The New Economy – Free Labour Pains

The global depression we’re in is seeing an increased in volunteering “positions” as companies find new ways – albeit borderline legal ones – of cutting costs.

Used to be, the only ones “working” for free were the interns, and to be in one those roles, you had to be enrolled in a recognized post-secondary program, or a co-op program through high school.

These days, I’m hearing horror stories of people with years of experience and education putting in full-time hours in the corporate world, yet they aren’t receiving any pay.

It’s questionable advice many career counsellors are giving to the unemployed and underemployed – instead of having gaps in their work histories on their resumes, it’s better to volunteer and show you were doing something.

Yeah, right.

Next time I go out for dinner, I’ll just offer to voluntarily enjoy the meal, so the restaurant doesn’t have any empty seats.

I’m sure that’ll go over well.

NOT!

But if you volunteer, you might have to do that, because how are you going to pay for food in your tummy, clothes on your back, and a roof over head?

Volunteering for a non-profit charitable organization is a good thing – for the community and those who take the time to make a difference in the lives they affect by doing some good.

But we’re talking about people volunteering at for profit companies – companies which are making money off of the backs of those so desperate for work, they are willing to work for free.

Despite the poor advice from some career counsellors, it’s really up to each company whether or not they accept volunteers or not.

Those that do – shame on you!

Exploitation of those misplaced during the worse depression since the 1930’s isn’t anything less than evil.

Evil.

Mega Evil.

Dr. Evil never would stoop so low –that we know of.

What’s worse, is these evil companies accepting volunteers while making a profit are in many cases, expecting their volunteers to work just like their paid staffers – putting in full-time hours, signing contracts which limit their outside activities during office hours, even going so far as to having their volunteers pay for their own background checks, prior to being “hired.”

But there’s no pay – and no hope of ever being paid.

If you’re working for free, why would they start paying you? They’ll just find another desperate person willing to do your work for nadda.

Yet that’s the hope driving many volunteers – that one day, their evil slave owners – for that’s what volunteering is when someone else is benefiting from your hard unpaid work – slavery – will see the value of their slave – I mean volunteer – and hire them on staff.

It’s the same dilemma many contractors go through – also victims of our global depression.

Contractors give it their all, hoping they will be offered a lucrative and stable staff job.

There are the occasional stories of volunteers and contractors being brought on-board into staff roles. But those are so few and far between, you can count them on less than one hand for the most part.

It just doesn’t make sound business sense – anyone willing to offer their services for less than they are worth are going to be raped for those services. That’s the unfortunate nature of our society.

Which is why the onus is on big business to lay down the law, and to have clearly defined policies and procedures which prohibit staff from using volunteers in established businesses.

Because people displaced by the global depression may not know any better.

So it’s up to business leaders to set the standard, to avoid exploitation, and creating a society where slavery is once again an acceptable form of work.

Job Hunting 101 – Don’t Be Like This Guy

As I build an on-demand digital media company from scratch, I see many cover letters and resumes.

From kids right out of school looking for their first big break, to veterans of the working world, victims of the worst depression since the 1930’s.

It’s the latter that need to take note, because although we all know it’s tougher out there than ever before, showing your frustration and bitterness doesn’t improve your chances any:

“If this application finds its way to an employment agency, please disregard it. I’m tired of working on contract-to-perm – if they were truly contract-to-perm roles, I wouldn’t have to keep looking for work now would I?”

That’s an actual quote from a cover letter I received just the other day. Snarky sarcasm sure got my attention, but not in a good way.

Yes, our government has dropped the ball in letting companies outsource their workforces to such a deep degree that it’s exceedingly rare to find a secure, stable full-time staff job these days. And this unstable workforce just makes the economy even more uncertain, as those with unstable contract work don’t make the big ticket purchases which fuel the economy.

Governments need to put legislation in place to fix our broken economy – and they need to take a tough stand on the over use of contracted out consultants, and outsourcing to other nations, if that legislation is going to have any real impact.

However, complaining about it in a cover letter just sounded like sour grapes, screams attitude problem, and caused me to do what most employers probably would – instantly put that resume into the recycling bin.

Another example of what NOT to do if you want to get the jobs you are applying to:

“I’ve been a consultant not by choice, that’s all I can find. So if this is a contract of any kind, I’m just not interested.”

Neither am I interested – even though I’m looking to bring aboard full-time permanent people. If you actually spell out the limits of your employment in a cover letter or resume, you’ll probably be waiting forever for the phone to ring.

I certainly won’t be calling that person any time soon.

Despite all the doom and gloom echoed in many of the cover letters and resumes I see, occasionally I get one that makes me smile.

One of the keys to getting a job is standing out from all the other resumes, and one person recently caught my eye.

"Please check my resume and job hunting campaign below:

huntfredd.com

There is a $10,000 placement reward." 

If you follow the link, you are taken to a bright and welcoming website, with a cute video about this person calling himself Fredd Basser, who’s tired of being told he’s overqualified, so he’s offering a reward for anyone that finds him a job. He’s hoping to create a social media campaign that becomes so popular, it lands him work, and he’s offering money as an incentive to push that campaign forward.

Clever solution to a real problem in today’s economy, people with extensive experience unable to find work.

I haven’t talked to this person, but I hope he finds work – his idea is innovative and positive.

And we all need to remain positive in this horrible economy.

Canada's Budget Locked Down But Tweeted

It's almost budget day in Canada.

I know.

So what?

Unless your an economist, politician, news junkie, or have nothing else to do, the fact that Canada's Finance Minister put on his new shoes, and is ready to deliver his new budget tomorrow for the nation just doesn't matter much.

That's why the feds in Ottawa are hitting social media mega-site Twitter, to spur up some social media interest, and engage Canadians in one of the most important, yet yawn-inspiring political functions of the nation's governance.

Traditionally, journalists are locked down prior to the delivery of a budget. They are herded like cattle into a room, where they get exclusive access to the actual budget.

This allows newshounds reporting on the budget to understand and comprehend the massive financial blueprint of a nation.

However, journalists aren't allowed to discuss what they see until after it's been announced. 

That's the law. 

It'll be interesting to see if politico-junkies manage to keep their excitement muted long enough to obey the law, or if the instant communications of social media leaks budget news ahead of the finance Minister's announcement.

Using social media in politics isn't all that new -- more "newish."

American President Barack Obama successfully used social media to get elected in his past and recent election bids for the presidency. He and his staff continue to use social media to engage younger people in the management of their country.

And perhaps that's the greatest good today, when Canada's Finance Department will tweet news about the new budget.

Budgets are typically long, dull and dreary financial statements. Not usually the stuff which attracts young people to politics.

However, budgets form the foundation from which all other government programs come. From tax breaks for students, to how much the government will fund student loans and repayment programs, to providing tax credits for low income families to send their kids to school -- budgets affect young and old people across Canada.

Using Twitter -- and maybe down the road other social media sites like Facebook, Google Plus, maybe even YouTube and Pinterest -- is a step in the right direction for Canada's Finance Department, and one all federal, provincial and municipal departments should take note of and follow.

Because a more politically aware and engaged youth means a more politically aware and engaged future.

And that's just good governance.

Dow Jones Jump – Fool Me Once, Shame on You; Fool Me Twice, Shame on Me

Yesterday’s surprising spring-like high for the New York Stock Market the Dow Jones Industrial Average had all the usual suspects talking about how we’re coming out of this recession.

It was a record high, climbing 158 points, reaching 14,286, which broke it’s previous record high set in October 2007. The Dow Jones fell back slightly and by day’s end was 14,253.

Here in Canada’s banking capital, Toronto’s S&P/TSX rose 28.63 points, but was still well below its record high set in June of 2008. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq exchanges also showed increases, but the focus was on the Dow Jones, because it broke the record books.

Bankers, economists, and other important-looking people dressed in expensive three-piece suits appeared on all the newscasts, talking about how this was just the kind of fiscal movement we all need to get us out of this seemingly never-ending global financial mess.

Hey, wait a sec – don’t the stock markets suddenly increase just before most of the major economic catastrophes of all time?

It’s like a financial tsunami of sorts, as the trade winds ruffle amidst uncertain economies globally. Traders buy up stocks, hoping their actions will trigger an up-swing and it does. Until those everyone catches on, and cashes out, selling stocks like hot potatoes, crashing an already volatile market.

That’s what happened just before the Great Depression in October of 1929. That’s also what happened just as the housing market in the States went belly up, which brought us into our current economic sandstorm.

And as people across North America continue to struggle to pay their bills, it’s happening again.

More people have given up looking for work than ever in recorded history – even since the Great Depression of the Dirty Thirties.

There are fewer full-time permanent jobs, as companies continue to outsource, and contract out their workforces to temporary, contract workers.

The cost of goods and services continues to rise, yet wages continue to fall.

And despite all of this doom and gloom, the newscasts yesterday painted a rosy picture of an economy on the up and up.

Once fooled, twice shy.

We all should be twice shy – maybe more with all the bullsh*t being broadcast by bankers, economists and their ilk.

We are far from the end of this global depression – and their artificial hype will just make it worse.

Economists traditionally try to calm everyone down during economic crisis. That’s not only their nature, it’s in their best interests – because panic causes rash decisions – like selling stocks and upping interest rates – which crash economies.

But outright lying to keep the peace when people are losing their jobs, their homes and ultimately their lives is unacceptable.

Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice, shame on me.

Don’t be fooled by the banking buffoons.

Why Won’t Print Just Die

Yesterday, Canada’s largest daily, The Toronto Star, sent out a memo to staff advising of layoffs, and outsourcing of various production and design work due to budget cuts.

The death bell has been ringing for years in the newspaper business, as digital on-demand media becomes the way most of the western world keeps connected.

SO how come print just won’t die?

Funny thing about technology – it makes it possible for even old things to be new once again.

Maybe we’re just waiting for the right genius kid to discover a new technological solution to re-ignite the newspaper business?

That kid better hurry up – there’s not much left at most newspaper offices these days except a few old curmudgeons and the blurry eyed interns that don’t see the proverbial forest for the trees.

When I was a kid, we got The Toronto Star delivered to our home every day. When it came, we’d take turns ripping through it, looking for our favourite sections.

We always fought over the "Star Week" the paper's TV Guide, this was back long before on-screen program guides which we all have now.

I really enjoyed the national, local and international news sections, along with “Wheels,” and I even liked some of what us old school reporters used to call “the woman’s section” known as “Life.”

I remembered enjoying the full-colour comics on Saturdays, and how they packed extra stuff into the weekend papers.

Thinking back, I feel sorry for the kid that was our newspaper carrier at the time, because the Saturday Star must have weighed as much as a Smartcar.

Those were the days before the Internet, social media, and on-demand digital media. People had more time – or so it seems now – to read through all the various sections, gloriously getting inked fingers from the constant page-turning.

Not so anymore – all broadsheet-width newspapers reduced their standard width years ago, simply because it was becoming too expensive to make such Bible-sized publications.

When that happened over 20-years ago, it was the start of the end for print. Newspapers, like most media sources, make their money by advertisers. The more advertisers, the more pages a paper can be, the more stories can be jammed in.

As people stopped reading papers, advertisers pulled out, meaning fewer pages for the already popular sections.

So newspaper moguls cut the size of the physical paper. They claimed at the time it was to make it easier for people to read, and in a way it was.

But truth be told, it was because newsprint costs went up, while ad revenues and readership went down.

Many major metropolitan daily newspapers including The New York Times, The Globe and Mail and others have attempted “pay walls” to bring in much needed cash flow.

A “pay wall” essentially lets you read part of a story, or a certain number of articles from the publication online, and then after that limit, you have to either pay for an online subscription, or pay a set price per article to continue reading.

Though when it comes to the end product – news – who’s going to pay for something you can get for free in a more timely manner via television, radio, or the social networks?

Pay walls aren’t going to save newspapers from their death.

And yesterday’s announcement of staff cuts and outsourcing labour by Canada’s largest daily certainly puts another knife in the back of an already dying media business.

Although I’m a digital media guy, I’ve always enjoyed newspapers, and hope that someone, somehow figures out a way to save them.

But time is not on their side, as they continue to slash staff, outsource production, and lose money, in our on-demand digital media world.

This IS the Worst Depression Since The Dirty Thirties

To say economists are a very conservative bunch doesn’t even scratch the surface. However, their overly cautious descriptions of what most call “an economic slowdown” are so far from the truth, it really does hurt.

We’ve come a long way from the soup kitchens providing meals to the homeless during the Great Depression of the 1930’s, but from an economic perspective, we’ve sunk to new lows never seen – even back those 80-plus-years.

Although recently the Canadian federal government announced unemployment has dropped slightly, the reality of the situation came in their findings that the number of people that just stopped looking for work has risen.

I see the horrid sad stories of people struggling to find their way, as I build the teams in my new business. I’ve put out a handful of postings for specific roles we’re looking to fill as we gear up for our initial round of hiring, and within the time frame it takes to order and receive a pizza, I’ve received literally hundreds of responses.

Many of the replies show the exasperation and desperation of the underemployed and the unemployed – two key groups facing the toughest challenges in this economy.

Such as the person who starts off her cover letter with: “If this is an agency, please do not contact me and if this is a legit position, I am truly interested.” Her desperation and understandable frustration with the sorry state of our contracted out economy sums up her thoughts: “[I’ve been] doing various contract positions and am now looking for a position with stability.”

One of the many reasons our economy is in such tatters is because of the proliferation of recruitment firms hiring people on a project basis, instead of placing people in full-time permanent positions. Sure it’s better for the recruitment firm, as they get a regular take on re-using people as contracts run their course. 

However, as a contract runs out, and the poor person in that role doesn’t know if or when they will ever work again, they don’t purchase the big ticket items which fuel the economy, and it continues to decline.

Worse yet, as they continue to look for stable employment, but are only offered temporary contract gigs, they lose faith in the economy, and become bitter and angry, as is echoed in this person’s cover letter – yes that is an actual quote from a cover letter I received to one of our posted positions.

Economists have to get their heads out of the sand, and wake up to the reality of our dismal depression – yes that’s what it is – and start calling it just that.

We’ve been in this “economic slowdown” more than the required time to define it as a depression, and we haven’t seen this many people out of work and desperate since the Great Depression over 80-years-ago.

I understand the fear that economists are trying to avoid, by NOT using the “D” word – but until they start calling a spade a spade, the world will continue to spiral out of control, because governments and big business will continue to heed their conservative interpretations, and that’s not good for any of us – employed or not.

America’s Leader is a Show About Nothing

From weekly school shootings in small town America, to the presidential orders using automated robot “drones” to hunt down and kill American citizens, it appears US President Barack Obama has his hands full.

Not even a month into is second-term in office, and he’s down to business.

Problem is, he’s not really focusing on the business of his nation – and ultimately the world.

As our global economy continues to falter, the most powerful person of the free world isn’t talking much about how mend this fiscal mess.

Gun control and terrorism are big issues – but they are very much American-made issues.

Global economic progress – or lack of it – are – well – global.

Perhaps President Obama doesn’t have an answer to the world’s economic woes, and he’s focusing on the issues which he can confidently try to resolve.

However tragic it is to hear about some kid’s classroom being shot-up by some crazy huffed up on Prozac, that sad story doesn’t even dent the hearts and minds of those who have lost their jobs, their families and their homes in what is turning out to be the worst depression since the Great Depression of the 1930’s.

It’s time for America’s president to do something presidential for a change – delegate, assign and focus.

Real leaders delegate responsibilities to qualified counterparts, assigning them the tasks which they just don’t have time to do, so they can focus on what really is important in managing their company – or in this case – country.

President Obama needs to delegate and assign the tasks of gun control, terrorism, and anything else distracting him from the business of running the free world, so that he can do just that – run the free world.

Investing Is Easy, Getting Investors Isn’t

With the success of entrepreneur investment shows Shark Tank and Dragon’s Den, you’d think if you came up with a great idea, getting someone to back that great idea would be easy.

Think again.

These are tough times. Millions of people have been displaced in this economy than ever before – even the Great Depression of the 1930’s wasn’t so bad.

Which makes me wonder why the bean counters that track our economy STILL refuse to call this period in economic time what it really is – a depression – but that’s another story.

I’m in the process of raising funds for what will be the next big thing. We know it will be the next big thing, because we’ve based it on the successes of other companies, combined those successful elements, and created something which no one is doing here.

We’ve got a sound business plan, lots of additional documentation, and we’re in the process of forming our teams, of handpicked people to lead us to success.

When I mention in passing what it is I do, people perk up, and immediately show interest.

When I go to potential investors, they to show immediate interest, but when it comes to putting their money where their mouth is, they suddenly become very quiet and defensive.

Or worse, they try to sell me on their investment ideas, so that I become the investor.

Like my bank – or now former bank.

A great way to lose a client is to say “no.”

A sure way to lose a client, is to continue to try to sell them on a product or service, without actually HEARING them and their needs.

My bank, BMO Bank of Montreal, kept trying to sign me up for a business account, without any inclination of whether they would even consider providing a business loan, or business line of credit. They wanted to hook me by the nose, by getting me to sign on for a business account product AND THEN they’d talk about business loans and lines of credit.

I don’t want to start a business account until I know the bank is fully behind me, or at the very least, has the best business products suited for my business.

And I felt like I was in a used car dealership, as the young Asian kid, with horrible English, continued to ask me to sign up for a business account, completely ignoring my needs for start-up funding.

Small Business Banker for GTA Central – or at least that’s what it says on her business card – didn’t even have current literature I could review with her on current business banking information. When I initially if she had any information, she pointed me to the website – which although useful, wasn’t why I took the time to come in and meet with my branch.

Upon my telling her directly that she wasn’t very helpful, she got up and brought me BMO Bank of Montreal’s Better Business Banking Guide, which was dated 2011 and already had pen markings from others she had tried her sales pitch on.

And again, although we’re looking for the best financial institution to deal with, we’re looking for more than just a place to invest our business dollars.

We’re looking for a place which provides the financial support services which a business needs, not just an account number to make some banker earn her commission.

Maybe I’m old fashioned, but I believe in building relationships, and working with people to achieve great things. I don’t believe in just buying a product or service from just anyone, and hoping for the best.

BMO Bank of Montreal lost my business, because they failed to listen to my needs. I got a pre-rehearsed sales pitch, instead of someone actually hearing what I was looking for.

Ironically, I went next door to the neighbouring Bank of Nova Scotia, and immediately met with the Branch Manager, who actually listened to my needs, and provided some real information which I could use.

Maybe they’ll earn my respect – and my business.

Which is a great loss to BMO Bank of Montreal, because we will be huge. 

Honestly Apple, Really? NO

Today the tech world is swirling with yet another rumour about the latest product that might be coming from Apple – a cheaper version of its flagship iPhone.

The rumour says the “new” cheaper version, will have a larger screen, and a new design, and is economically priced for third-world economies.

For years, Apple’s marketing mantra has been to leak rumours, mis-information and in some cases actually intentionally leave prototypes of their latest tech in public places, to be mysteriously found and leaked to the world.

Remember when the prototype of an iPhone was “accidentally”left at a bar, and it’s grainy amateurish pictures went viral over the social networks?

This is how they “surprise” us with their product launches; to keep is guessing as to which rumours are true, and which ones weren't.

Honesty is the foundation of any relationship, except it would appear, if you are an Apple customer – gossip mongering is hardly an honourable form of communications.

Seriously Apple, when you first rumoured, leaked and yes – lied – about your future tech toys, it proved to be a very successful marketing campaign.

But come on now – we’re all a little older and wiser to this game, and we’re sick and tired of hearing about what may come.

Just tell it like it is. Give it to me straight up and honest. I can take it – and I bet so too can everyone else.

Real trend setters are constantly changing their tactics, because that’s how you set the standards everyone else wants to follow.

If you keep dancing to the same song, eventually others will get bored and just walk away – WALK AWAY I SAY.

We all miss Steve Jobs, and we've all heard the rumours that Apple won’t be the same without him.

Prove those rumours wrong, by giving us something more than just more rumours.

Game On but The Union Should Be Out

Canada’s national sport has been in a state of limbo since it was supposed to begin this season. That’s because the game’s players went on strike, leaving fans waving their flags in empty sadness.

That was until the National Hockey League (NHL) finally struck a deal with the players union, and it’ll be game on for a shorter 48 game season, set to begin Jan. 19.

Unions seem to be taking the more aggressive approach these days when it comes to labour negotiations.

Strikes, walkouts, protests, work to rule, and work slowdowns and even work stoppages are becoming more common than sitting at the bargaining table and talking like grownups.

Remember when you were a kid, and you’d throw a temper tantrum by kicking and screaming until you got your way?

Unions seem to lack the maturity to negotiate in good faith as they throw their own hissy fits, only when a union throws a hissy fit, it affects more than just those in the room.

Here in Ontario, Canada, the province’s teachers are constantly throwing hissy fits as their union threatens action over a piece of paper that takes away their collective right to strike.

Since the school year began last Sept. Students have continued to suffer, because the teachers refused to run the extracurricular activities which makes our schools well rounded places of learning. There is more to life than reading, writing and arithmetic – and that’s what those after school programs and clubs is for.

Yet the people charged with helping bring today’s youth into the adult world don’t seem to care if those kids aren't well adjusted members of society, so long as they can throw their hissy fits whenever they don’t agree with their employers terms of employment, they’ll do their job – that is if they aren't throwing a childlike hissy fit.

Unions don’t just force their employers to cave in among unreasonable and unrealistic demands, they have also taken to throwing their hissy fits when governments interfere with their right to be treated better than anyone else in society.

It isn’t uncommon for the unions representing pilots and airline workers to throw a strike just as a major holiday season is upon us in Canada or the States, requiring governments to get involved to barter the peace, and keep innocent travellers moving.

Unions once had their place in society. At the turn of the 1900’s when the industrial revolution began, and employers treated their employees like garbage, unions made the world of work better for all.

Labour laws were brought in, thanks in part to the union movement, which prevents horrendous abuses by employers.

So unions these days, fight for things which most of us non-union stiffs could only dream of – job security, guaranteed wage increases, the right to throw a hissy fit whenever we want.

A few years ago, the largest corporation in the world sent a clear message to it’s union – make all the demands you want, but we’ll go out of business if we give in.

General Motors actually threatened to shut down, to declare bankruptcy, to go belly-up and cease to exist, if the unions persisted in their outrageous threats to strike for better wages and job security.

See, in the real world which unions don’t seem to be, wages can only increase if the company can afford to pay those wages. In a declining economy as we've seen for the past decade – a recession really – people don’ t buy cars. When people don’t buy cars, why is it that the automotive unions continue to insist on wage increases and job security?

Just another example of childlike behaviour in the real world, by union leaders.

Abolish unions for the good of everyone. That’s what we need do.

Welcome 2013 – We’ve Been Waiting

Happy New Year to our regular readers, fans, friends and followers.

May the New Year bring personal and professional prosperity, growth, and happiness – and may the lessons learned in the previous year carry you through the challenges of the new one.

Technology is an amazing thing – already there is a Wikipedia entry on 2012 – and yet it is just seconds into 2013 as of this posting.

However, for many of us, 2012 couldn't end soon enough.

It was a year of economic, personal and professional tragedies of global proportions due to a failing economic system, and political and business ideals and values which are out of touch with reality in our ever shrinking global economy.

Let’s work together to make 2013 a change for the better.

Happy New Year!

Good-Bye 2012 – You Were Quite the Year

As the end of one year ends, and another begins, many of us reflect on the past, as we look towards the future.

For me, 2012 was a challenging, trying and at times epic year of life altering experiences.

As our economy continues to teeter on the brink of collapse, and business and political leaders continue to apply outdated, old school, band-aid solutions in a rush to keep us all from falling over the fiscal cliff, it’s time for us to re-think our world, and our way of living in it.

The fiscal cliff isn't just an American catchphrase for economic pot holes – it’s a good way of describing the new economy of an ever more frightening world in which to live.

Major corporations, once the cornerstone for economic prosperity and security in most of the world are no longer that stable or secure employer they once were.

One used to graduate from high school, get an entry level gig at one of these big major corporations, such as General Motors, General Electric, IBM, Proctor & Gamble, American Express, even McDonald’s, and over time, work one’s way to the top.

Not anymore.

A job for life at a big American company, with benefits, and regular salary increases to keep pace with the cost of living isn't the American Dream – it’s just a dream.

Although the economy is growing globally, it’s actually shrinking in the process. Companies may offer their products and services all over the world now, but few of them are hiring people at decent wages with quality benefits anymore.

Gone are the days when you could get a job where your employer actually gave a damn about your quality of life. All they care about is their own bottom line – regardless of the fact that a staff constantly worried about paying their bills, doesn't do their jobs as effectively.

When I worked at one of the largest financial institutions – one of the top five banks in Canada – I saw just how employee loyalty does not go both ways.

My team’s Project Manager had been with the bank for over 35 years – for some that is a lifetime. She was exceptional at what she did, I considered myself very lucky to have her on my team. At the end of a bank-wide project, her boss told her that her services were no longer required, and they’d give her six-months to find another role within the bank, and then they’d just give her a severance package and send her on her way.

This was the way the bank forced people that cost too much out. Obviously my Project Manager wasn't going to find another role at the same pay scale she was used to – when have you ever seen a job posting requiring 35 years of experience?

And even if she bit the bullet, and was willing to accept a lower pay just to keep a job for a thankless employer, hiring managers would look down at her, and wonder how loyal she would remain, doing the same thing for a fraction of what she previously was being paid.

This was how one of the largest banks in Canada, retired my team’s Project Manager. And its how many big businesses force long-term employees to retire.

Loyalty.

That’s a tricky word in today’s business world.

Used to be if you worked hard, went the extra mile to impress your boss, then over time, you’d get promoted, not retired.

I've known many people that had dedicated most of their adult lives to one big corporate employer, only in the end to be let go, simply because they got promoted too often and became too expensive to keep.

2012 was the year that I learned the hard way just how hard work, dedication and loyalty to your employer doesn't matter. In the end, you really are just a dollar figure to your boss.

The bean counters think it’s only a matter of dollars to replace someone with years of experience, contacts, and know-how with a recent college graduate.

And that’s why our economy is really falling apart. Studies show wages continue to fall, while the costs of living continue to rise.

Especially as our population ages, and more of those long-term, dedicated and loyal employees find themselves dumped by their disloyal employers.

The new kids they replace long-term employees with don’t make enough to make major purchases to keep the wheels of the economy moving.

How many twenty-something’s do you know have their own mortgage?

In order to get over the fiscal cliff, big businesses need to get over their fear of paying people what they are worth. They need to stop seeing their staff as numerical figures on a balance sheet, and start seeing them for what they really are.

The very same people that keep the economy moving – earning a decent living, and spending that living – well – living. 

Guns Flying Off Wal-Mart Shelves

Only in the most influential country in the world can you buy deadly assault weapons in one of the world’s largest retailers.

And only in the most influential country in the world, would they be flying off the shelves days after a crazed gunman went on a killing spree in an elementary school in small town America.

According to several news reports, mega-retailer Wal-Mart is running out of automatic assault weapons, similar to the m16s used by armies around the world – including the American military. They are also running low on high capacity “clips” which store excessive amounts of ammunition – just in case you happen to run out.

If this were a joke, it might be in poor taste. But it’s just a sad fact of life the United States of America.

As funeral processions line the streets all week, to lay to rest the innocent, incomplete lives of very young children, and their heroic teachers that tried to save them, politicians and interest groups clash over gun control.

As the debate rages on in the political offices from the White House to local congressional leaders, people afraid they won’t be able to legally arm themselves are running out, and stocking up on military-grade weapons like kids stock up on candy.

You’d swear these people were stocking up to take over another country, but instead for the most part, they claim it’s for self defence.

From what? Mexico? Canada? The Former Soviet Union?

It’s a sad day in world history, when the sale of military-grade assault weapons outsells bread and bottled water combined.

Yet that is what has and is happening as you read this.

Whatever happened to the American dream – the ideals that anyone that put in the effort and hard work could make it there?

Ah, the elusive American dream – a house, with a white picket fence, a family, a dog, and a career which furnishes all of the necessities of life, and then some.

Since the industrial revolution, many countries the world over have set their standards to achieve by that elusive American dream.

Stock markets around the world are still compared to the American ones, and countries measure their capital by comparing it to the all mighty American Greenback Dollar.

Perhaps it’s time to re-consider which country to set the barometer for economic and social success?

Because if the American dream includes being armed to the teeth, I don’t know about you, but that’s not any dream I want to be a part of.

The Darkness of Black Friday

Today is Black Friday in the United States of America. It’s traditional for the first Friday following the American Thanksgiving, for stores to start their holiday shopping sales, and for American’s to start their holiday shopping.

It’s also traditionally a time when American’s remind us all about our primal roots, as news reports always show rushes of people, trampling each other – sometimes even climbing over each other – to get first dibs on the cheaper merchandise.

Over the years, hundreds of American’s have died by being trampled, crushed, or simply stressed out and their hearts have stopped, by this American holiday tradition.

There have been a few reports of people having heart attacks at Black Friday sales. Whether or not they would have had the heart attack wherever they may have been at the time, and it just so happened to coincide with them being at a Black Friday event – we’ll never really know.

Those who have died by the rush of people crushing them like bugs as they clamour for on sale items are directly linked to this holiday tradition south of the border.

Hope we don’t see the same savage primal behaviours erupt on this side of the border, as this year many Canadian retailers are promoting Black Friday sales.

It makes sense from a business perspective. The economy in much of the world, including here in North America, hasn't recovered much – if at all – over the past decade. We've been up and down as the cycles of the economy typically go, but mostly we've been down, and when it goes down, it drops like a rock from the sky.

Holiday shopping is the big money maker for retailers across the world. It’s when people do most of their big ticket buying. And it’s also the make or break factor in going forward business decisions for the coming year for these retailers.

We’ll know which retailers had a great holiday shopping season this year, and which ones did not, come February or March – that’s typically when retailers that had poor sales during the holidays go belly up out of business.

And we don’t want any stores to go belly up out of business, because that means more people out of work, unable to spend money, in an economy that is already struggling to make ends meet.

The more people working, the more people able to spend money in that economy, and the better the economy goes.

It’s a vicious cycle.

But I sometimes wonder what is more vicious – the cycle of the economic ups and downs we all face, or the horrible experiences faced by those being trampled on Black Friday?

Maybe our economy is too closely linked with our primal animal instincts, and it is all the more clearly demonstrated by our uncivilized way we treat our fellow human beings, just to save some cash?

How a Union Killed the Twinkie

Unionized labour in North America is strong. Too strong. So strong it’s putting the very employees its supposed to protect in harms way.

Thanks to the unions at Twinkie maker, Hostess, the American giant in the junk food industry is closing it’s doors – forever – putting the company’s employees out of work.

Hostess, founded as Interstate Bakeries Limited in 1930, is one of the largest bakeries in North America, baking up Wonder Bread, Twinkies, Ho-Hos, Ding-Dongs, Dolly Madison, and other well known baked goods.

Now these products may disappear off of store shelves, as the company was forced into Chapter 11 Bankruptcy today, because of an on-going dispute with the Bakery, Confectionery  Tobacco Workers and Grain Miller’s International Union (a Teamster’s Union) and company management.

The union represents most of the 6,600 Hostess employees, and was supposed to ultimately protect those employees from job loss.

However, as with all disputes involving terrorists, common sense doesn't prevail. And unions do act more like terrorist organizations of late, instead of collective bargaining units.

We've seen this with the auto industry and their unions. The world’s largest automaker, General Motors was almost put out of business because the unions kept insisting the employees deserve more money to build cars. If federal governments in Canada and the United States didn’t provide bail-out funding to General Motors, to offset the outrageous demands of the terrorists – we mean the union – then the world’s largest automaker would be no more, and thousands of people would be out of work.

Granted, the union movement grew out of a real need to protect employees from unsafe and even inhumane working conditions.

Early in the 1900’s, at the start of the industrial revolution, as companies grew richer, their power-hungry owners began making uncivilized demands on their staffs. From forcing them to work overtime without paying for that overtime, to providing unrealistic deadlines, even limiting the amount of bathroom breaks employees could take throughout the day.

Labour unions originally solved many of these problems in unionized shops around the world. 

Although in a consistently declining North American economy, many non-unionized office jobs are starting to revert back to the dark ages, as many crazy bosses are restricting employee bathroom and lunch breaks today.

Getting a job at a union shop meant getting a decent paying gig, with an employer that treated you right. The labour movement had succeeded in making these workplaces safe and secure.

However, now that the workplace was safe and secure, what could unions do? What role did a union have in the company?

It should be to advocate on behalf of employees, and ensure that the safe and secure workplace continues. And labour unions did this, but they took it upon themselves to push for constant increases in benefits, pay, and job security.

Job security always has – and always will be – a false notion which was conjured up by the labour movement.

No one’s job is any more or less secure – as we've seen with Hostess today. If a company can’t fiscally function any more, it doesn't matter what a bunch of thugs in the labour union say or do, once the company goes out of business, usually that means the jobs which were supposed to be secure forever, just don’t exist anymore.

Union battles to increase benefits and pay constantly over time drive away the potential for this fictitious notion of job security – which ironically they themselves created. The more benefits afforded employees, the greater the cost to the employer. The more pay given to workers, the greater cost to the employer.

Not that employees don’t deserve better pay and benefits – we all want to work for someone that cares enough about their staffs to pay them well, and treat them well.

But labour unions fight tooth and nail to secure more pay and benefits for the employees they represent, despite constant claims from companies that they can’t afford it, putting the company in danger.

Unions always claim the companies aren't telling the whole story, and say they don’t have the money for increased benefits and pay as a tactic to avoid doing it. They threaten to walk out and go on strike, which means the company can’t produce what it makes, and loses even more money.

So companies gave in to these outrageous demands – just like law enforcement has had to do with terrorists in some situations.

Eventually, if the business turns around, and the company starts to make more, it survives, and can absorb the outrageous costs the unions place on it’s operating budgets. OR, as we've seen today, things don’t get better for the company, and it’s forced out of business, because of increased operating costs – often brought about by the union.

Unions were once needed, to bring about better working conditions, which they did do. Then they got greedy, and today they are forcing companies to shut their doors, like Twinkie giant Hostess.

So, say good-bye to your Twinkies, thanks to the union.