EmploymentMetrix.com

Oil Leak Fuels Jobs

Although the oil leak in the Gulf is an awful event, this leak is fueling a mini job boom in the Gulf of Mexico.  Companies that specialize in environmental clean up and protection have been called onto the scene to help prevent oil from intoxicating additional bodies of water.

While these companies thrive in these crises they like everyone else don’t want these things to happen. And while businesses that are dedicated to the clean up are booming those businesses (fishermen, restaurant workers, charter boat captains and tourism employees) that rely on the Gulf as a clean body of water are in the balance. 

In the short term one may think that these fishermen, restaurant workers, boat captains and tourism employees are waiting for the leak to be contained and cleaned up in hopes of returning to work, but they too are actually reaping the benefits of the leak.

It’s been reported that BP has hired more than 20,000 people as part of response to the April 20^th accident and these contractors and subcontractors that BP has brought in have taken up residence along the coast of FL, AL, MS, and LA which is keeping these coastal towns busy trying to provide food and shelter to these (hopefully) temporary residents. 

Jobs to assist in the clean up have been posted and thousands have applied for the 500 available clean-up jobs.  Those with environmental or haz-mat certifications are being hired, and those without certifications are trying to get certified as quickly as possible as the demand for work is so great.

 

While there are jobs to be found for those who qualify, we must not forget that loved ones were lost on April 20^th and that oil has been contaminating our oceans for more than a month.  While there are jobs to be found now, the long term price is massive.  And if the leak cannot be contained there may be many more people out of work.

How do you feel about the situation in the Gulf?  We want to hear from you!

Made a Mistake at Work? Here are 5 Quick Tips to Help You Own up to it and Correct it with Class.

 

Ever make a mistake at work? 

If you answered “No.” to this question you’re lying.  Admit it!  No one is perfect and mistakes happen.  But, you know what else? It’s okay to make mistakes. 

While we are all ingrained with this fear of failure, we have something to tell you that could change your whole outlook on life…without failure, there’d be no success. 

We all need to make mistakes so we know what the joy of success feels like.  But, we understand how you feel about making a mistake at work.  What’s my boss going to think?  What will my coworkers say?  Will I be disciplined?

But we have some news for you, sometimes the making of the mistake isn’t something your manager will spend too much time thinking about; the boss usually dwells more on how he was told about the mistake and how you intend to fix it. So in order to make a good impression on your manager—make sure you right your wrongs in the right way.

Recently more than 4,000 business professionals, across the Beyond.com Network of thousands of niche career sites, took a poll that asked, “If you make a mistake at work, how do you usually handle it?”  And we’re happy to know that more than 92 percent of professionals said that they take ownership and make things right, but what about that other 8 percent?

 

 

If you fall into the 8 percent that either blames someone else, covers it up before someone notices, or denies responsibility—here are five tips that will help you remedy any mistake that you may make while on the job.

1. Admit that you made a mistake. As soon as you realize that you’ve made a mistake, tell your boss. Admitting that you made a mistake will show your manager that you have the confidence to own up to your mistakes and he will in turn respect your honesty.

2. Tell your manager what and how it happened. While it seems like we’re all moving at 100 miles per hour, if you make a mistake you should take the time to figure out why it happened so you can prevent it from happening in the future.  Once you figure out what happened let your manager know.  He’ll feel good knowing that you both understand the oversight.

3. Present a plan to solve the problem.  Bosses like nothing more than having employees that can take initiative.  So if for some reason you do make a mistake—when you tell your manager come prepared with a plan for correcting it. Let them know how long it will take to correct and any costs involved.

4. Correct your mistake on your own time. If you make a mistake and need to take time to correct it—do so on your own time.  If you need to work late or work through your lunch as a result don’t expect overtime.   

5. Don’t dwell on the past. We all make mistakes, even your boss, so don’t beat yourself up about it.  Learn from it and move on.

Mistakes are inevitably going to happen in the workplace, but if you approach each mistake as an opportunity and not a defeat you’ll be surprised as to how your will boss respond.  Who knows, these mistakes might be your ticket to a corner office. 

The Health Care Bill Will Affect Business Owners in More Ways than They Know

As if US businesses don’t already have enough paper work to do, it looks as though more will be heading their way.  Thanks to the health reform law, US businesses are expected to be flooded with new tax paperwork. 

The health care bill mandates that by 2012 all companies will have to issue 1099 tax forms to any individual or corporation from whom they purchase goods or services that exceed more than $600 per tax year.  This change will cause businesses to have to issue millions of new tax documents each year.

Traditionally the 1099 form is used to document income for individual workers other than wages and salaries.  Under the new rules, if a freelance designer purchases a new Mac Book from the Apple Store, the freelancer is required to send Apple a 1099 form.  Additionally, say your office orders printing paper from WB Mason, your business is required to send WB Mason a 1099 form as well. 

This bill is changing how the 1099 form is used.  Two key changes are the fact that we will now be using these forms to track payments not only for services but also for tangible goods.  Secondly, 1099s will be issued to corporations.  These two seemingly small changes will result in the need for millions of additional forms. 

So many are asking why this tax code revision has been included in the health care reform bill.  That’s an easy one!  By using the 1099 forms to collect taxes on previously unreported income it will help generate government revenue (the IRS estimates that it loses more than $300 million dollars in tax revenue each year) and help offset the cost of the health care bill.  

While small businesses are annoyed that they will have to mail tax forms to big chain stores like Staples, the worst aspect will be the record keeping of tax IDs for every payee and vendor that you do business with. 

Until this goes to into effect (January 1, 2012) we won’t know its true effects, until then we can only anticipate how this will effect businesses across the country.

April Jobs Report Shows That the US Economy is on It’s Way to Recovery

In April 2010, there was the largest number of jobs added to the labor force since March 2006.  There was a gain of 290,000 jobs which is higher than what was predicted. 

This month the boost in jobs went beyond just the temporary boost in census workers (66,000 jobs) with private employers adding 231,000 jobs.  But, jobs were not the only thing jumping in April, so did the unemployment rate.  The unemployment rate jumped from 9.7% in March to 9.9% in April.  This increase can be credited to people who left the job market and are reentering the work force to look for jobs (they had not been counted in earlier reports).

While April’s Jobs Report is certainly something to smile about and we hope that things continue to improve, until then we remain cautiously optimistic.