If we look back into the past, historically, we as human beings farmed or hunted or traded with our parents—we toiled alongside them in the fields, went with them and carried home the game together, or helped them load up the boat with goods to go to the trading post downriver. In the manufacturing world, we both often worked together in the same factory or on the same assembly line. The question I have is, in the context of today’s economic situation, how unusual would it be for a parent and their child to be competing for the same job that may be opening up in their city. While this may seem unusual from a human or historical perspective, I think this type of scenario would not...

Most of us are aware of the news over the last few days about the spurt in growth of the U.S. economy. This has created a sense of optimism that we are finally emerging from the recession, which is now being referred to as The Great Recession. There is presently a lot of confusion for everyone in the marketplace about how the immediate future is going to pan out. Is the recession really officially over? Are things going to get better? Is it going to be like the end of any other recession? When are the jobs coming back? Why do things still seem lousy? We must bear in mind the fact that historical data shows us that jobs take anywhere from nine to eighteen months to bottom out after a rece...

One of the things that I have noticed is that most leaders tend to be optimists. As I stop to reflect about this, it occurs to me that there’s a fairly simple reason for this—not many people would like to follow a negative person. So, if you aspire toward leadership, you are better off being an optimist and not a realist (as some pessimists like to dub themselves). Most leaders I know, in business as well as nonprofit and other organizations—tend to be fairly high on the optimism scale.

Clearly, the macroeconomic conditions have begun to improve. Most economists are talking about global growth definitely becoming a part of the 4th quarter of this year, if not the 3rd quarter. Next year could reach 2% global growth, and most economists are predicting that it could hit the long-term mean of 3%. There is, however, a very high degree of concern about the fact that unemployment continues to climb around the world, and in the U.S. it should hit double digits soon, seeing that it’s already at nine and a half percent. While we do see that unemployment is increasing, an interesting phenomenon taking place is that temp staffing hours are starting to flatten or climb a little bi...

The unemployment rate continues to climb. Now approaching 10% in the US, it is also increasing across Asia-Pacific and Europe. Numerous training programs have been set up in the US to help job-seeking people re-equip themselves for a new line of work after being laid off. Based on what I’ve seen and read (here’s a link to an article in the NY Times), these programs are not very helpful unless you already have a strong foundation in education. So, one of the lessons I’m hoping the recession is teaching us is that those of us in a position to acquire more education should definitely take advantage of it, especially those who have recently embarked on their careers, where the ...