February must be the month of romance -- even in the workplace -- based on various
reports we've been sent recently.
First, the American Management Association (AMA) reported on a survey of its members on office romance and found that while
70 percent of employees say they wouldn't get involved in an office romance, 40 percent have been involved in an
office romance. Perhaps more interestingly, 30 percent of respondents noted their office romance ended in marriage.
Then, there is word from CareerCast.com, a job search portal, offering this advice for office romances:
Keep your involvement private until you've both determined that you're in it for the long haul.
Communicate clearly and directly with each other about how you should act at work. If you can't come to an
agreement and stick with it, you might want to reconsider your relationship.
Give each other space when you're in the office. Don't crowd each other or constantly check up on one another.
If you have a boss-subordinate work relationship, consider transferring out of the same department so you're
not both put in a potentially risky situation with top management, who watch for potential legal landmines.
Your relationship should be a collaborative effort. If one of you is putting in more time into the relationship
than the other it could be a warning sign that you're headed for trouble.
With the January job report, it's clear that the job market is continuing to struggle --
and that no political party has the answers for solving it.
The U.S. Labor Department released its monthly jobs report -- showing that the new year
started with weak job gains. Only 36,000
jobs were added to the economy in January, far fewer than almost 150,000 new jobs expected
by economists.
While the severe winter weather played some part in the lower numbers, it's also clear that
many businesses continue to wait on the sidelines -- hedging their bets and waiting for
more signs that the economy is in full recovery mode before moving ahead with hiring.
In the meantime, rather than looking for solutions, both political parties point fingers
at who has -- or does not have -- the solution for creating jobs. The most obvious answer
is that there is little the national government can do to create jobs -- they must
be created by businesses, many of which are hoarding profits and giving out bonuses to
top management while not hiring.
Overall, there was little change in hiring and jobs across all major industries. Manufacturing
and retail did see some increased hiring, but there were job losses in construction and
transportation -- as well as with government employees (as states continued to cut workers
in an effort to deal with massive budget issues).
Quintessential Resume & Cover Letter Tips Blog,
a blog from another part of the QuintCareers Network, with new resume and cover letter tips daily. A must-see for any active job-seeker.
The Career Doctor Blog,
a blog from another part of the QuintCareers Network, where each day our own Career Doctor Randall Hansen answers one career, job, college, or workplace question.
