It's getting easier to call in sick, reports Stephen Watson at the Buffalo News. But the flip side is that technology and new policies are also making it easier for employers to track serial sick day takers:
"I think [electronic communication] makes it easier to deliver bad news, or to deceive people," said Michael Stefanone, an assistant professor of communication at the University at Buffalo who studies how people interact online. Further, some companies and governments are offering incentives to workers who don't use all of their paid sick time. Erie County, for example, pays a $500 bonus to non-union workers who don't use more than one sick day in a year. And some companies and institutions are bundling all of their workers' paid time off -- vacation days, personal days and sick days -- into one pot. Employees can take these days when they want, with certain limits, ending the need to call in sick and taking the boss out of a sick-day policing role.
Business climate
Nick Reisman at Gannett has a piece looking at the evidence that New York has the nation's "worst" business climate:
"It's a fairly straightforward equation: We spend a lot in New York and therefore our taxes are high," said Robert Ward, the assistant director at the Rockefeller Institute for Government. A report last June issued by the Public Policy Institute of New York State found the state ranked first in Medicaid costs and in K-12 education spending among the 50 states. In addition, New York is third in costliest electric generation, fourth in state and local spending per capita and second in state and local taxes as a percentage of state income. New York also suffered the largest loss of residents to other states in the nation from 2000 to 2008, with more than 1.5 million people leaving, a 2009 report from the Empire Center for New York State Policy found.
Jobs
Eric Anderson at the Times Union reports that college students are starting their job hunts earlier, to be proactive about the economy:
While the economic recovery is under way, the job market hasn't yet rebounded, although the outlook for seniors this year is better than last, placement officials and employers say. This year, about 20 percent more students have already landed jobs than last year at this time, Tarantelli said. The National Association of Colleges and Employers is predicting a better job market this year, with salaries up about 3.5 percent from last year.
Anderson reports students seeking out earlier internship experiences, and more networking opportunities. But a job fair at the University at Buffalo takes networking in an entirely different direction, reports Vincent Sherry at the Buffalo News. The school is cooking up "virtual" job fairs to put students in touch with jobs across the globe:
Students will make their materials available to recruiters via profiles with uploaded resumes. The university sees the fairs as a natural extension of its varied student population. UB has the 12th-most international student body in the nation, with 1 in 6 students from other countries during the last academic year. Moreover, 12 percent pursue studies abroad. Both virtual and global fairs are thought to be quite rare. "[The fairs] are an emerging practice to make available opportunities that are not in the immediate vicinity of the university. It's really a win-win on all fronts. It will probably be commonplace within two years," said Arlene F. Kaukus, UB's director of career services, who plans to expand the global and virtual focus widely throughout the university.
Small business lending
Small business lending in western New York dropped in January, reports Jonathan Epstein at the Buffalo News. But the bad news isn't just local:
“If I’m not mistaken, that’s typical throughout the whole country,” said Franklin Sciortino, director of the Small Business Administration’s Buffalo District Office. “There’s definitely been a slowdown.” But the cause is not a sudden downturn in the economy. Rather, the only change from December was the end of several successful but short-term “enhancements” to the agency’s regular programs, designed to spur the economic recovery by jump-starting small-business lending nationwide. “There was a huge push at the end of the year, to get as many loans in as lenders could get in,” Sciortinosaid.
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