"Retraining laid-off workers, but for what?
By LOUIS UCHITELLE The New York Times

SUNDAY, MARCH 26, 2006
Layoffs have disrupted the lives of millions of Americans over the last 25 years. The cure that these displaced workers are offered - retraining and more education - is heralded as a sure path to new and better-paying careers. But often that policy prescription does not work, as this book excerpt explains. It is adapted from "The Disposable American: Layoffs and Their Consequences" by Louis Uchitelle, an economics writer for The New York Times. Knopf will publish the book on Tuesday.
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"If economy is so good, why don't we feel it?
Ernest Nounou
January 3, 2006

The recent announcement that Gross Domestic Product (the most popular measure of economic health) grew by an inflation-adjusted 4.3 percent in the third quarter has the administration and economic pundits in a dilemma: If the U.S. economy is doing well, growing faster than Europe's and Japan's, and created 215,000 jobs in November, why can't everyone take a victory lap for a job well done? The administration wants higher poll numbers for its handling of the economy; economists are puzzled by the prevailing anxiety amid the good news.
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"Dispiriting days for EEs

David Roman
(11/14/2005 10:00 AM EST)
URL: http://www.eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=173602087


The creators of technology aren't feeling very appreciated these days. Their jobs are being sent offshore, pay raises are paltry at best and neighbors think they're geeks.
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"Your pay is cut. Now what?

US Airways workers learn to live with less

AMY BALDWIN

Staff Writer

After working more than 20 years apiece for their company, Gary Dickens and Russell Queen got double-digit pay cuts rather than gold watches.

That's not how it's supposed to be, but for them and thousands of other US Airways workers -- pilots and mechanics, flight attendants and gate agents -- it's reality.(Read More)
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"IT Pros Bummed Out About Job Prospects, Survey Says Nov. 2, 2005

Last month, health-care workers were the most optimistic, followed by accounting and financial services pros. IT pros were less optimistic than workers in those other sectors.

By Marianne Kolbasuk McGee
InformationWeek

IT professionals were significantly less optimistic than workers in most other sectors about jobs last month, according to a new report released by Hudson, a professional staffing and outsourcing firm that conducts monthly phone interviews with more than 9,400 employees in several industries. (Read More)
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"Just making a living
Sonoma County workers laid off after jobs were sent overseas see their wages going down, Press Democrat analysis finds
By MARY FRICKER
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Alan Glazier knows he's lucky.

He had one of the 6,500 Sonoma County jobs that have been lost since 2001. A third of those jobs, including his manufacturing job, were sent overseas.

But unlike many other laid-off tech workers who now work for much less or still struggle for direction, Glazier landed another manufacturing job at similar pay in six months. (Read More)
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"Fool's Gold
Desperate clients hand over thousands of dollars for a chance at a job
By Craig Malisow

Pay attention, because this scam is a tricky one.

Here's the quick and dirty: A company lures unemployed professionals to its fancy office with the promise of offering premier career-counseling services. The counselor is actually a salesman, who verbally and illegally guarantees the client a cherry job in as little as six weeks. The counselor-salesman tells the client the company has a secret list of all the good jobs. All the client has to do is pay a minimum of $5,000, sign a perfectly legal contract and circle "no" on a questionnaire that asks if he was promised a job. If the client asks about that, the salesman assures him that it's just legal mumbo jumbo. Vulnerable, afraid of tapping too deeply into savings, the client goes along with it. (Read More)
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"Allegheny County one of few nationally to see rise in poverty level

By David M. Brown
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, September 1, 2005

Sandra Muller, 39, a Lawrenceville homemaker and mother of four children, is hardly surprised to hear that the poverty rate in Allegheny County increased last year. (Read More)
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"Transcript from Lou Dobbs tonight

The Bush administration may be optimistic about the economy, but millions of middle class Americans, nonetheless, suffering in what should be good economic times. Surveys show middle class Americans believe Washington is instead rewarding big business, and at their expense. (Read More)
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"Watching the Economy Crumble

98% of the 181,000 new private sector jobs were in the services sector.

Paul Craig Roberts
Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2005

The United States continues its descent into the Third World, but you would never know it from news reports of the Bureau of Labor Statistics' July payroll jobs release. (Read More)
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"Parents' joblessness takes toll on kids
Drugs, depression among problems that can pile up
By MIKE CHALMERS / The News Journal
08/01/2005

Sherita Lane pulled her daughter, Essence, into her lap and kissed her on the forehead. They have each other and not much else. (Read More)
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" Techies' morale falls in face of low wages and offshoring

'I just don't feel valued'

By Jo Best

Published: Tuesday 19 July 2005

Morale is plummeting among IT professionals who feel undervalued and unappreciated at work, according to a new survey - and techies are pointing the finger at offshore outsourcing and cost-cutting. (Read More)
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