning, compared to a 12 percent fall in the S&P 500. Bank of America shares have fallen 28 percent.

Investors are worried about banks' exposure to continued problems over soured mortgages and mortgage-backed securities. Though the banks' capital cushions are higher and many are turning profits, it's not known how much they could have to pay to investors who claim they were misled into buying the securities.

Bank of America is especially vulnerable, partly because of its fast expansion during the height of the financial crisis: It's still cleaning up the exotic mortgages of Countrywide, a California-based lender it bought in the summer of 2008. The move propelled the Charlotte bank into the country's biggest mortgage lender, but it has also brought it lawsuits, regulatory probes and quarterly losses.

Some analysts say the bank rushed into buying Countrywide and should have tried to get the government to protect it from Countrywide's worst assets, similar to a deal that JPMorgan Chase & Co. secured when it bought Washington Mutual. Some analysts have wondered whether Bank of America should file for bankruptcy protection for Countrywide, though it's unclear if that's even possible.

Less than three months after the Countrywide purchase, Bank of America also agreed to buy Merrill Lynch. That was a year after Ken Lewis, then Bank of America's CEO, famously declared that he'd already had all the fun he could stand in investment banking after that unit's profits plummeted. Lewis later stepped down over controversy around the Merrill deal.

Brian Moynihan, Bank of America's CEO for a year and a half, is slimming down the bank after his predecessors' years of empire building. He's been cutting expenses, closing branches and selling off assets to build capital. The bank's announcement Monday that it would sell international credit-card units sent the shares soaring 8 percent. The bank points out that its capital levels are high and its default rates are lower.

The bank has lost money in three of the six quarters since Moynihan became CEO, including an $8.8 billion loss in the second quarter as it said aside money for potential claims from mortgage securities investors. Moynihan has been telling shareholders and employees that the bank is in the middle of a transformation that might be painful now but will stabilize it long-term.

"We cannot control the seas around us," Moynihan wrote in a letter to employees last week, "but with the best franchise in the industry, and the best team in place to deliver its benefits to our customers, I am confident we will achieve our goals working together."

How To Tell Someone They're Wrong (And Make Them Feel Good About It)(BLOG)

(FORBES)There are plenty of reasons not to tell someone they’re wrong. It’s uncomfortable, for one thing. You also might come off as rigid, unsympathetic, arrogant, or worst of all, politically incorrect.

In some cases, depending on how much alcohol is involved, you might even get smacked in the mouth.

Here’s what all the touchy-feely folks out there don’t get about constructive criticism: It’s invaluable. The important thing is how you deliver it.

Everyone makes honest mistakes. What most people don’t realize is that embedded in criticism–constructively conveyed–is the wish to help someone get better at what they’re doing.

Any fool can deliver a meaningless “good job.” Being a constructive critic takes thought, effort and compassion. Here are eight tips for getting your good intentions across:

Pick Your Spots. Before you tell someone they’re wrong, recite–three times–Jack Nicholson’s tirade from A Few Good Men: “You want the truth? You can’t handle the truth!” Then answer the question: “Can he or she handle the truth?” If the answer is an unqualified ‘Yes,’ let them know they’re wrong, right then and there. If “No,” then keep reading.

Never Qualify. Trying to soften criticism with qualifications like “With all due respect,” “No offense,” or “Don’t take this the wrong way” is slathering poison on an open wound. Avoid this infuriating strategy. The same goes with showering praise early on, only to switch gears and unload with the bad news. At best you’ll come off as disingenuous; at worst, a jerk.

Sugarcoat Donuts. Some blunt but effective advice from James G. Ellis, Dean of the USC Marshall School of Business: “Never try to simultaneously be a good cop and a bad cop,” he says. “You need to deliver your view without beating around the bush.” Ellis’ faculty knows all about this. “Say what the problem is, and if you must amplify your message, say where your data came from,” he adds. “But make it clear that your goal is ‘movement toward constructive change,’ and nothing else.”

Paint A Picture. Ambiguity is your enemy when telling someone they’re wrong. Be concrete and don’t sermonize, even if the culprit knows he’s a sinner. Your feedback, like his priest’s, won’t afford a single clue about how he can extricate himself from purgatory.

Deal In Facts. Objectivity is crucial to constructive criticism. Remember that the goal is to communicate that a performance standard has not been met. Your sentiments (and certainly your judgments) are irrelevant. Never, ever talk down.

Focus On Behavior, Not Character. It’s easy to lapse into character assassination without knowing it. For example, in saying “You were lazy in preparing this report” you may think you are helping the author improve his writing; instead, it addresses your assumption about the person’s attitude toward their work.

Show Them The Way. Criticism without an action plan is worthless. Give them direction or keep your mouth shut.

Let The Fixes Feel Like Their Own. Chelsea A. Grayson, a partner in the Los Angeles office of Jones Day’s mergers-and-acquisitions practice, is acutely sensitive to saying, “You’re wrong” in a constructive manner. “After I present my approach to someone I solicit feedback to ensure buy-in,” she says. “When I get it, and we concretize a plan, I often characterize it as theirs. If people feel you support their fundamental views and value them, achieving buy-in is easy and natural.”

Mark Twain observed, “Nothing so needs reforming as other people’s habits.” Reform through care–not condemnation.

For more on how not to thoroughly annoy employees, colleagues, and well, anyone really, check out Glossary The Most Annoying Business Jargon.

Rude Behavior Can Spread Like a Virus (BLOG)

Rude co-workers don't just affect everyone at the office — they also have a broader impact on their community through a ripple effect that can even travel to other businesses.

That's the finding of new research from Baylor University, which suggests that stress created by incivility at work can be so intense that, at the end of the day, it is taken home by the worker and impacts the well-being of the worker's family and partner, who in turn takes the stress to his or her workplace.

"Employees who experience such incivility at work bring home the stress, negative emotion and perceived ostracism that results from those experiences, which then affects more than their family life — it also creates problems for the partner's life at work," said Merideth Ferguson, assistant professor of management and entrepreneurship at the Baylor University Hankamer School of Business and study author.

"This research underlines the importance of stopping incivility before it starts so that the ripple effect of incivility does not impact the employee's family and potentially inflict further damage beyond the workplace where the incivility took place and cross over into the workplace of the partner," she said.

In addition, since the employee comes home more stressed and distracted when experiencing incivility in the workplace, the employee's partner is likely to pick up more of the family responsibilities, and those demands may interfere with the partner's work life, the study said. The study also found that such stress also significantly affected the worker's and the partner's marital satisfaction.

Ferguson said it is incumbent upon the employer to try to discourage rudeness, incivility andworkplace bullying and encourage good behavior at work.

"One approach to prevent this stress might be to encourage workers to seek support through their organization's employee assistance program or other resources such as counseling or stress management so that tactics or mechanisms for buffering the effect of incivility's stress on the family can be identified," she said.

Foreign students walk off Hershey’s factory job in protest (BLOG)

Hundreds of foreign students on a State Department cultural exchange visa program walked off their factory jobs in protest on Wednesday.

The J-1 visa program brings foreign students to the country to work for two months and learn English, and was designed in part to fill seasonal tourism jobs at resorts and seaside towns. The 400 students employed at a Pennsylvania factory that makes Hershey's candies told The New York Times that even though they make $8.35 an hour, their rent and program fees are deducted from their paychecks, leaving them with less money than they spent to get the visas and travel to the country in the first place.

Some of the students were assigned night shifts, and said they were pressured to work faster and faster on the factory lines.

Hershey's said they didn't hire the students when the Times asked:



A spokesman for Hershey's, Kirk Saville, said the chocolate company did not directly operate the Palmyra packing plant, which is managed by a company called Exel. A spokeswoman for Exel said it had found the student workers through another staffing company.

Last December, the AP revealed that federal immigration officials were investigating two human-trafficking abuse cases related to J-1 visas. Strip clubs openly solicited J-1 visa holders in job listings, and some foreign students told the AP they were forced into sexual slavery when their passports were confiscated by a ring of criminals. About 150,000 J-1 visas were given out in 2008. Businesses save about 8 percent by using a foreign worker because of Social Security and other taxes they do not have to pay.

Basketball Player Delonte West Wants to work at Home Depot(BLOG)

Delonte West(notes) apparently wants to work at Home Depot during the NBA's current lockout. And whether this is a Twitter joke or a legitimate attempt to build up his bankroll one hour at a time, can you blame the guy?

The history of NBA players taking a gig on the side is long and unheralded. Some choose sneaker endorsements, because the sneaker companies choose them. Some, before the NBA really got off the ground, chose selling insurance in the 1950s and 1960s during the offseason. Former scrub Reggie Harding (who famously yelled "come on, man. It ain't me!" when a liquor store clerk recognized his 7-foot frame) held up businesses with a gun and a ski mask. On the flip side, Mark West became a licensed broker years before his NBA career ended.

Then there's Ron Artest(notes), who famously applied for a summertime gig at Circuit City -- back when there was a Circuit City -- to take in the company's 15 percent employee discount. The Bulls quickly put the kibosh on that second job attempt once they found out what was going on.

West? A free agent in a lockout that possibly might not end for another 14 months? This might run a little deeper. Via his Twitter account.

Delonte swears he's on the up and up about working at Home Depot:

It's possible that West could be unhappy for reasons that are out of control, namely his bipolar diagnosis from two years ago that has at the very least shined a little light on why West sometimes acts a bit mercurial. At best, he reminds of former Spurs forward Malik Rose(notes), who moved back in with his parents during the 1998 lockout, famously sleeping in bed sheets adorned with cartoon characters, only to spring out long enough to help his squad win the championship in June of 1999.

West made over a million dollars last year working for the Celtics, and he's made well over $14 million since joining the NBA in 2004. The guy should have a nest egg, there's no doubt, but he's also dealing with chemical imbalances that could either make his online fulminations worrisome (West might be out of money) or understandable (he could be sitting on a mountain of cash, and just working through some embarrassment over the lockout publicly).

Either way, let's slow down a bit before we cackle away at a guy either trying to set up a legitimate offseason gig, or someone who might be working through his ups and downs online.

Also, Delonte? We need a new air filter for our furnace. I write about the NBA -- could you work up a 15 percent discount for me?

Mean guys finish first, at least in their paychecks (BLOG)

(LOOKOUT)A new study finds behavior that might get you excluded from dinner parties actually pays off in the workplace--especially if you're a man. Men who rate themselves as disagreeable, stubborn and difficult get paid more than their coworkers.

The study, which will be published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, found that men who rated themselves as less nice than average made 18 percent ($9,772) more than men who said they were nice guys. Women who described themselves as less than nice, meanwhile, earned only 5 percent, or $1,828, more than their peers.

But don't feel too bad for the nice guys: Even disagreeable women earned less than agreeable men.

The researchers asked nearly 10,000 participants to rate themselves on a scale of 1 to 5 on how agreeable, stubborn and difficult they are. The study controlled for education level, marital status, level of job responsibility and several other factors.

Previous studies have shown that people tend to value how nice a person is more than how competent a person seems to be. But in the workplace, those values are flipped: Employers value perceptions of competence over warmth. And there may be a false perception that people who seem warm and agreeable lack competence, the researchers say. This is true even at companies that say they prize teamwork and a warm environment.

"The problem is, many managers often don't realize they reward disagreeableness," one of the study's authors, Beth Livingston, told The Wall Street Journal. "You can say this is what you value as a company, but your compensation system may not really reflect that, especially if you leave compensation decisions to individual managers."

The researchers hypothesized that nice women are not punished in the marketplace as much as nice men are, because the men are violating stereotypically "masculine" behavior, while the women are reinforcing their culturally sanctioned gender roles. Previous studies have shown that both men and women are punished for violating gender norms in the workplace. (The participants in one study rated successful men in female-dominated jobs as less competent than women in the same jobs or men in "masculine" jobs.)

The researchers' final experiment suggested that the pay gap can't be explained by agreeable men valuing money less than disagreeable men. Business students who were asked to pretend to be hiring consultants for the the experiment consistently snubbed male job candidates who were described as nice, favoring identical resumes from candidates that were not described as nice.

US postal workers face massive job losses (BLOG)

The US Postal Service has announced radical plans to cut one in five jobs, reduce services and water down staff retirement and healthcare deals as the government agency struggles to keep costs in line with plunging demand.

Among proposed cutbacks to services, many of which will require legislative changes, is a plan to reduce mail delivery from six days a week to five. Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe wants to remove 220,000 posts in four years and believes about 120,000 of them will have to be layoffs – pitching him at loggerheads with unions.

In an official statement, the US Postal Service (USPS) said: "Our most significant area of cost is in compensation and benefits, and one key driver of those costs is simply the sheer size of our workforce.

"Based on current revenue and cost trends, and assuming a move to 5-day delivery, the Postal Service can only afford a total workforce by 2015 of 425,000, which includes approximately 30% lower cost, more flexible, non-career employees."

Donahoe is calling for emergency legislation to remove the USPS from layoff protection agreements it has entered into with unions. He said the postal service would be "insolvent next month" because of sharp declines in the usage of services. In the last four years the USPS said postal volumes had declined 20% while prices remained capped at the rate of inflation. Adding to cost pressures, Congress has insisted the USPS pre-fund its heathcare and retirement plans. Donahoe said the service made a net loss over the period of $20bn(£12.4bn) – a figure disputed by unions. In addition to cutting jobs, Donahoe also wants to withdraw from federal healthcare and retirement plans, replacing them with lower-cost provisions funded by the USPS directly.

In response Fredric Rolando, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers, said: "The issues of lay-off protection and health benefits are specifically covered by our contract. Each of them has historically been covered in collective bargaining between NALC and USPS. The Congress of the United States does not engage in contract negotiations with unions and we do not believe they are about to do so."

Donahoe's proposals were provocatively announced just days before executive and union leaders were due to formally open collective bargaining talks. Rolando accused USPS leaders of trying to use the current financial crisis "to strip postal employees of our bargaining rights".

Developments in the US are being watched by British counterparts, concerned that trends seen in America could be repeated in the UK. Billy Hayes, general secretary of the Communication Workers Union, argued that cutting the US Postal Service by 20% is an alarming move which will devastate services and bring job losses when America is already struggling with economic woes.

"It's a real concern because the USPS, like Royal Mail, has been a gold standard for postal services throughout history. Customers and staff will suffer as a result of severe cuts.

"There's a worrying trend of downgrading postal services worldwide which we hope the UK will not follow. Businesses, consumers and the general public all value the UK's postal service and we want to see service standards maintained with six-days-a-week deliveries and universal pricing. These were commitments which were secured in the recent Postal Services Act, therefore there should be no question of such reductions in Britain."

5 Things to do Before a Job Loss to Help you Prepare and Survive Financially. (BLOG)

Part One of a Survivor’s Guide to your own Personal Black Swan Moment

Thoughtful investing includes your most important hard asset: YOU. Investing in you and your “brand” is essential to increasing your value to current and future employers. Take a moment to review this check list and see how many you can mark off as active personal “investments.”

1. Find sources of income and cash.

If you have enough equity in your home, apply for a line of credit. If you already have one, see if you can increase it.

Take a good look at the offers you get from credit card companies. Some are better than others and you may need to use them as a way to borrow money. The ones that offer a low interest rate until you pay it off give you more time to pay back with a low interest rate. If you go this way, be disciplined about making your monthly payments or the interest rate may increase. Stay away from the limited low rate teaser rates. For now, just keep a file on the offers.

Contribute to your 401K so that you receive the full match. If you are contributing more than that, consider adding that money to your short term savings.

Is there a family member you can ask for a loan? This may be a tough one but it may be your best source.

2. Learn everything you can about your current employee benefits.

This includes all of your insurance: life, health and disability. Can you take them with you? What is the cost?

How does your pension work, and are you vested?

What are your options with your 401K plan?

If you have a loan on your 401K determine what happens to this if and when you leave.

If you need prescriptions filled, do it before you start COBRA.

Find out if your current employer has an Employee Assistance Program (EAP). This may allow you to see a psychologist for a set number of appointments to discuss your job situation. As long as you are an employee when you start, you may be able to complete the set of appointments even if the job ends before your sessions are complete.

3. Research the insurance part of your employee benefits.

Shop around to see what kind of health and life insurance you can afford.

Review your health history with your financial advisor and factor this in to the cost and underwriting process.

4. Stop spending and pay off as much credit as you can. Include the family in your plans.

Explain the belt tightening to your family, especially children. Have a family plan to get through this. If you have made any financial commitments, (college, wedding, etc) explain and discuss why this may need to change.

Discuss relocation.

Stock up on non-perishable household items so you can limit your trips to stores if you do lose your job.

5. Network and Get your resume ready.

Meet with anyone and everyone you know inside the company to expand your opportunities to stay with the company.

Get your 30 second elevator speech prepared and give it to anyone that will listen.

Be pro-active.

Start networking now.

Start applying for jobs now.

Understand your employer’s view of social networking sites, and limit what you share if it might impact your current employment in a negative way. Some employers view LinkedIn activity as a red flag that you are networking for a new job outside the company. Some want you to let people know you are working there so your activity may involve recruiting a new employee.

I invite you to share your best tips on these subjects. If you've lost a job, what do you wish you had done while you were still working? You just might inspire someone to take action in a new direction. If you prefer, I can be reached at edorle@ellendorle.com

Does your Boss Take Credit for Everything YOU do? (BLOG)

You and your boss have been preparing for a presentation with the executive suite to pitch a new business initiative. During your preparations, you offered several ideas to your boss -- many of which were ignored.

During the presentation, the C-suite doesn't seem too impressed with anything you or your boss has suggested. Suddenly, your boss pitches a different idea, which they love. Problem is, he's proposed one of your ideas that he had previously shot down.

Sadly, bosses take credit for their employees' work and ideas more often than we think. Twenty-five percent of respondents in a recent survey conducted by Persuadable Research Corporation say they are not satisfied with their current boss, partially because the boss takes credit for other people's work. "The boss rejects most if not all ideas, but months later the same idea might come back passed off as his own," one survey respondent said.

"Some bosses take credit for others' work because they lack emotional intelligence and they don't realize how demoralizing it is for employees to be deprived of credit for their accomplishments," says Janet Scarborough Civitelli, workplace psychologist with VocationVillage.com.

Carolyn Thompson, author of "Ten Secrets to Getting Promoted," agrees that usually, bosses may not be consciously stealing your great ideas.

"The boss is responsible for the production of a group of people. As a leader, his or her reputation is on the line for every idea, program or product they put forth," she says. "Some employees, as they come up the ranks, lack self-confidence and sometimes their need for individual recognition outweighs their satisfaction of being a team contributor to a group goal."

Fool me once, fool me twice

If your boss steals your ideas once, Civitelli says to make a mental note to pay closer attention in the future, in case it's a recurring problem. If you find it happens multiple times, it's time to take action.

Before confronting your manager about the situation, consider the outcome you're seeking from the conversation. For example, ask yourself if you're willing to take the fall if your stolen idea fails, as much as you are if it succeeds. If it's still a problem you want to address, you need to set an appointment to discuss the situation, Thompson says.

"Asking why you weren't given credit and being ready to listen to the answer is important. Take notes and document the date of your conversation so he knows you are taking this seriously. Ask to be recognized for your group contribution in the future and let him know you felt overlooked and that his inability to recognize you made you feel trivialized as a team member," Thompson says. "Once you make your feelings known it's not as likely it will happen again."

If you're having problems with you ideas not being communicated appropriately at work, here are three tips to consider:

1. Document everything

"Stop giving away your best ideas in private conversations or emails that can be stolen," Civitelli says.

Take notes on meetings, create files for yourself and document everything with email follow-ups, Thompson adds. Make sure to copy fellow meeting attendees and other supervisors as appropriate.

"People who do this aren't just doing it to you -- they do it to others and ultimately will be exposed," she reminds. "What goes around comes around and bad word spreads fast amongst the ranks."
2. Try to be team player

You're not the only one who likes to get credit for your work.

"You need to conduct yourself as someone that isn't a spotlight hog but rather someone that gives credit where credit is due," says Thompson. "Give public thanks and recognition to others on your team in meetings, phone calls and emails. Others will appreciate it as much as you seek it and you will create an open environment of sharing, even if your culture is not that way now."

Adds Civitelli, "Develop the habit of thanking others in public for collaborative efforts where you can also make clear what your role was."

3. Look for the greater good

Sometimes, the boss may not be actually "stealing" your idea, as much as he is pushing it through to the powers that be. If you're intent on getting credit anyway, be upfront about it, Thompson says.

"Requesting future kudos and due credit is a good way to move forward professionally, rather than asking someone to go back and make an announcement so you can get the credit you feel you deserve," she adds. "At the end of the day, you know it was your idea. You should take pride in seeing something you conceptualized come to life."