Due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, the disruption to learning for all levels of education has been extreme. Teachers had a hard enough time attempting to provide a quality education for too many students, in too-small classrooms before the virus. What they are experiencing now is a far cry from an effective solution for learning. Distance…
What a crazy time we’re living in. The COVID-19 pandemic hit this country and much of the world, hard! In many areas, shelter at home orders are still being imposed or re-imposed because of increases in infection numbers, and face coverings are still encouraged for those times you leave your home. And if you are…
A year ago, if you had asked almost any employer if their company had plans for the majority of its staff to work from home, you would have received strange looks and a rather firm “no” to you query. Certainly telecommuting has grown tremendously over the last few years, and the technologies that enable workers…
Among the hardest hit industries during the pandemic have been the restaurant and hospitality workers. In California alone, nearly one million people have lost their restaurant jobs. This includes wait and bussing staff, chefs, line cooks, hostesses and management. Stay at home orders around the country necessitated the closure of all restaurants, with a few…
I can’t tell you how much I miss the physical impact of sound waves against my body in a shared environment – from small, intimate nightclubs to massive public events – with like-minded people who sought out the physical and emotional vibrations of live entertainment! At this time of year my family, friends and I…
As I’ve prepared over the last few months to resurrect this website & blog, all kinds of thoughts came to mind about what to present as the first new post. Over the coming weeks you’ll get an idea of some of my recent musings on careers and employment, among other things, as they get posted…
A recent meeting with a sales professional led to a discussion about the supposed disappearance of the “middle man”. (OK, for the politically correct, the term would now be “middle person”.) The “middle man” was the person who facilitated a business transaction, a go-between. Job titles such as manufacturer’s representative, rack jobber, deal-maker, agent, broker…
The New York Times recently reported that 2014 was a good year for job growth with the nation’s unemployment rate falling to about 5.6%. On average, 52 thousand more jobs were filled each month of 2014 than the previous year. This is a promising sign for anyone looking for work, and this hiring trend is…
Among the biggest changes in the hospitality industry is the interest of many people to become hosts. Some want to operate their own bed and breakfast business, and others want to find small hotel or motel properties to manage. And, increasingly, individuals and corporations are turning available private real estate into short-term vacation rentals for…
It was with great admiration and respect that I recently witnessed a number of instances of employers recognizing the abilities of their employees with disabilities. In my lengthy experience, I have too frequently seen workers with disabilities placed in positions far away from public view. But on this excursion through the Northeastern US, I witnessed…
Recently I attended a number of events populated mostly with people substantially younger than myself. Among the many things I gleaned from these experiences is that there is hope for tomorrow. The energy, exuberance and enthusiasm of today’s young people is intoxicating and I always find being around them a great learning experience. They are…
One of the topics I think needs more coverage and more solutions, is the shortage of women and minorities in tech jobs. If you look at a graph of people who hold tech jobs, women and minorities are represented in the valleys and white males represent the highest peaks, hence we have a tech chasm.…
Who are your partners in wellness? Surely your doctors, their nurses and support staff. But do you also consider your local pharmacist a partner in your wellness? After all, “Ask your pharmacist about …,” is one of the most oft repeated phrases in advertising because the manufacturers of prescription drugs and over-the-counter health goods know…
Let’s look at both sides of the job seeker – employer equation. When you think about where you want to take your career, one of the first considerations is the kind of work you want to do, and the industry in which you want to grow. But an equally important consideration should be your understanding…
Competition: It drives innovation. It fosters change. It motivates. It can instigate growth and development. And it can encourage. But it can also bring about fear, trepidation, feelings of inadequacy, incompetence and irrelevance. Yet every day in the world of work, whether on the job or looking for one, we face some form of competition. …
Sheila was well established as an architect long before we met over 20 years ago. She had received numerous accolades for her home and building designs and worked for prestigious companies. Having not heard from her in a long while, I was unaware that she was making a transition into a new, albeit somewhat related…
You can’t deny the impact that a professional sports organization has on jobs and the local and regional economies. Whether it’s football, baseball, soccer, hockey, basketball or tennis, there’s no question that professional sports are big businesses. Die-hard fan or casual observer of any of these or other sports, we sometimes don’t even realize the…
Like almost every other industry around the country, the film industry in California has suffered financially. Sure, box office revenues may be high, but the cost of producing films in the Golden State has become increasingly prohibitive, even for the big studios. And in Northern California, where not that long ago five to ten feature…
Now that it’s the end of the school year, a lot of people will be experiencing major changes to their lives. Congratulations to the graduating classes of 2014. I wish you much luck and success! Your lives are about to change! Big time! But at the moment, I’m more interested in the opposite side of…
Talking with some imminent graduates the other day, I asked, “When do you start your internship?” The quizzical look on their faces spoke volumes. One said, “Once school is over, I will start looking.” Another said she hadn’t given it any thought, believing that her newly minted degree would assure her a position in a…
