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The last 40 years have seen dramatic changes in the hours worked at jobs by full-time undergraduates -- with notable increases until 2000, and then a period of relative stability until a sharp drop in 2009, according to research (abstract available here) released Monday by the National Bureau of Economic Research. Read more: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/01/17/study-explores-increases-and-declines-student-work-hours#ixzz1jjSJWQB8 Inside Higher Ed

"Taking time off work when your kid gets the flu or chicken pox is usually a routine matter. But how do you explain your time-off needs if your teen - or spouse or partner -becomes too depressed to get out of bed, or your child becomes too anxious to go to school? Helping out a troubled loved one in such cases poses a dilemma, because the stigma placed on mental illness forces most people to keep it a secret. Yet a new survey shows people are taking off a surprisingly large amount of work time for this purpose. Some 41% of working adults took from four to nine days off work in the past year to deal with a mental-health issue of their own, or of a friend, family member or co-worker, says a recent survey of 669 working adults by Workplace Options."

"A new report from office-space company Regus PLC says 64% of U.S. employees will be working the week between Christmas and New Year's, with 56% actually coming into the office. But is anyone really productive? According to the survey of more than 12,000 employees worldwide, just 39% of U.S. respondents say they expect workers to actually do much work."

Can working hard at the office invigorate a marriage? A new study suggests that for working mothers at least, that may be the case. Working moms tend to be happier with their marriages when they are shouldering heavy workloads on the job, says a four-year study of 169 couples published recently in the Journal of Family Psychology. One reason may be that when working moms' workloads increase, their husbands tend to help out more at home, researchers suggest.

Coming home from a 7-8 hours of work that is stressful and tiring enough and after relaxing for a split second, there are the emails from clients who are waiting for an immediate response and so, work is eventually brought back home. There is a thin line between being true to your job and just plain working hard rather than working smart.

When Frank Lloyd Wright unveiled the Johnson Wax Building in 1939, it showcased a new way of looking at work. One room, covering half an acre (0.2 hectare), was filled with women, lined up in rows, typing. Work didn't necessarily mean loud, dirty factories, but it still involved sitting in orderly rows, doing orderly work for a finicky boss.

When the oldest members of Generation Y (born roughly 1978 to 1993) began graduating from college several years ago, a collective groan was heard in offices throughout Corporate America. People said many Gen Y-ers, also called Millennials, had an excess sense of entitlement and were arrogant and lazy. They wanted to do work on their terms and it seemed they wanted feedback on that work every five minutes. But then the economy tanked. Now, millions of Gen Y-ers are reinventing themselves to show how much, and how quickly, they can add value to their organizations. The Millennials I've met recently are aware of the changes taking place in the work world, and they perceive themselves -- and their jobs -- as vulnerable. Bruce Tulgan, author of "Not Everyone Gets a Trophy: How to Manage Generation Y," says he has seen the same thing.

"Are slackers more adept at handling work-life stress than type-A go-getters? A new study finds that may be the case. Those who cope with work-family conflict by becoming busier and looking for more resources to solve problems - type-A multitaskers - actually experience more stress and strain, says the study in the Journal of Applied Psychology. The researchers studied 193 people who were all combining work and college studies with family duties."

The Best Places to Work to Work in the Federal Government® rankings are the most comprehensive and authoritative rating and analysis of employee satisfaction and commitment in the federal government. The 2011 rankings are the sixth edition of this ongoing series, following the 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009 and 2010 versions.

"Early in Ian Graham's new book 'Unbillable Hours,' a John Grisham-like true story of his work as a corporate lawyer and how he helped get a murder conviction overturned, he quickly comes to the realization that working at a big Los Angeles law firm wasn't the best career move. The money is great -- $120,000 as a first-year associate -- but as one of his colleagues points out, working 260,000 billable hours per year comes out to $40 an hour, or what he pays his cleaning lady."

College students work for different reasons. Many take jobs to pay tuition and related educational expenses. Others work to afford electronic gadgets (often ones that we, their professors, don't yet know exist). Regardless of the reasons, many professors and administrators consider students' working during college to be an unfortunate distraction from what should be their primary focus: their academic studies.

"In my experience, few factors have a bigger impact on the juggle than the emotional climate where you work. At a previous employer years ago, the prevailing employee attitude was ceaseless, simmering resentment and cynicism over ever-rising workloads and a lack of recognition to us for shouldering the burden. I tried to keep an optimistic attitude there, but a fierce desire to get out drove me to work weekends and holidays to land a better job at a better place to work. When I did, my energy for family and personal life soared."

ndebted law grads and experienced lawyers who are out of work are moving into what we describe today as the "third tier" of the legal profession: working as temps, generally known as contract attorneys, performing document review work.

Tricked you! Sorry about that. You probably looked at this article because you'd like to know what the 'Magic Bullet' for a job search is. "What's the one thing I can do to guarantee a new job quickly?!?" That's what most job seekers want to know! Unfortunately… there is no 'Magic Bullet'. There is no one thing that works every time. There isn't a list of 5 things done together that work every time. The fact is: you have to do dozens of things… ALL the time!!!

Ten years ago, Facebook didn't exist. Ten years before that, we didn't have the Web. So who knows what jobs will be born a decade from now? Though unemployment is at a 25‑year high, work will eventually return. But it won't look the same. No one is going to pay you just to show up. We will see a more flexible, more freelance, more collaborative and far less secure work world. It will be run by a generation with new values - and women will increasingly be at the controls. Here are 10 ways your job will change. In fact, it already has.

Fred Wright and Tyrone Gatson live about 55 miles apart and worked as technicians for poultry producer Pilgrim's Pride Corp. until they were laid off last month. But Mr. Wright, who lives and worked in Arkansas, is eligible for nearly twice as much in unemployment benefits as Mr. Gatson, who lives in Louisiana and worked at a different Pilgrim's Pride plant in that state, just over the border from Mr. Wright. Under Arkansas's more generous system, Mr. Wright can get $431 in weekly benefits, compared to Mr. Gatson's $284. He is also eligible to receive benefits for three more months than Mr. Gatson.

These five behaviors are things that may be acceptable outside the workplace, but while you re at work - and trying to be professional - you should eliminate these if you do them.

"College-admission letters are starting to roll in, but a growing number of students will decide instead to take a year off to try out potential careers or broaden their horizons. Gap-year activities range from doing volunteer work or taking classes, to working for pay, traveling or tackling outdoor adventures."

"We've written before about bosses who have gotten fed up with the demands of the juggle and have made changes to their workplaces to relieve some of the pressures. But is it possible to have a boss who takes work-life balance to such an extreme that "life" outweighs "work"?"