This week is Cover the Uninsured Week, a special weeklong event promoted by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to raise awareness about the issue of uninsured children.
Ten years ago, Congress authorized the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) to provide health coverage for children living in families earning too much to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to afford private insurance. The Foundation is working to make sure this program is reauthorized by Congress this year.
But while you’re thinking about health insurance, consider this: More than 45 million Americans are uninsured — and many of those are employed. The total spending on healthcare in the US is $2 trillion — 16 percent of our total GDP. These are big numbers, meaning healthcare coverage is a big issue for all of us.
To help Monster members better understand these complex issues, we’ve pulled together a series of articles about health insurance and enlisted the help of two experts to provide advice and commentary. Here are a few of the resources we’ve gathered on this topic:
Our special guest experts, Dr. Jacob Hacker, professor of political science at Yale University and author of The Great Risk Shift, and Bianca DiJulio, policy analyst for the Health Care Marketplace Project at the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, will be online this week (April 23-28) to respond to questions and comments. Visit the Health Insurance Anxiety message board to participate in this important discussion.
Originally
from The Monster Blog
by Ryck
on Apr 25, 2007, 1:42AM
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Even if you don’t watch “American Idol,” there’s a good chance you’ve heard of Sanjaya.
And if the name doesn’t ring a bell, here’s a refresher: He’s a 17-year-old mediocre singer who should have been voted off the first week or shortly thereafter. But Howard Stern and the Web site Vote for the Worst have put the word out to vote for Sanjaya. And it’s working. The kid is still on while much worthier opponents have been voted off.
But to us in the working world, is this really anything new? How many times have you seen inept coworkers continue on in their positions, sometimes even getting promoted? How — and why — does this happen?
BusinessWeek may have an answer. “Fear of Firing” (the April 23, 2007, cover story) details how companies refrain from firing people because they’re scared of legal action. According to the piece: “It has never been easier for US workers to go to court and allege that they’ve been sacked unfairly. Over the past 40 years federal, state and local lawmakers have steadily expanded the categories of workers who enjoy special legal protection — a sprawling group that now includes women, minorities, gays, whistleblowers, the disabled, people over 40, employees who have filed workers’ compensation claims, and workers who have been called away for jury duty or military service, among others. Factor in white men who believe that they are bias victims — so-called reverse-discrimination lawsuits — and ‘it’s difficult to find someone who doesn’t have some capacity to claim protected status,’ observes Lisa H. Cassilly, an employment defense attorney at Alston & Bird in Atlanta.”
So what’s a manager to do these days? You need to honestly assess your team and provide appropriate feedback at the appropriate times. If Jane does a poor job, you need to let her know. If she repeatedly performs poorly, you need to document it. Remember: Ignoring the situation — no matter how likeable the employee is — not only affects your team’s productivity but overall morale.
The article goes on to say, “…it’s often the supervisors themselves who bear much of the blame when HR says someone can’t be shown the door. That’s because most fail to give the kind of regular and candid evaluations that will allow a company to prove poor performance if a fired employee hauls them into court. Honest, if harsh, reviews not only offer legal cover, but they’re also critical for organizations intent on developing top talent.”
These resources can help you nurture your employees and prevent your own office Sanjaya phenomenon:
Originally
from The Monster Blog
by Norma
on Apr 17, 2007, 12:18AM
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Rising gas costs aren???t the only thing hurting you when it comes to your commute. It???s the ride itself you need to watch out for.
Professor Raymond Novaco from the University of California at Irvine???s Institute of Transportation Studies has found a direct correlation ???between traffic congestion and negative health effects such as higher blood pressure and stress. ???The longer the commute, the more illness??? and more illness-related work absences occur, he said,??? according to this Washington Post article.
The article also says: ???Commuters have lower thresholds for frustration at work, suffer more headaches and chest pains, and more often display negative moods at home in the evenings.??? Uh-oh. My boss commutes more than an hour each way. Guess I need to proceed with caution.
During the commute, the vibrations of the road and sitting in the same position for a long time take a toll on riders??? necks and spines. But what can you do about it? You need to get to work, right?
This article from About outlines four types of drivers. Identify which you are (The Rollercoaster, The Multi-tasker, The Racer or The Pimp) and then follow the advice to correct your position while driving.
Get more advice and insights regarding the commute here.
Originally
from The Monster Blog
by Norma
on Apr 9, 2007, 11:37PM
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We’ve been hearing for a number of years about the knowledge and skills gap that will be left by the impending, and massive retirement of baby boomers. I ran across a recent Forbes article about the fastest growing jobs in America, many of which made the list due to this boomer phenomenon. Here are a few highlights from their article:
- Number one on the list: Home health aides, with estimated growth of 56% in their numbers over the next eight years.
- Medical assistants, dental assistants and physical therapist aides should all see growth of more than 30% by 2014.
- No finance or accounting gigs made the list, which was compiled before the private equity bonanza of 2006.
- There will be 32% more college professors in 2014 than 2004, according to the BLS, and 33% more preschool teachers.
- Technology jobs are growing rapidly. Software engineers and network systems analysts make the top 10 overall.
The exodus of baby boomers from the workforce is certainly one reason for the projected increase in these positions. In addition, the sheer size of the boomer population that is growing older and living longer is also influencing the growth of medical-related professions. Simply put, more people will be needed to take care of this aging generation.
Pursuing a career in any of these industries is a wise decision - just make sure to take advantage of working with the boomers who are still working but near retirement. These mentors will be your best resource for learning skills and knowledge applicable to your new career.
Originally
from Spherion Career Blog - The Big Time
by Don Boone
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???You???re not entitled to anything. You still have to work hard and brand yourself professionally.??? So said MonsterTRAK VP and general manager Julie Goldthwait in response to the latest findings from MonsterTRAK???s 2007 Entry-Level Job Survey.
Her comments got me thinking about my brand. Prior to working at Monster, I didn???t think much about brand at all. It wasn???t until a friend looked at my resume that I realized it completely lacked packaging. A summary statement, a few tweaks in wording, and my brand began to take shape. A few weeks later, Monster hired me.
Each morning, I drive one of my three children to school before work. We listen to audio tapes, and at the moment we???re listening to my son???s favorite trilogy for the second time. The trilogy is His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman, and in the first book, The Golden Compass, Pullman introduces the trilogy???s heroine, Lyra. She and all the characters in the book, with the exception of the bears, have what Pullman calls demons. These are animals that coexist with their humans, and until the human reaches puberty, they constantly change form, one moment a polecat and the next a mouse. Once the child hits puberty, the demon settles into a form that reflects a person???s nature. Pullman compares these demons to the human soul. Sever them, and the person dies.
Driving into work today, I thought a lot about my demon and what it would be. I have some guesses as to how my children???s demons might settle, but I can???t be sure. My own, I find harder to pinpoint. In his first novel, one of Pullman???s characters says that a person unhappy with his demon is unhappy with himself. Accept your demon???s form, and you begin to accept yourself. I think mine may be some sort of long-beaked, large bird. The awkward, prehistoric Archaeopteryx comes to mind, maybe for their conical head and large beak, I???m not sure.
Which leads me back to brand. In Europe, students decide what they will study long before they do in the United States. By the time European students reach 18, they???ve more or less decided their path of study. In the United States, we give our students more time. This is changing, though. With college admission becoming ever more competitive (just yesterday, the Wall Street Journal noted that colleges rejected a record number of applicants this year), students are having to define their brand earlier and earlier in an effort to distinguish themselves from the competition.
While I???m a fan of the American system myself, I???m beginning to wonder if we are pushing our children to define their brand too young. Even as a 39-year-old, I???m still tweaking my brand. Yes, my demon might have settled into the ungainly Archaeopteryx form, but isn???t the most magical of children???s qualities the transformative power of their imagination, their desire to explore, something we adults often lack?
When I build my company — there???s still time, no matter what my brand dictates — I???m going to hire a student who believes in that transformative power of imagination. If that means having experimented with different brands, they???ll be all the more attractive to me. Drive is admirable, but so is a willingness to take risks. One without the other amounts to me to a demon that???s settled too young. But then what do I know. My demon, if it is an Archaeopteryx, is sadly extinct. Haven’t you heard?
Originally
from The Monster Blog
by Elizabeth
on Apr 5, 2007, 9:22PM
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