I found this fascinating quote today:
Though members of Generation Y spend considerable time on social networks such as Facebook and MySpace, they are far more willing to give up these social networks for a week than texting or email, according to (pdf) a study by the Participatory Marketing Network (PMN), conducted in partnership with Pace University’s Lubin School of Business’ IDM Lab.strategystew.com, Strategy Stew
You should read the whole article.
Ruling Could Spur Hiring Bias Against Obese Workers | workforce.com
If obesity is included under the ADA, it would likely be narrowly defined to exclude a condition that is the result of a person’s lifestyle.
While there have been few cases like the one in Indiana, the growth of obesity in the workplace may lead to more workers’ compensation or discrimination cases.
If the courts recognize obesity as a disability, millions of obese Americans could potentially claim discrimination. About two-thirds of Americans are overweight, and 27 percent—about 72 million—are obese, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
A doctor concluded that Childers’ back recovery was “doomed to failure” unless he lost weight. After physical therapy worsened Childers’ back pain, his doctor recommended back surgery.
The company argued that Childers’ weight constituted a pre-existing condition for which it was not responsible.
Citing a precedent in a case involving a longtime smoker, the court ruled differently. It said the employee’s pre-existing obesity, combined with his back injury and subsequent weight gain, formed a new work-related “single injury” the employer was responsible for treating.
Tonight On Bill Moyers Journal, This Morning On NPR, And Louis Brandeis « The Baseline Scenario
Read this wonderful post and join the discussion. The brief history lesson is priceless and necessary knowledge for executives and managers. We have been here before.
Obama Considers Extending COBRA Subsidy | workforce.com
This short article caught my eye:
The intended and unintended consequences of the subsidy will be interesting to follow.
I read this online Business Week article and I thought I was reading about myself. If I were to add my thoughts, I’d add:
Outsourcing Benefits U.S. Workers, Too – BusinessWeek
For the project workers who log in to oDesk every day to create their own job with decent pay, outsourcing is a wonderful thing—be it in Wyoming or New Delhi. Some have been forced from full-time jobs but many simply prefer to go it alone or to work with small groups. Scarred by a barrage of layoffs in recent years, these workers like the control over their lives and diversity in the source of paychecks.
Copied shamelessly from Workforce Training Management e-newsletter.
| METRICS Formal Training Hours Consumed per Learner, by Industry, 2007 and 2008 Bersin & Associates reports that the drops in formal training hours from 2007 to 2008 is not necessarily a bad thing. “For smart companies, this means that they are cutting programs that are generic, low value and under-utilized,” analyst Karen O’Leonard writes. “We have talked with several organizations that are now carefully scrutinizing the value of their learning programs, some by employing cost-benefit analyses to their initiatives. Their analyses have led them to cancel some programs that were costly to run and offered relatively low value.” |
| Industry |
2007 |
2008 |
| Pharmaceuticals | 35.3 | 25.2 |
| Banking/finance * | n/a | 20.2 |
| Manufacturing | 29.4 | 19.5 |
| Business services/consulting | n/a | 19.1 |
| Telecommunications | 31.7 | 18.9 |
| Banking/financial services & insurance * | 28.0 | 18.8 |
| Insurance* | n/a | 16.8 |
| Retail | 14.0 | 15.3 |
| Technology | 21.9 | 14.3 |
| Health care/medical | 24.0 | 14.1 |
| * In 2007, small sample size required that insurance industry results be combined with those of banking and financial services. For 2008, there was a large enough sample of banking /financial services and insurance companies to break them out. The individual industries’ data are shown, as well as the combined category. |
| Source: “Corporate Learning Factbook,” 2009, Bersin & Associates |
Unable To Sell Homes, Brokers Turn To Arson
This a sad article about the real estate bust, arson, and insurance fraud.
Pay attention to financial underwriting. I suspect there will be more sad stories like this in the future.
lifeunderwriter.net 
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