comScore, specializing in measuring the digital world, released an analysis of Americans' usage of the job search category. It is the fastest growing content site category in 2008, having seen the number of visitors grow 51 percent to 18.8 million visitors, as layoffs mount and millions of Americans find themselves seeking new job opportunities. The final months of the year, which typically experience seasonal softness in job searching behavior due to the holidays, were instead some of the most heavily trafficked months of 2008. CareerBuilder.com Job Search led the category with 9.1 million visitors, up 78 percent versus year ago, followed by Yahoo! HotJobs Job Search with 5.6 million visitors (up 146 percent) and Indeed.com Job Search with 5.1 million visitors (up 88 percent). SimplyHired had the strongest growth rate of the top ten sites in the category, growing 161 percent to 3.1 million visitors.

AdWeek.com reports on the Superbowl XLIII "Start Building" ad from CareerBuilder.com.

Spherion releases its Employee Confidence Index for California, Florida, Illinois, New York, and Texas.

Eggsprout.com is designed to be a social network for job seekers and recruiters, but everyone on the site is anonymous. Each job seeker, who uploads a resume into the system, is assigned with a "hotness" rating, which shows how they compare to other people in the field. The "hotness" scale is determined by several attributes, past employment, education, skills and the number of times that recruiters look at the profile. From Brain Ma, former project manager at Zillow.com and Hsu Ken Ooi.

The Oregon unemployment rate jumped last month from 8.0 percent to 9.0 percent, according to December numbers from the state employment department. The state's rapid loss of tech jobs eased a bit, though. Oregon lost just 200 net jobs since November.

Technology professionals are seeing a spike in salary increases despite a recessionary economy, according to the 2008-09 Annual Salary Survey from Dice, career site for technology and engineering professionals. Gathering the responses of more than 19,000 technology workers between August and November 2008, Dice tracked a 4.6 percent increase in average pay from the previous year to $78,035. Additional Findings. Aging & Work
A research study released by the Sloan Center on Aging & Work at Boston College reveals that workplace flexibility is seen as a key ingredient in business success. The study, Workplace Flexiblity: Findings from the Age & Generations Study, finds that nearly 65% of individuals across generations agreed that their work team links workplace flexibility with overall business effectiveness to a "moderate/great extent."

In the current economic climate, businesses are increasingly linking workplace flexibility with overall business success. And flexibility options are becoming a key strategy for reducing business expenditures.

Yet 41.4% of the employees who responded to the Age & Generations Study reported that they do not have access to the flexible work options they need to fulfill their work and personal needs "at all" or only "to a limited extent."

"One of the central issues for employees right now," says Pitt-Catsouphes, "is the freedom to choose how, when and where you work. But the economic crisis is throwing a lot of business assumptions up in the air for reexamination."

For employees, flexibility matters. But what matters more is how these options "fit." Employees who have flexible options that fit their needs show higher engagement, higher physical and mental health, and higher satisfaction with work-family balance.

Overall, the Sloan Center's research shows that regardless of age or generation, employees see workplace flexibility as an integral part of their overall quality of life and as a key contributor to their success as employees.

Specifically, the research shows that the top five flexible work options available to and used by respondents include flexibility with regards to:

1) taking breaks,
2) taking time off,
3) scheduling shifts,
4) the location of work (telecommuting vs. working in office),
5) and modifying starting/quitting times.

Employers want positive returns on investments, especially in tough economic times. Workplace flexibility is a major factor in business success, and a key cost-effective component of employee well-being. Nonetheless, the "fit" isn't being made. This study provides convincing evidence that the "fit" must be made.

The Age & Generations Study was launched in the fall of 2007. Data were collected from over 2,000 employees at 12 worksites within nine organizations across the country to help organizations gain a better understanding of the ways employees of different generations (Millenials/Gen Y, Gen X, Boomers and Traditionalists) work together in order to develop more effective strategies for managing multi-generational teams.

Permalink  . -.  Today's In depth News  . -.  Send To a Friend  . -.  Feedback







Quote of the Day
"A visionary company doesn't simply balance between idealism and profitability: it seeks to be highly idealistic and highly profitable."
      - Jim Collins

Newsletter Contact
The Bugler publishes recruiting industry news, featuring a Calendar of Events each Friday. Please send your company news to Polly Tasker for inclusion in The Bugler. More indepth news stories can be found in the Electronic Recruiting News.

Organizations to Support
Kuwesa HIV Widows Project in Kenya (Kuwesa Jackets and details for ordering your jacket.)

The Inspired Art Project




The interbiznet Bugler
Sign-up to receive this newsletter in email each day.