Today’s released unemployment number ate deceiving: they do not reflect those that have given up work, stopped collecting unemployment, or work
part time–unemployment is more like 20% even higher in some cities like Detroit.

Yet at least half of all American’s do have jobs, and can keep them.

Don’t “assume” you will eventually become a statistic. My book “Bulletproof Your Job” (HaprerCollins) is a great tool, with tricks, yes tricks, and secrets on how to keep your job. Even you are of work, visit my website www.bulletproofyourresume.com to find the secrets on how to get your resume noticed.

Read the NY Times Article >>

The economic news gets worse by the day. On Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the national unemployment rate surged to 8.1 percent in February, its highest in 25 years, with 651,000 jobs lost last month.

Financial industry workers have been hit hardest by the recession. But in recent weeks, there have been waves of layoffs at companies like I.B.M., where workers once seemed safe from the economic storm.

In this sinking economy, what should you be prepared to do if you lose your job?

• Katherine S. Newman, professor of sociology
• Michael Melcher, executive coach
• Michael Gates Gill, author and Starbucks worker
• Stephen Viscusi, author and headhunter
• Harley Shaiken, labor expert
• Bob Adler, self-employed consultant

Read the article >>

Check out a recently authored article in Korea’s 3rd largest newspaper, The Chosun Daily.

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Many people are paying close attention to signs that they may be next up for a layoff. Job shedding has accelerated since the start of the year, and mass layoffs in September were the highest they’ve been since 9/11.

So here’s one sign to watch out for: the boss’s cold shoulder. The Wall Street Journal reports that managers who have become unhappy with an employee’s performance, or who fear having to break bad news, may begin pulling away—shunning meetings, conversation, invitations, and the like.

Apparently some bosses use cold-shoulder subtlety to give feedback. An example from the story:

Bob Miglani, senior director of external medical affairs for Pfizer Inc., says he has purposely made employees that reported to him feel left out of the loop, by not inviting them to meetings or waiting a long time to answer their emails. He has also declined their meeting requests even if he’s able to make the meeting so that the employee will see that he didn’t want to attend.

“The whole point is to spur them to ask you what’s wrong and take charge,” says Mr. Miglani, who says some employees he’s managed are too sensitive to handle frank feedback, so he resorted to the subtle cues.

Read the full article now >>

I was recently interviewed by New York Time’s Career Couch columnist Phillys Korkki.

Check it out now >

“…You might be excused for thinking up-to-date skills and good performance will keep you employed. But that’s just the beginning of your labors, said Stephen Viscusi, author of the new book, “Bulletproof Your Job: 4 Simple Strategies to Ride Out the Rough Times and Come Out on Top at Work.” (Collins Business, $19.95). You need to make sure you are the employee the boss most wants to keep.

Viscusi said some high performers are also high-maintenance divas, tolerated despite the headaches they cause. The guy who grouses all the time or doesn’t get along with others? He’s first to go. “They’ve been wanting to get rid of him. They’ve been looking for an excuse,” said Viscusi, who runs a headhunting business for the interior-furnishings industry…”

Read the full Washington Post article by clicking HERE.

The unemployment rate jumped to 6.1 percent in August, its highest level in five years, pushing the troubles of American workers to the center of the political debate as the presidential campaign enters its final weeks.

For the eighth consecutive month, the nation’s employers shed jobs, 84,000 last month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. In all, 605,000 jobs have been lost since January. The steady rise in unemployment, from 5.7 percent in July and 5 percent in April, is one that many economists associate with recession.

Both presidential candidates — Senators Barack Obama and John McCain — said through spokesmen that they would favor an economic stimulus package from Congress this fall.

Mr. Obama jumped on the latest report, declaring that Democrats would do more to help struggling Americans. “You would think that George Bush and his potential Republican successor, John McCain, would be spending a lot of time worrying about the economy and all these jobs that are being lost on their watch,” he said at a campaign stop in Duryea, Pa. But, “if you watched the Republican National Convention over the last three days, you wouldn’t know that we have the highest unemployment rate in five years.”

Mr. McCain issued a brief statement in which he said that “Americans are hurting and we must act to create jobs.” He added that “as president, I will enact a jobs for America economic plan that creates jobs, helps small businesses, expands opportunities and opens markets to American goods.”

Even though the economy continued to expand in the first half of the year, tell-tale signs of a recession — either in progress or soon to strike — are spreading. Consumers have curtailed their spending, the housing market continues to deteriorate, banks are reluctant to lend, consumer confidence is slipping and European and Asian economies are slowing, depriving the United States of a lift from abroad.

“The mood of the country as far as the economy is concerned is depressed,” said Nigel Gault, chief domestic economist for Global Insight, “and that is what it should be.”

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by Liz Wolgemuth

More proof that we live lives that are too expensive: 21 percent of people with salaries of $100,000 or more report living paycheck to paycheck. The figure comes from a CareerBuilder survey published today. The survey shows 47 percent of all workers surveyed said they always or usually live paycheck to paycheck. One third of workers do not put any money into a 401(k), an IRA, or a retirement plan, and a quarter of workers don’t save anything.

This is a problem for several reasons, but since I cover careers, I’m going to focus on the job problem.

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A new article I wrote in today’s New York Post newspaper, titled: “MAKING YOURSELF BULLETPROOF. HOW TO PROTECT YOUR JOB DURING TOUGH TIMES”.

Increase your value at work, and you’ll be ‘bulletproof’ when the going gets tough.

Read the full article by clicking here.