Today an astronaut is pondering if he should lead the last space shuttle mission, or stay grounded and care for his wounded wife.

Mark E. Kelly is supposed to be the commander on the space shuttle Endeavor for a 14-day mission in April. The NASA site details Kelly’s upcoming adventure.

But his wife, Gabrielle Giffords, is at the beginning of an agonizing journey through rehabilitation after being shot in the head.

Will Kelly go on his family’s mission, or will he set off for outer space? While few of us will have such a public decision to make, many of us will face this situation — career or family, family or career? Do we risk hurting our careers, as Kelly would, and stay on earth to tend to his wife? This may be his last chance to head off on a space mission. Or do we hope family will understand, survive, and go off on our career path? (more…)

“Wow!”

That was my one-word response to the spokeswoman from The Pew Charitable Trusts who sent me this chart on long-term unemployment yesterday:



The number of people who are out of work for more than six months has blown away all records dating back to the late 1940s. And the government has only been providing data for those unemployed for a year or more since 1994, and yes, we’re at the highest level ever right now for that as well.

Here’s a run down of the make up of those out of work, and the news isn’t good for older workers:

* As of December 2010, 30 percent of the 14 million Americans who were unemployed had been jobless for a year or more, according to data produced by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.
* That percentage is the highest since World War II, and it translates into more than 4.2 million people, roughly equivalent to the total population of Kentucky.
* Those who are older than 55 are most likely to remain jobless for a year or more.
* And having a college degree, long seen as the best way to bypass prolonged joblessness, hasn’t even been a buffer. The rates are similar across degree attainment: 31 percent of unemployed workers with a bachelor’s degree have been out of work for a year or more, compared to 36 percent of high school graduates and 33 percent of high school drop-outs.

Did you know January is one of the best months out of the year to ask for a promotion?

It turns out, most employees in the United States get promotions in January, June and July, according to LinkedIn, which tapped into its data base of 90 million professionals to figure out when most of you get promoted.

And the data also found that the promotions cycle for professionals is gradually changing due in part to millennials or professionals that were born in the 1980s. Millennials are the professionals who are the most likely to be promoted throughout the year (rather than just in January which is the case for most professionals)

“LinkedIn was launched in 2003, but our data allows us to identify professional trends that span decades,” said DJ Patil, LinkedIn’s chief scientist. “By shedding light on professional patterns, we hope to help our members achieve their career goals by using LinkedIn in the most effective and productive way possible.”

So, you have just a few days left to angle for a promotion if you want one before the summer.

If you want some tips on asking for that promotion, check out this column I wrote on the topic. Good luck!

UPDATE BELOW There’s been quite a bit of outrage over the car salesman who lost his job because of his Green Bay Packers tie. But the firing was pretty much in line with the law, and unfortunately many of you think you have free speech rights at work but you probably don’t.

If you’re unfamiliar with the story, it all happened when John Stone, a car salesman from a suburb of Chicago, came to work one morning sporting a tie with the insignia of his beloved football team, Green Bay. Unfortunately, his boss was a Chicago Bears fan and his dealership had even spent money advertising with the team.

Supposedly, Stone was given several chances to take off the tie but he refused. “I was just showing my love for my team and it was a nice, smart tie that matched my clothes — none of the customers minded: they had a sense of humor about it,” he told the Chicago Sun-Times. He was a Green Bay fan to the end, to the end of the unemployment line. (more…)

In my continuing coverage of how a tweet could get you fired, I came across a great one today.

“I want to see my coworker naked”

Yes, I just saw this tweet on Twitter and figured I should point out to everyone that there are a lot of people on Twitter and we are reading what you tweet. I know, this seems obvious, but Twitter is not your personal diary. Last time I looked, Twitter had 100 million registered users.

Maybe your coworker is indeed hot, and maybe he or she really wants to see you naked too, but even so, a manager may freak upon reading it in real time. Many bosses tell me they are heightened to the whole sexual harassment thing, which can cause big headaches and even lawsuits. I’m all for worker privacy and don’t think you should be penalized for a lot of what you say and you do on the Web or on your own time, but I’m thinking a tweet sent at 11 am might be during work hours.

So, maybe sexual fantasies should stay on the off line QT. Or hey, I may just be a prude so disregard this post.

Is there a tweet you’ve read recently that had firing all over it?

In a surprising move, the often pro-business and anti-employee rights Supreme Court ruled in favor of workers.

Miriam Regalado and her fiancé Eric Thompson both worked for North American Stainless in Ghent, KY, and after Regalado filed a gender discrimination complaint against her employer Thompson was fired. Thompson claimed he was fired in retaliation for his fiancé filing the complaint; North American Stainless claimed he was let go because of poor performance and a memo he wrote to his managers complaining about how management ran things.

The high court did not decide whether Thompson was actually retaliated against. What the judges did decide unanimously was that Thompson does have the right to bring forth a retaliation claim even though he wasn’t the worker who was subjected to the alleged discrimination. In most cases of retaliation before this, an employee had to be the one to bring the charges of bias in order to claim unjust employer reprisal. But it was unclear, until yesterday, if someone who was directly connected to the wronged worker could also claim they were a victim of retribution. (more…)

Oh the elusive permanent job.

There’s nothing worse than spending months, even years, working for a company as a temporary worker or freelancer, and forever waiting for your manager to come up to you and say, “we want to hire you as a full-time, real worker.” But these days those words are hard to come by.

Many of you have long been searching for a permanent gig with good pay, benefits and a little job security but companies are loathed to offer that.

“It’s cheaper to hire contingent workers, but also more flexible for employers,” said Bill Kahnweiler, associate professor and human resource expert at Georgia State University’s Department of Public Management and Policy.

It may be easier for employers, but not on the average working stiffs who want to be permanent working stiffs. Also, some employers may be thwarting the law by keeping on temps and freelancers that are actually full-time employees under the law.

One mom I just heard from, Liz, is really upset that her kid can’t get a real job break. (more…)

Social media, including blogging, Twitter, Facebook and the rest, have given people everywhere a chance to make themselves heard and express themselves like never before. It’s a new age of freedom of speech but your employer wants you to shut your cyber mouth.

Things are happening so fast on the Web that companies are both embracing social networking when it comes to promoting their products and services, and simultaneously kicking it to the curb when it comes to average working stiff’s privacy rights. Two recent cases, which I discuss below, involve workers who were using social networking and got a pink slip for their efforts; and it’s just the beginning of a Internet privacy battle that will rage in our nation’s workplaces in the months and years ahead.

We’re literally watching the world change before our eyes and it’s unclear if worker privacy will triumph or die, said Scott Peterson, a labor attorney for Tully Rinckey, a law firm that represents employees. “Because things are changing so quickly it’s becoming difficult for employers and employees to manage expectations of what is and is not allowed,” he explained. “The bigger issue is to what extent do employees have the right to express opinions?” (more…)

We all get upset when we apply to a job posted on a job board and get crickets in return. It’s a frustrating reality of today’s job market. Hiring managers are inundated with applicants right now and, while I’m not letting them off the hook too much, it’s sometimes impossible to even read through all the resumes, let alone get a back to you.

That’s why recruiters at some of the top companies in the United States are scaling back on the number of jobs they post on job boards like CareerBuilder and Monster, and that means you all are going to have to step away from the job boards.

It’s long been known that most jobs are filled through networking not help wanted ads and job boards, but now more than ever hiring managers are rethinking job boards and reaching out for some sort of connection with a job seeker. The big focus now — LinkedIn. (more…)

For those of you who think working mothers have a level playing field when it comes job opportunities, and it’s just their own lack of ambition that keeps them from climbing the ladder of success, time for a reality check.

Some businesses owners admit they just don’t want to higher working moms. They think you working mother aren’t as committed to your jobs and that your skills are often outdated. Clearly this is not the case for most of us daily grinders out there with kids but perceptions are pretty important and can lead to bias.

According to a study released this week that polled 10,000 business owners around the globe by Regus, a flexible office solutions company, fewer companies want to give working mothers jobs this year for part time jobs in particular, down 18 percent from last year.

* Only 28 percent of U.S. firms declare they plan to hire working mothers in 2011, as compared to 46 percent a year ago.
* And U.S. firms also plan to hire fewer working mothers than their global counterparts, with 36 percent of companies globally planning to hire working mothers in 2011.

And the reasoning is disheartening. The businesses polled felt that working moms “may” … : (more…)