Keep your job: A 10-point survival guide

According to CNN Money: “If layoffs, restructurings, and a foggy future at work have you rattled, try to take control of the things you can. Here’s how”:

• Create successes for yourself.
• Set 30-day and 60-day goals.
• Watch your attitude.
• Keep your network active.
• Update your skills.
• Make sure your work serves the larger goals of the organization.
• For now, forget about work-life balance.
• Take a hard look at your finances.
• Never badmouth anyone.
• Remember, in the knowledge economy, you are the product.

Source: CNN Money

Avis cuts 2,200 jobs

According to AP and CNNMoney: “Car rental company Avis Budget Group Inc. said Thursday that it has cut more than 2,200 jobs and taken other steps to meet its goal of reducing annual costs by $150 million to $200 million by the middle of 2009.”

Worst Jobs with the Best Pay

According to BusinessWeek: “These are dirty jobs and somebody has to do them. At least they get paid well for their efforts. Think you have a lousy job? You’re not alone. So do about half of your fellow workers—and about a quarter of them are only showing up to collect a paycheck, according to a survey conducted by London-based market information company TNS. Grumbling over the size of that check is common, too. About two-thirds of workers believe they don’t get paid enough, says TNS—even though many of them may actually be overpaid, compared to average compensation data.”
“A recent Salary.com survey found that 65% of workers plan to look for a new job within the next three months. The most common reason for leaving? Not enough pay.”

University of Texas Medical Branch begins laying off 3,000 positions

According to The Daily News: “The University of Texas Medical Branch campus, where a chorus of ambulance sirens once was constant and thousands of workers conducted the daily business of keeping a 550-bed hospital running, was somber and quiet Tuesday as the first of 3,000 people learned they no longer had jobs.
Most had worked at John Sealy Hospital, where workers will take the brunt of the massive cut.
Many had never worked any place except the medical branch.
Some who had held out hope their jobs would be spared sat in disbelief at the news. Others, minutes after being dismissed, attended classes to brush up their job-seeking skills.

Then, there were those who didn’t yet know. They waited in dread to enter rooms where their supervisors would deliver the news.

The University of Texas System regents last week authorized cutting up to 3,800 full-time equivalent positions after Hurricane Ike devastated the island campus that had employed 8,000 people.”

No layoffs in India, says AMD

According to ITExaminer: “AMD’s Indian employees can rest easy, as the company has no plans to follow up layoffs in the US with similar cuts in India.

AMD India managing director, Dasaradha Gude. said, “This is a global impact of economic slowdown, and AMD hopes to come back hard. It will affect India as well, but we are also at the hiring spree.” He added, “There are no such plans to have similar lay-offs in India.”

Top official meets rioters as China seeks stability

According to Reuters: “The governor of a Chinese province sat down with protesters after they fought pitched battles with police, a rare concession by a leader and a sign of government concerns about stability as the economy slows.

Xu Shousheng held a meeting with 10 representatives in Wudu in the poverty-stricken northwestern province of Gansu two days after the riot in which dozens were injured, state media said.”

Riots in China

Photo: Reuters

International Paper shuts mill, 550 jobs lost

According to AP: “Citing the weak global economy and reduced demand, International Paper Co. has closed its pulp mill in northeastern Louisiana, terminating 550 employees.”

This crisis could have a happy ending

Fortune: “I was thinking about the financial mess the other day and I came up with this theory. I’m wary of it because it’s comforting, even uplifting, and by definition any economic supposition that has a happy ending is suspect. So with that caveat here goes:

I remember talking to a wise man at the end of the last decade who was pointing out to me how much the market had gone up during the 1990s and how stocks couldn’t possibly continue to go up at that rate. The market’s historical annual mean gain is about 8%, and yet between 1990 and 2000 the market had climbed some 15% per annum.” (full story)

1 job, 11 interviewers

Fortune: “It’s not easy if you’re a candidate being grilled by a big panel, but you can make it work for you. Plus, using LinkedIn to boost your job search.

..I’ve been working with a recruiter on finding my next job, and he just told me that one possibility (an opening for a manufacturing manager with a midsized company) will require that I undergo a panel interview, meaning an interview conducted by a group of prospective colleagues and bosses, all in the room..” (full story)

Job cuts cast dark cloud over economy

According to CNN: “As the economic outlook worsens, job cut announcements have come in hard and fast this week from businesses across the nation.
In all, employers have announced in excess of 110,000 job cuts thus far in November – over 60,000 of which were announced this week alone. Though many of the job cuts represent global figures or won’t take place until next year, the ever-worsening job scene is an ominous sign before this month’s payroll figures are announced in two weeks.”

Rolls-Royce plans 2,000 job cuts

According to BBC: “Aircraft engine maker Rolls-Royce has said it plans to cut up to 2,000 jobs in 2009 because of the downturn and delays to new Airbus and Boeing planes.
The firm also said it was in talks about a planned cut of 140 jobs at its Assembly and Test facility in Derby. “

Bay Area companies see more jobs cuts

According to InsideBayArea.com: “About 40 percent of Bay Area companies intend to chop jobs during the coming six months, according to a new survey of local executives released Thursday that sketches a bleak outlook for the region’s economy.
Regional business owners have now become even more pessimistic than they were in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, according to the Bay Area Council’s quarterly survey of business confidence.”

Akamai to cut 7 percent of workforce

According to CNet: “Akamai Technologies announced Wednesday that it’s cutting 7 percent of its workforce (about 110 positions), as the Web content delivery company pares back its costs.”

Crisis Monitor at Flickr: Sacramento, California

Sign Waver job only

Photo: CrisisMonitor

Data dim hopes of Asian stability

According to International Herald Tribune: “Yin Weimin, China’s minister of human resources and social security, warned that unemployment would rise further next year and that “stabilizing employment is the top priority for us right now,” Reuters reported. It was a sign that the Chinese authorities were increasingly concerned about the potential social fallout in a slowing economy.”

Data dim hopes of Asian stability

Photo: The Associated Press