As we find ourselves not-so-valued by Corporate America, with our jobs outsourced to who knows where, the vacuum left by the departure of other-created busy-ness may be filled with a rush of creativity. If your energy rush includes the thought that, hey, maybe companies will want to outsource jobs I can do to me if [...]

From The New York Times: 
 ”WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court ruled for older workers Thursday in a closely watched age discrimination case, placing on employers the burden of proving that a layoff or other action that hurts older workers more than others was based not on age but on some other “reasonable factor.” …
“[T]his decision, coming [...]

“This morning, EPI Vice President Ross Eisenbrey issued the following statement on pending legislation to extend unemployment benefits:
“For months, as the nation’s economy has deteriorated, members of Congress have tried and failed to push through a common-sense extension of unemployment insurance benefits. Now there is another chance. House leaders plan to vote as soon as tomorrow (Wednesday) on a stand-alone extension bill passed Monday by the House Ways and Means Committee. The extension, which adds 13 weeks of benefits to unemployed workers who have exhausted their benefits, might also remain attached to the emergency supplemental appropriations bill for war funding. Congress should use every possible vehicle to put this issue before the president.

This is an excerpt from a New York Times story published May 16, 2008. Click on the link to read the entire article:

“People on Wall Street seem to be vanishing overnight.

JoAnne Kennedy was laid off by JPMorgan Chase while she was recovering from surgery.

Thousands are losing their jobs as hard-pressed banks cut deep. But while layoffs are nothing new in the financial industry (they come with almost every downturn), this round seems different: it is eerily quiet.

So quiet, in fact, that people refer to these cuts as stealth layoffs. Some bosses hardly say a word after people are fired. At Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, for example, the first clue that someone is gone can be e-mail messages that are returned to senders from a former colleague’s inactivated corporate address.

While the financial markets have found a bit of a footing lately, banks are pushing ahead with plans for some of the deepest job reductions in years. Since last summer, banks worldwide have announced plans to cut 65,000 employees. …”

Been a ’senior electronics technician’ for 35 years, the last 20 doing mostly PWB layout for several employers - 7 years, 3 years, 2 years & 8 years. The last job, the cheeses kept saying ‘times are tough’ for about 5-6 years yet no layoffs per se, while some temps have come & gone, the [...]

I’m told that I still look “good” for my age, but age is what it is. At some point they will have to know the truth - when you complete paperwork for medical insurance or sign permission for a background check it all comes out. I come from a generation that looked up to and [...]

I am a full-time Ph. D. student, in my very late thirties. I am presently very underemployed and underpaid as a part-time private music instructor. As a result I am having to rely on my mother for nearly half of my financial support, which is extremely hard for me to cope with — I feel at this point in our lives the situation should be reversed.

Jared Bernstein has just joined UP’s board of directors. He is a senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute and author of  just-released “Crunch: Why Do I Feel So Squeezed (And Other Unsolved Economic Mysteries)” Below is an excerpt from the TPM Cafe Book Club at http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/tpmcafe-book-club/ where Jared, Barbara Ehrenreich, and others discuss today’s economy [...]

Until the beginning of this month, Americans seemed to have nothing to say about their ongoing economic ruin except, “Hit me! Please, hit me again!” You can take my house, but let me mow the lawn for you one more time before you repossess. Take my job and I’ll just slink off somewhere out of [...]

From the Milton, Pa Standard Journal:
“LEWISBURG — Replete with humor and a tinge of acerbity, investigative journalist Barbara Ehrenreich called for an uprising of sorts against poverty-level wages and the disparity between the privileges of the wealthy and the working poor.
Imploring to an audience of college students, professors and community members, the noted author declared [...]