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Top Reasons Workers Want Out, Even in a Bad Economy

August 16, 2011 / Michelle Burton

During a time when people are fighting hard to keep their jobs, you’d have to be crazy to actually quit yours, right? Wrong! There are still some people out there that would rather dip into their life savings, or worse—move back home, than continue working at a job that makes them miserable. Why? Because the way they see it, the long-term consequences of staying will probably be worse than spending the next 6-12 months searching for a better position.

So, what are the top reasons work has become so unbearable for some? According to a recent Forbes.com article, the most common reasons people are miserable at work are balance, money, skills, respect, meaning, and struggle.

Balance: It’s impossible to balance work and outside/family life
Money: The money isn’t enough to sustain them or their families
Skills: The skills and talents required for their work aren’t are a good fit
Respect: They feel chronically undervalued or mistreated
Meaning: They experience little positive meaning or purpose in their work
Struggle: It’s simply too hard to keep going with it

Before setting out to make a change, the article suggest that you do three things:

Dedicate yourself to what you want— A fulfilling, satisfying life is not going to just fall in your lap. You have to claim it, and commit to getting it with concentrated, continual effort. You have to work it.
Refine your focus— Do you know exactly which talents and skills are easy and natural for you to use, that give your work a sense of purpose? Do you know what type of work would represent an ideal fit? Are you in touch with your core values, standards of integrity and life goals?
Find the courage to make change—if you don’t take concrete action that is different in content and process from what you’ve done before, your life and career will not change.

For more information about jobs and career visit Forbes Careers at http://www.forbes.com/careers/.

Your Business, Your Career, Your Workplace

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Stagnant incomes struggle to keep up with rising tuition

August 12, 2011 / Michelle Burton

Incomes are barely budging, while college costs keep rising. The median income has remained steady at around $33,000 since 1988, yet college tuition and fees have more than doubled since 1988. What’s worse is, college tuition and fees do not include room and board. According to Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of financial aid sites FinAid.org and FastWeb.com, as out-of-pocket costs of college education go up faster than incomes, it’s pricing low and medium income families out of a college education. Let’s look at the figures, provided by CNN Money:

Tuition: In 1988, the average tuition and fees for a four-year public university rang in at about $2,800, adjusted for inflation. By 2008, that number had climbed about 130% to roughly $6,500 a year — and that doesn’t include books or room and board.
Income: If incomes had kept up with surging college costs, the typical American would be earning $77,000 a year. But in reality, it’s nowhere near that.
In 2008 — the latest data available — the median income was $33,000. That means if you adjust for inflation, Americans in the middle actually earned $400 less than they did in 1988.

So, what can low to middle class families do to get past this obstacle? There are several popular and not-so-popular ways to cover college tuition costs without going broke. Let’s start with the popular ways. If the student does extremely well in high school, he or she may qualify for a number of scholarships that can help pay a portion of tuition. Some scholarships are also very specific, meaning, high school students with talents in certain areas such as technology, science, or even art may qualify for any number of scholarships.

If the student is into sports, many colleges will pay all or part of the student’s tuition for playing on the football team, basketball, track, or even the swimming team. There are also a number of scholarships and grants for minority students and women. To find thousands of scholarships, grants, and awards of all kinds, pick up a copy of the latest edition of The Scholarship Book: The Complete Guide to Private-Sector Scholarships, Fellowships, Grants, and Loans for the Undergraduate.

Now for a few not-so-popular ways to handle tuition costs. Many parents would prefer it if their college bound kids didn’t have to work. But the reality is this, many college students do have to work to help pay for college and some even work full-time. This can help lighten the load on the parents and teach the student a thing or two about managing money and what it takes to earn a living in America. This can be an invaluable experience for students when the time comes to enter the working world.

Another not-so-popular way to save money on college is to live at home and spend the first 1-2 years at a local community college. First and second year courses such as history, English, math, science, and others may be taken at a community college, as most are transferable to a 4-year college. The best news is, most community colleges charge 50 to 75 percent less per credit hour than 4-year colleges. And finally, it’s possible to finish college in three years, but it will take some hard work and you will have to sacrifice summers, and possibly an active social life. In the end though, you will have one less year of tuition payments to worry about. For more ways to save on college tuition, visit FoxBusiness.com.

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Is the Economy Making Workers Healthier?

August 11, 2011 / Michelle Burton

Could the economy really be making workers healthier? According to a CareerBuilder survey, you bet it is! The survey says:

47 percent of workers report they have been packing a lunch more often to eat healthier or help save money. When it comes to smoking habits, 44 percent of workers who smoke said they are more likely to quit smoking given today’s economic conditions. In addition, one-in-five said that they have decreased the number of times they smoke during the workday (21 percent) or actually quit altogether (20 percent).

Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources for CareerBuilder, states that “Economic stress over the last year has caused some workers to reflect on their habits, and many of them have turned to healthier routines. In addition to helping cut personal costs, employees who limit their smoking and lunching out habits are taking better care of their overall health. This type of ‘better-for-you’ behavior can be encouraged by companies who implement wellness programs, healthy living challenges or smoking cessation support.”

The survey was conducted online within the U.S. by Harris Interactive© on behalf of CareerBuilder.com among 4,498 U.S. workers, age 18 and over, employed full-time—not self-employed, and non-government.

Your Business, Your Career, Your Team, Your Workplace

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New Government Rules Give Students Break on Loan Payments

August 10, 2011 / Michelle Burton

Millions of college students around the world graduated this year and they have more on their minds than finding a job. Most college students graduated with a mountain of debt and no means to pay it. Even if these graduates find a job right out of college, depending on the amount of debt, payments can range anywhere from $100 a month to more than $1,000 a month.

According to a recent news article, one student loan servicing center suggested that a recent graduate, working in an entry-level position for a Web company, pay $900 a month towards his $82,000 federal student loan balance. Of course, this is nearly impossible to manage on an entry-level salary – or even a mid-level salary for that matter, so what can borrowers do to delay or minimize payments? According to author and personal finance columnist Gail MarksJarvis, if you have federal loans, you can make use of new government rules that give people a break on student loan payments they cannot afford.

If you owe more on your loans than you earn annually, you are likely a candidate for some relief. Under the relatively new “income-based repayment plan,” you get relief if the regular payments you would have to make over 10 years will exceed about 15 percent of your discretionary income. That’s calculated based on a formula related to the U.S. poverty line. Besides income, the calculation involves the size of your family. Simply put, most borrowers will pay less than 10 percent of their adjusted gross income.

To find out if you qualify for the income-based repayment plan and to calculate your payment, visit the official Federal Student Aid website at: http://studentaid.ed.gov/PORTALSWebApp/students/english/IBRPlan.jsp.

Your Education

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Companies Choose Hoarding Cash Over Hiring

August 8, 2011 / Michelle Burton

There are many reasons companies aren’t hiring. They don’t have to because they can hire one person to do the work of several employees, the have more than enough employees—overseas, and some companies are just plain scared. This is the case with many companies that enjoy a substantial increase in profits from year to year, but instead of hiring, they choose to hold onto the profits. Some profitable companies have even gone a step further by laying off workers, even though they have the means to pay them.

According to a recent MSNBC.com report:

Business owners are a gun-shy bunch these days. When asked why they aren’t hiring, you’ll often hear the word “uncertainties.” Those range from not knowing whether taxes might increase at some point to worries about how health care reform could add to employee costs in the future.
Running a business is always going to be fraught with uncertainties, but these days business owners are feeling especially on edge about taking any sort of risk with hiring.

So what will it take for these companies to start hiring again? Michael Alter, President and CEO of SurePayroll, and Roosevelt University Professor Samuel Rosenberg spoke with Tribune reporter Kristin Samuelson about what needs to happen in order to coax profitable companies into loosening the belt. Alter says that to increase hiring, companies have to increase growth and slow their productivity gains, while Rosenberg feels that the market would have to grow to such an extent that the companies can’t meet the demand for their products.

Both agree that the road to recovery will be long and difficult. Alter mentions that because consumer spending drives growth, and you can’t spend if you’re not employed, it’s going to be very hard for the U.S. to come back. Rosenberg mentions that it will take a very, very long time for unemployment levels to drop to a more reasonable level, and this is impossible to predict.