Firms recently surveyed by PricewaterhouseCooper shared some good news which had 78% of executives saying that they expect their company to show positive growth over the next 12 months.   54% of executives questioned stated that they planned to hire over the next year, with only 3% planning to trim their workforce...

Most high school students gear up for college with the anticipation that they will graduate in 4 years and find a job after college graduation, right? Not anymore. Finding a job has been extremely difficult for college students and especially stressful for those students and families who are unable to afford the cost of higher education without student loans. I recently read an MSNBC article that said “student loan debt in the U.S. now totals more than $1 trillion. That’s more than all the outstanding credit card debt in the country.”  Recent reports state that college seniors in 2012 owed an average of $25,250, up five percent from the previous year. Aside from that, parents of college students had an average of $34,000 in student loans for their children. The more staggering statistic indicated that the number of the parental loans jumped 75 percent since 2005-2006. And what about the fact that more than 2 in every 25 students who graduated college in the last five years and will need to get a master’s degree?  Is higher education “worth it” after all?

One of things that I, like other small businesses, like to talk about is that in 2010, 2 out of 3 jobs were created by small businesses.   I’m also always touting the idea that small businesses are the engine of the economy and when small business rebounds, we’ll see the US finally completely emerge from the recession.  Two articles recently released one by national website MSNBC.com and the other by local LI Business News, countered this idea...

On Friday it was announced that the payroll tax cut will be extended for the remainder of the 2012 year.  Instead of the normal 6.2 percent level, Congress has decided to keep the Social Security payroll tax at its lower 4.2 percent rate and to extend unemployment benefits.  While this is a short term solution to increasing the cash flow in the economy by providing 160 million working Americans with a slightly larger paycheck -approximately $1000 per year on a $50k salary- the Congressional Budget Office said that the bill would increase federal deficits by $89.3 billion over the next ten years.  They will account for the lost revenue for Social Security benefits by pulling from general tax revenue, which will ultimately add to the budget deficit... 

Governor Cuomo just announced the launch of the “New New York Leaders Initiative”, a program designed to entice young professionals and college students to serve in state government...

Yesterday I wrote about the problem of producing enough STEM graduates to fill jobs and keep the US competitive. According to Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics, STEM fields have the greatest potential for job growth in the 21^st century and will make higher wages. Today, let’s talk about what we can do as professionals and parents to get our kids on a path to economic competitiveness... 

When it comes to producing new workers in the STEM fields, the United States falls well behind other advanced countries, a new report finds.   So, what is STEM and why is this important?  STEM is a US Government acronym for the fields of study in the categories of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.  Why are these falling numbers a problem?  Well, per Ronald Ehrenberg, director of the Cornell Higher Education Research Institute, research has shown that innovation in a country’s economy is dependent upon how many workers have degrees in these fields...

According to a report from the Associated Press, the number of jobs waiting to be filled rose in December, thanks to hiring in factories, retail and business services.   This number hit almost a three year high, marketing more good news for the economy.

According to the Labor Department's Job Openings and the Labor Turnover Survey, there were 3.4 million jobs open at the end of December, compared to 3.1 million at the end of November...

According to The Labor Department, initial claims for first-time jobless benefits rose 24,000 to 399,000 on Thursday, the highest in six weeks. The four week average, a better indicator of labor market trends, rose 7,750 to 381,750 from a revised 374,000. However, growth is expected to slow during the first three months of this year and help for the economy may still be necessary despite recent data that suggested the recovery was changing in the right direction...

On the fourth day of business, it’s time to ask if your job candidate has been naughty or nice this year.   Yes, it’s social media time. 

On the third day of business, I want to talk about how image matters for both the employer and the job seeker.

As we return from the holidays and settle back into our routines, it’s time to return to my strategies for better interviews and more effective hiring decisions for both employers and job seekers.

Last week we started with the first day of business, which was having a plan.  On the second day of business, I’m going to talk about resumes...

It’s difficult to find a good employee – someone who will arrive on time, who will be dedicated to the task on hand, who won’t be a negative presence in the office. I wrote on the American Express Open Forum recently about an experience I had with an employee who was difficult, disrespectful and a negative influence on other, more dedicated staff members. In that blog, I highlighted the importance of an interview process that ensures that those types of individuals do not get hired...

The jobs report came out last Friday and folks, the news is not great. Zero new jobs were added in August, a rare occurrence in US history. In fact, this is such a rare occurrence that the last time the government reported that zero jobs were created was February of 1945.

The national unemployment rate remained unchanged at 9.1%, but what does zero jobs added actually mean? Economists usually estimate that to keep up with population growth, the country needs to add approximately 150,000 jobs each month. To actually grow, we’d need to add about 300,000 jobs a month or more to recover the 8.8 million jobs lost during the recession.

What’s behind these numbers?

Yes, I’m serious. Now is a great time to be an entrepreneur in America – never mind the fledgling economy, the big box stores, or the parkways that have eliminated the downtowns of old where your grandparent’s businesses flourished.

In tough times like these, it can be easy to forget the excitement that got you in business in the first place. My friends say I have enough enthusiasm about business for everyone – and yes, that may be true – but you don’t get off that easy… Here are a few reasons why you should be as excited as I am....

McDonald’s announced in early April that they would be adding 50,000 jobs in a one-day hiring extravaganza. They will also be using this hiring spree to fight the negative connotation of the term “McJob”. The 50,000 new employees will fill job openings from restaurant crew to managers and will increase the company’s workforce by over 7%.

The term “McJob" was added to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary in 2003 and has remained there despite the company's protests. Personally, I hadn’t heard of the term before, and I don’t know if I would have made the leap from “McJob” to low-wage.  I did a little research to see if the “McJob” deserves its bad reputation?  Some say no.  In order to stay competitive with its biggest hiring adversary, Starbucks, McDonald’s offers flexible schedules, competitive wages, free meals and depending on the franchise owner, health insurance, prescription drug coverage, educational assistance and more.  Taking it a step further, in 2005 McDonald's sought to boost the image of its restaurant jobs in ads featuring singer Macy Gray and track-and-field Olympian Carl Lewis, both of whom worked at McDonald's. Was the campaign to change its image successful?  Apparently not if McDonald’s is still working to change the general perspective during this hiring boom...

Everyone talks about the Long Island “brain drain” and how lack of jobs and affordable housing are driving the youth off Long Island, but as a business owner or working professional, what can we do to stop this slow exodus of young talent?

The members of the Long Island Elite (LIE) asked themselves the same question, and the result was the Believe symposium taking place on Monday, November 15^th, 2010.  The mission for the Believe Symposium is to empower Long Islander’s to create a better environment to raise a family, start a business and live a prosperous life. By challenging our youth to envision their future and take steps toward their goals, we will help them believe not only in themselves but the possibilities that lie ahead right here at home...