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Recess: A Great Way to End the Week

I recently read an article on SHRM.org that September 14^th was Worldwide Recess Day and companies around the globe were taking the time to honor that coveted outside time from our childhood.   Well, I missed it, so we decided to make our own recess fun day, and it was AWESOME!

After a long week of work being held captive at our desks, we needed a change of scenery, so we decided to schedule 10 minutes (which really ended up being 20 minutes) to play outside together as a team.

We had a sad collection of playground toys (as you can see in the photo above) that we amassed throughout the afternoon and ended up with two playground balls, two Frisbees, and a jump rope.  From those random toys we decided to play a quick game of kickball using the Frisbees and some strategically placed polls in the parking lot as bases. 

It was a great way to unwind at the end of the week as a group—we sometimes get so wrapped up in work (which is good, because that’s what we’re here to do) that we forget to take a break.  I sometimes sit at my desk from 8:30 – 5:30 and only get up once or twice throughout the day and my body hates me for it (it is SO unhealthy).  Even with just those 20 minutes of fresh air and running around, I feel so much happier (maybe it’s because I was on the winning kickball team), or maybe because I was in need of some serious vitamin D, but regardless I want to make this part of my routine.

Everyone should make the time to do something fun and good for yourself during the week at work.  It doesn’t have to be everyday, start small with once a week and start by not feeling guilty to be away from your desk— it’s not healthy to be tied down like that.

What’s up for next week? Well, we found an old Razor Scooter in a closet.  We can all ride it for one minute (that should take us to our ten minute mark (with transition times)).  After that, it’s back to work!

NEW STUDY: The Multi-Generational Job Search

Recently, Beyond.com was approached by Millennial Branding to work together to have a better understanding of how different generations search for jobs. We surveyed close to 5,270 members of the Beyond.com Career Network and asked them to self-select themselves into a generation based on their age range, Gen Y (18 to 29 year olds), Gen X (30 to 47 year olds), and Baby Boomers (48 to 67 year olds).  We then asked the survey respondents the same set of questions to determine the differences among the behaviors of each generation when it comes to finding a new job.

These findings have been packaged into the “The Multi-Generational Job Search”.  So what did we learn?

It is no surprise that members of all three generations spend the majority of their time job searching online, where they spend 5 to 20 hours a week searching for their next great opportunity.  In a time when the “Help Wanted” sign and classified ads are being left in the dust, it makes perfect sense that candidates are searching online through job boards and company websites.  But, in a time when I am constantly reading about recruitment through social media, I don’t think we’re quite there yet.  We’re getting closer, but Facebook and Twitter aren’t viewed by job seekers as a go-to recruitment resource.  However, we can now confidently say that Baby Boomers are heavy LinkedIn users, but Gen X and Gen Y are big into running Google searches to find opportunities.

Gen Y is the most optimistic when it comes to finding a job, which can be attributed to the fact that their parents have a large involvement in their lives as coaches, cheerleaders, and safety nets that make it okay to make mistakes and try new things like going back to school or starting their own businesses (they’re most likely to do both of these things than other generations).

Gen X values job security and has suffered more stress and frustration due to unemployment relative to others. Gen X may be suffering the most stress because they are more likely to have people that they directly support like spouses and children, hence why job security and benefits such as health insurance are most important to this group. 

While Baby Boomers are the group to use social media sites in their job search the most, when asked if they take the time to manage their online presence, they said no—but in reality they should—perhaps they should ask their Gen Y kids for help on this.

For more findings from this study you can go to http://millennialbranding.com/2012/09/multi-generational-job-search-study/ and if you want some additional insight into why different generations tend to search in certain ways, feel free to reach out to us at Beyond.com for comment.

Why There Were Only 96,000 Jobs Added In August

We read the report so you don’t have to and here’s what the August Jobs Report said—be warned it wasn’t terribly exciting.  There were only 96.000 jobs added to the economy.  On a positive note though, the unemployment rate went down from 8.3% to 8.1%. 

Where did we see growth?

• Hospitality (food services) added 28,000 jobs
  
  
• Professional and Technical Services added 27,000 jobs
  
  
• Healthcare added 17,000 jobs
  
  
• Utilities added 9,000 jobs
  
  
• Finance and Insurance added 11,000 jobs

Manufacturing experienced a decline of 15,000 jobs which I was surprised by given all the talk of the addition of manufacturing jobs and Detroit doing so well as a result of the auto industry.  I did learn that the motor industry laid off fewer workers than usual in July and fewer workers were brought back in August due to their summer closings—so that could be why there weren’t as many manufacturing jobs added in August—they didn’t let as many people go.

Some theories as to why there weren’t more jobs added—The summer is usually a slow time as many people take vacation and are out of the workplace which can contribute to the slow growth of hiring. Additionally, the upcoming presidential election will have much influence on the number of workers added now and in the coming months.

So what do we predict to see going forward? Based on the number of job postings we’ve seen posted to Beyond.com—The Career Network in the last three months—we predict that the total number of hires will slow as we enter the early fall months, but we will see jobs added to the Healthcare & Medical, Information Technology, and Retail fields. 

So there you have it, what happened in August and perhaps why.