Donald Sears

While Google tracks the spread of swine flu and Vice President Joe Biden tells people to stay put (not totally unreasonable), expect co-workers to log in to that VPN, listen for prolonged mute-button silences on conference calls and watch overall productivity slide in the coming weeks and months. Many businesses are preparing for swine flu […]

Is the programming field rife with alpha male behavior to the point that women are turned off by the profession? That’s what eWEEK’s Darryl K. Taft asks in his article inspired by Ruby on Rails creator David Heinemeier Hansson. Hansson recently blogged about gender and programming in a post entitled “Alpha Males Are Not Keeping […]

Job hunters, take heed. CIO.com has a good little primer intended to uncover the truth behind myths about job references and background checks, some of which really surprised me. The article is written by Jeffrey Shane who works for a professional reference checking service (Allison & Taylor), so it takes a somewhat different tone than […]

Human resources and IT, listen up. Swine flu is about to become part of your disaster recovery planning. Had to jump on the swine flu train, eh? Well, Gartner did, and it has a point. Being prepared is always a good idea. Gartner is on the swine flu bandwagon, saying this is a time for […]

All may be solid in Apple earnings land, but it appears that retail employees of Apple’s ultra-cool Apple Stores were downsized. This makes sense given that Apple Store chains have not made nearly as much money as in 2008. According to CNET, about 1,600 Apple Store chain jobs have “been shed”, according to a recent […]

Oh, Japan. How you make Americans cringe with shame in your protectionist ways. Descendants of Japanese emigrants from Latin and South America, namely Brazil, are being told by the government of Japan that they will pay them to leave and go back to their home countries. Many of these people were born by Japanese emigrants […]

That is the question that many companies answer by a resounding “Unfortunately, yes.” But some companies are questioning the wisdom in layoffs if an economic turnaround comes in the next year. According to the WSJ, a recent Hewitt Associates survey of 518 large U.S. companies found that 54 percent think the recovery will happen late […]

Fortune, who loves to feature rankings of companies, has a good online piece about what HR people look for in potential job candidates. The five companies profiled are part of the broader ranking of “Best Companies to Work For,” so you know that this is up to snuff since it comes from employees. Three of […]

Given the news of tech-company gobbler Oracle buying Sun Microsystems, it isn’t too difficult to imagine that more Sun employees could be losing jobs. Outplacement firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas put it like this in a release today: “The blistering economy has taken a toll on the tech sector, claiming 84,217 jobs in the first […]

PCMag.com has a nice little gallery piece dubbed “The Best iPhone Apps for the Unemployed,” though some of it, frankly, could be for just about anyone, since it’s not all job-search related. It’s still fun weekend reading and worth a gander for you iPhone addicts. Here are the ones that are job-searching and job-hunting specific: […]

One of the leading technology companies in the United States that uses H-1B workers has recently agreed to backpay nearly $510,000 to 67 employees. Based on an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor, it appears that Cognizant Technology has been found in violation of several laws. From a recent article in Computerworld: “Teaneck, N.J.-based […]

Laid off but have an interview? Feeling desperate, willing to bend over backwards to get a new job? Willing to take something you don’t really want? Be sure you leave that stuff at home and away from a job interview, recruiter or hiring manager. From a recent WSJ article: “At an interview, you want to […]