Tag: work

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Helping Your Sons And Daughters Prepare For The Business World

RHS_ Graduation_theridgewoodblog

October 2,2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, Each year, parents send their sons and daughters off to college with high hopes that in four years – give or take – they will earn a degree and embark on successful careers.

But while moms and dads may fret most about grades and study habits, they can give their offspring a real boost if they also insist the students carry some of the financial burden for college, says Matt Stewart, an entrepreneur and co-founder of College Works Painting (www.collegeworks.com/about), an internship program that provides practical business experience for college students.

That means getting a job – either during the school year or over the summer break, or both.

“College students are much more invested in the experience if they have to help pay for college, rather than have mom and dad take care of everything for them,” Stewart says. “There’s a natural tendency to work a little harder on classwork when at least a part of the tuition or dorm room costs come out of your own pocket.”

But beyond that personal-responsibility aspect, it’s worth noting that businesses are seeking job candidates with real-world work experience.

“Those on-the-job lessons are invaluable,” Stewart says.

For example, interns with College Works Painting operate their own house-painting business with hands-on guidance from mentors.

The benefits for students of working their way through college include:

• A regular paycheck. The rising cost of higher education has put paying the full price of college out of reach for many parents, and scholarships and grants often provide only a small percentage of the costs. The more students can pay themselves, the lower their student-loan debt will be when they enter the workforce.
• Practical experience. Nothing prepares you for work like work, Stewart says. A classroom can train students on certain skills necessary for their career choice, but on-the-job experience is just as valuable. Even if a part-time job is unrelated to career aspirations, a student might learn such skills as collaboration, time management and customer relations.
• Resume enhancement. One of the weaknesses recent college graduates sometimes have is their resumes can be skimpy. A few summer jobs can help tremendously, Stewart says, giving managers who might consider hiring you more confidence that you have experience beyond listening to professorial lectures and cramming for final exams.
• Additional references. Hiring managers want to talk with people who know your work habits, and while it’s nice that a favorite professor or a high school football coach is willing to say good things, it’s even better to have references who can discuss relevant job skills.

“Having any job can be beneficial, but if you can you should try to land an especially challenging job or internship,” Stewart says. “When you graduate, you’re going to face stiff competition in the job market. The more you’ve been able to stretch yourself past your comfort zone and develop new skills, the greater the odds are that you’ll be the one picked out of all the applications that come pouring in.”

About Matt Stewart

Matt Stewart is co-founder of College Works Painting (www.collegeworks.com/about), which provides business experience for thousands of college students each year. The award-winning program also offers high-quality house-painting services for homeowners.

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New Jersey Ranks in the Middle of Easiest (and Hardest) States to Find Full-Time Work

help_wanted_theridgewoodblog
August 11,2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, More than a quarter million jobs were added to the U.S. economy in July, and the official unemployment rate remained unchanged at just under 5%, according to the latest jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. However, some of these jobs were undesired part-time positions, and the official unemployment rate often gives an incomplete picture of the nation’s labor market.

24/7 Wall St. reviewed the underemployment rate in every state. Nevada is the hardest state in which to find full-time work, with an underemployment rate of 13.1%. South Dakota is arguably the best state for job seekers, with an underemployment rate of 5.0%.

Click here to see the easiest (and hardest) states to find full-time work.

New Jersey ranked 25 among the states. Right in the middle of the pack. While the state’s unemployment rate dropped to 5.1 percent in June, if you add people who are either discouraged or underemployed, the rate rises to 9.6 percent, but that’s down from 11.9 percent a year earlier.

“Nearly every industry in New Jersey expanded over the last year,” the report said. “The trade, transportation, and utilities sector accounted for nearly a third of the growth, adding 20,800 workers.
New Jersey was ranked between Wyoming (No. 24) and Ohio (No. 26).
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4 Pitfalls To Avoid On The Path To Career Independence

Al day job

June 12,2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, Career stability isn’t what it once was.

That’s why many workers frustrated with today’s corporate climate are venturing out on their own, offering their skills and experience to those very same corporations, but on a consulting rather than fulltime basis.

Certainly, there’s a lot to be said for going independent, says Aaron Zwas, a consultant and author of “Transition to Independence” (www.t2iplan.com), a book that serves as a guide to making such a change.

“You have more freedom and a healthier balance between work and family,” Zwas says. “It’s the be-your-own-boss opportunity many people crave.”

But not so fast.

Before you take the plunge, there are drawbacks worth knowing about.

“When I made the transition about 15 years ago, I didn’t have a lot of guidance,” Zwas says. “I didn’t really understand what I was getting into, so there was a bit of trial and error. The good news is that others can learn from my mistakes.” 

If you’re considering going it alone, Zwas lists at least four pitfalls you’ll want to avoid:

• Prepare yourself financially. The transition from working for someone else to being independent almost certainly will require you to dip into savings. Take every precaution as you prepare yourself financially. A conversation with an accountant is a good start and so is reviewing your monthly budget to see if you can cut spending. Build up savings – preferably enough to sustain you through one year of expenses – before ending fulltime employment.
• Set your social calendar. When you’re independent, you have no co-workers to chat with, bounce ideas off of or play tennis with on the weekend. If you’re not careful, it can be a lonely existence. To compensate, Zwas recommends setting up regular dates with friends and family. You can also take up new interests or hobbies. “Get out of the house and be with other people,” he says.
• Stay focused on your expertise. Being a one-person team has its advantages, but it can also be a double-edged sword because many independents get pulled in too many directions by spending time on activities unrelated to their expertise. There’s no problem in admitting you don’t want to take on certain activities, Zwas says. For example, bookkeeping could be a chore you despise or aren’t suited for. You might want to contract out and let someone else handle it.
• Spend time on your personal brand. Some independents thrive without any personal branding efforts, but most need to do at least a little branding. A logo, a website, business cards, a presentation template, social-media accounts and a blog can help you create a professional image.

“A little advance preparation can go a long way in helping you become a successful independent,” Zwas says. “The most important lesson I’ve learned is that consulting is more than a job – it’s a lifestyle. Even on my worst days, I’m grateful for the freedom I have.”

About Aaron Zwas

Aaron Zwas, author of “Transition to Independence” (www.t2iplan.com), is a consulting journeyman with 15 years of independent experience as a strategic technology advisor. His T2I Plan (for “Transition to Independence”) provides a step-by-step approach that helps people move from traditional employment to a career as an independent consultant while minimizing the risks.

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Ridgewood kids keeping the entrepreneurial spirit alive

Ridgewood kids keeping the entrepreneurial spirit alive
photo courtesy of the Ridgewood Police department
May 31,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood kids keeping the entrepreneurial spirit alive . Patrolman Anthony Mormino keeping cool on a hot day with a refreshing glass of lemonade from some young entrepreneurs on Van Buren Street.

In Stacia Pierce article on creating little entrepreneurs she creates a list called “11 Strategies to Instill an Entrepreneur Spirit in Your Kid’ ( https://www.huffingtonpost.com/stacia-pierce/11-strategies-to-instill-_b_6265260.html ) . Many entrepreneurial skills will come in handy no matter where your life takes you.
Problem solving, creative thinking , learning from failure and hard work will build there confidence pretty much taking them anywhere in life and are skills sorely lacking in today environment .
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Serendipity Labs Opens Downtown Ridgewood, Coworking Space

Serendipity Labs Opens Downtown Ridgewood, Coworking Space Ridgewood

all photos by Robin Chase

Ridgewood leaders hold ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate premium workspace’s first New Jersey location

May 18,2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

RIDGEWOOD, N.J., Local leaders cut the ribbon on New Jersey’s first Serendipity Labs coworking location at 45 North Broad Street in Ridgewood. The three-story, 8,500-square-foot premium workspace – with vibrant, upscale lounges, ideation studios, work bars, event venue space and a café – is located in the iconic, totally renovated Lincoln building.

“Independent professionals, entrepreneurs, remote and mobile workers in the Ridgewood area will now have a premium workplace and meeting venue offering a level of hospitality that rivals boutique hotels,” says Brian M. Stolar, CEO of The Pinnacle Companies, an award-winning leader in urban redevelopment and the exclusive Serendipity Labs area franchisee for Northern New Jersey.

serendipitylabs 16

Serendipity Labs offers workplace memberships that include part-time and full-time coworking, as well as day passes to its network of worklounges. Corporate memberships are also available for companies that want to access multiple Serendipity Labs locations.

serendipitylabs 14 1

“We are very excited that Serendipity Labs has set up shop in Ridgewood.  It’s smart, innovative and aligned with many of our residents’ preference to work remotely,” says Paul Aronsohn, Mayor of Ridgewood.

Serendipity Labs in Ridgewood will produce a full schedule of daytime and evening seminars and networking events designed for entrepreneurs, mobile workers and corporate members. The Lincoln building, located across from Ridgewood’s New Jersey Transit train station stop, has been upgraded with a new lobby, modern elevator, new windows and HVAC systems.

“Serendipity Labs supports the way people want to work today. The option to reduce commute time or move out of a home office allows our members to improve worklife balance,” says John Arenas, CEO of Serendipity Labs Coworking. “Established companies are beginning to realize that the right kind of coworking environment can meet their need for remote offices and team meetings, while increasing employee satisfaction. We are thrilled the Pinnacle Companies are bringing Serendipity Labs to Ridgewood.”

Part of a rapid national expansion of more than 80 locations, Serendipity Labs is the only coworking network serving the New York tristate area in Ridgewood, NJ, Westchester, NY and and Fairfield County, CT.

For more details, visit https://serendipitylabs.com/locations/ridgewood-coworking/.

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‘I’ll Never Retire’: Americans Break Record for Working Past 65

menatwork2 theridgewoodblog.net

Four charts tell the story.

Ben Steverman bsteverman
May 13, 2016 — 5:57 AM EDT

Almost 20 percent of Americans 65 and older are now working, according to the latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s the most older people with a job since the early 1960s, before the U.S. enacted Medicare.

Because of the huge baby boom generation that is just now hitting retirement age, the U.S. has the largest number of older workers ever.

When asked to describe their plans for retirement, 27 percent of Americans said they will “keep working as long as possible,” a 2015 Federal Reserve study found. Another 12 percent said they don’t plan to retire at all.

Why are more people putting off retirement?

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-13/-i-ll-never-retire-americans-break-record-for-working-past-65

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Baby Boomers And Millennials May Share More Similarities On The Job Than They Realize

sony and cher

April 8,2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood Nj, Baby Boomers and Millennials often are portrayed as two generations that don’t always see eye to eye in the workplace.

But they may share something in common that could help bridge the generation gap.

Both groups long to find a purpose in their careers beyond a paycheck, say Jackie Dryden and Bethany Andell, co-authors of “Get Your Head Out of Your Bottom Line: And Build Your Brand on Purpose” (www.savagethinking.com).

“Millennials are not only worried about how much money they earn, but also about how they earn it,” says Andell, president of Savage Brands, which works with companies to build purposeful brands.

“They gain satisfaction from their work when they feel they are contributing to something larger and more valuable than the company’s earnings.”

Baby Boomers, idealistic in their youth, somewhere along the way became part of the system they fought to change, she says.

Now, nearing retirement, many look back and wonder what kind of legacy they will leave.

“They’re reigniting their earlier desire to add meaning to life,” Andell says.

Dryden and Andell say that tapping into the two generations’ longing for meaningful work can create an improved outlook for businesses. Here are a few reasons why:

• Everything a company says and does contributes to building its brand. Because of this, the actions and attitudes of employees are central to the brand experience for the customers.
• Too many companies begin their pursuit of success by focusing on profit. Dryden and Andell say a better route to sustainable success is to flip traditional business thinking upside down and start with purpose. Purpose drives performance, they say, and performance drives profits.
• Customers feel better about buying from or working with brands they connect with in some way. When they connect with the purpose for why a company exists they begin to feel as if they are a part of something meaningful, just as the employees do. This deeper relationship adds value to every interaction customers have with the company, building loyalty for the brand.

“When you have two generations – one older, one younger, but both seeking greater meaning at work – there’s an incredible opportunity,” Dryden says. “But that opportunity can only be seized if a company’s purpose and values align and connect with employees on a level beyond the bottom line.”

About Jackie Dryden

Jackie Dryden, co-author with Bethany Andell of “Get Your Head Out of Your Bottom Line” (www.savagethinking.com), is Chief Purpose Architect with Savage Brands, which works with companies to build purposeful brands. She also is author of “Just Me: What Your Child Wants You to Know About Parenting.”

About Bethany Andell

Bethany Andell, co-author with Jackie Dryden of “Get Your Head Out of Your Bottom Line,” is president of Savage Brands. She is an MBA graduate from Rice University’s Jones School of Management, a regular speaker and author of several articles recently published in the Houston Business Journal.

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More Americans than residents of Georgia draw income from gig economy

cell phones

BY TATIANA DARIE
BLOOMBERG NEWS |
WIRE SERVICE

It’s a job market revolution: an estimated 10.3 million Americans earned income through Web-based platforms like Uber and Airbnb between 2012 and 2015. That’s more people than reside in the entire state of Georgia and amounts to 6.5 percent of the total U.S. workforce.

So-called gig jobs, in which a person performs a task for another individual often through Web-based platforms, are often easier to land, and help generate additional income when regular earnings aren’t sufficient, according to a new study by the JPMorgan Chase Institute.

Participants in this economy are typically younger, with the 25 to 34 age group accounting for the largest part of the gig workforce. They are more likely to be male, live in the West and have an average median income of about $2,800 per month, according to the study.

The number of people earning income in the online economy over the three-year period of JPMorgan’s study increased 47-fold. Labor platforms, including ride-hailing service Uber, that connect customers with freelancers have grown more rapidly than capital platforms like Airbnb, which rent homes and assets or sell goods. Demand is also driving the growth as online service use becomes more common.

Now, “most people would know they can get their groceries picked up, they can get a ride from three or four different companies — things that only a year ago, only earlier adopters learned,” Diana Farrell, the institute’s founding president and chief executive officer, said in an interview. “It’s becoming more mainstream.”

https://www.northjersey.com/news/business/10-3-million-americans-worked-gig-jobs-1.1515503

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How To Explain The Small Business Failure Rate

Ridgewood-CBD_goingonutof-business_theridgewoodblog

4 Things Entrepreneurs May Be Doing Wrong

February 13,2016

Pamela Herrmann and Patty Dominguez

Ridgewood NJ, Within the timeframe of a year and a half, about 80 percent of new businesses fail, according to Bloomberg Business research.

And, throughout the past 30-plus years, the amount of new businesses has drastically declined, according to Gallup. During the economic meltdown of 2008, it was the first time in several decades in which more businesses failed than new ones were started. About 70,000 more businesses fail than are launched.

“We see it all the time in our communities – signs on doors that read, ‘Due to circumstances beyond our control we have to close our business…’ What business owners today don’t seem to understand is that what’s required, not only to survive but to thrive, is absolutely within their control,” says Pamela Herrmann, author of the bestseller “The Customer Manifesto, How Business Has Failed Customers And What It Takes To Earn Lasting Loyalty,” ranked No. 3 on the list of customer service books every business owner should read by Business.com.

“The truth is, what is required is way outside their skill sets. The typical business owner has no idea how to create leverage, how to utilize new technologies, how to strategize on any level that makes them competitive or how to stop the hemorrhaging of cash in the form of failed online marketing investments.

Herrmann is co-founder, along with Patty Dominguez,  of CREATE Buzz (www.CreateBuzzNow.com), a Fortune 50 branding expert which is changing the way small businesses connect with their customers – both online and offline. Dominguez and Herrmann review four mistakes – and ways to correct them – to keep businesses thriving:

• They miss their biggest revenue opportunity. “When we look at traditional marketing, so many solutions providers are focused on customer acquisition and how to get prospects into their marketing funnel – which is totally necessary and valid,” Dominguez says. “However, the biggest revenue opportunity is in knowing how to keep these customers, because that’s where the higher profits are in the lifecycle of a customer.”

“We teach our small business clients not only how to get new customers but more importantly, how to keep their existing customers,” Herrmann says. “Most small businesses don’t have the foundational strategy for how to build their business for growth. Once you have that in place, marketing tactics such as word of mouth online can be fully leveraged, and that is the key to organic growth.”

• Entrepreneurs not only track the wrong metrics, they don’t even know what they are. In the absence of a strategy, business owners make marketing decisions based on short-term data, like how much money is in the bank or how many sales they made last month. This is reactive — not proactive.

“In life and in business, it’s often not the ability to answer a question, but rather whether or not you’re asking the right questions,” Dominguez says.

So, what are some of those questions? – The duo have come up with the following:

How many new leads did you get this month?
How much did it cost you to acquire that new lead or customer (CAC)?
What’s the average value of a single transaction?
What is the lifetime value of your customer (LTV)?

• Businesses don’t manager their message across all customer touch points. Technology brings customers to us from so many sources. Most businesses are not aware of all the ways consumers are using technology to find businesses to transact with. Businesses should go through the process of creating a Customer Journey Map so that they can see all the touch points across all channels and first measure how well they are doing and then identify gaps and opportunities. The goal in this process is to know exactly what your customer is thinking, feeling and doing throughout their engagement at touch point. This one exercise alone will show you where your profits are being won or lost.

• They don’t know the fundamentals of marketing that are the cornerstones to any long term growth strategy. Just like an archer tries to hit the bull’s-eye, an entrepreneur tries to reach her customers. No matter how many arrows that may be in her quiver, if she doesn’t know how to aim, she’ll probably miss with each attempt. The same is true with marketing: you can spend vast amounts in a campaign, but you need to know the who, the how and the why of your aim.

Dominguez, a Fortune 50 business strategist, says: “You need to know who you’re marketing to. Why are you marketing to them? What are their wants and needs; what keeps them up at night? Are there emotional triggers that make your marketing relevant? What is your brand promise and what makes you different from the guy down the street? And, you when you do you this effectively, you shift from sinking money into fixing problems and into growing your business through strategic decision making.

About Pamela Herrmann and Patty Dominguez

Pamela Herrmann and Patty Dominguez cofounded CREATE Buzz (www.createbuzznow.com), an online training experience which helps business owners and their employees get powerful, positive and practical customer engagement habits that build loyalty. As CREATE Buzz, Herrmann and Dominguez provide deep insights and strategic planning on how to make your marketing dollars convert more sales. They co-host Customers For Life podcast and co-host The Morning Would Show providing daily motivation. The duo have a very big vision of helping one million companies leverage customer loyalty in the digital age, and they’ve influenced thousands of entrepreneurs with their straight talk about growing business from a place of strategy.

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Apparently this needs repeating: Work isn’t a burden or a penalty, it’s a key source of human happiness

mike_rowe_dirty_jobs

Labor Studies, Pethokoukis

So the New York Times asked me to write a “Room for Debate piece based on this prompt: “Can companies excel without making workers miserable?”

It is a theme that had never occurred to me. As I point out in my mini-essay, companies are very profitable and workers overall aren’t miserable. So is this speculative or something? Or does it reflect a certain world view about what brings humans deep satisfaction?

As my boss Arthur Brooks has written, “In other words, the secret to happiness through work is earned success. It is deeply satisfying to apply our skills and create value in our lives and in the lives of others. No wonder Americans who feel successful in the workplace are twice as likely to say that they’re happy overall. This means economic opportunity is critical. That’s what enables us to find the job that suits our skills and advance through hard work. Opportunity is the gateway to a key source of human happiness.”

Fellow RFD essayist Guy Kawasaki  argued something similar: “The bottom line is that if you want to be happy at your job, find one that is psychologically rewarding with adequate compensation — in short, one that enables, encourages and even requires good work. But good work is hard. And when you want to have fun, go to Disneyland.”

So it’s important to have an economy that creates jobs, gives people necessary work skills, makes sure work pays, and requires work for welfare. Others disagree and propose a guaranteed basic income with no conditions. Here is an interesting counter by Andrew McAfee, coauthor with Erik Brynjolfsson of The Second Machine Age, a book whose predictions about technological change and automation have been cited by guaranteed income proponents:

https://www.aei.org/publication/apparently-this-needs-repeating-work-isnt-a-burden-or-a-penalty-its-a-key-source-of-human-happiness/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=pethokoukisworkhappy

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Obamanomics : Is work Obsolete ?

saturday night fever

August 7,2015
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, The number of people not in the labor force reached another record high in July, according to new jobs data released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The BLS reports that 93,770,000 people (16 and older) were neither employed last month nor had made specific efforts to find work in the prior four weeks.This is an increase of 144,000 over June’s record when 93,626,000 were not in the workforce.

labor force participation rate remained the the same as June at 62.6 percent. Before last month the labor force participation rate had not been that low since October 1977, when the participation rate was 62.4 percent .Despite hovering near the 38 year low. the unemployment rate remained at 5.3 percent suggesting more people were searching for jobs during the 1970’s and the incentive not to work was not as high.

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Is work right-wing propaganda, Mike Rowe Explains

mike_rowe_dirty_jobs

Hey Mike

Your constant harping on “work ethic” is growing tiresome. Just because someone’s poor doesn’t mean they’re lazy. The unemployed want to work! And many of those who can’t find work today, didn’t have the benefit of growing up with parents like yours. How can you expect someone with no role model to qualify for one of your scholarships or sign your silly “Sweat Pledge?” Rather than accusing people of not having a work-ethic, why not drop the  and help them develop one?

Craig P.

Hi Craig, and Happy Sunday!

I’m afraid you’ve overestimated the reach of my foundation, as well as my ability to motivate people I’ve never met. For the record, I don’t believe all poor people are lazy, any more than I believe all rich people are greedy. But I can understand why so many do.

Everyday on the news, liberal pundits and politicians portray the wealthy as greedy, while conservative pundits and politicians portray the poor as lazy. Democrats have become so good at denouncing greed, Republicans now defend it. And Republicans are so good at condemning laziness, Democrats are now denying it even exists. It’s a never ending dance that gets more contorted by the day.

A few weeks ago in Georgetown, President Obama accused Fox News of “perpetuating a false narrative” by consistently calling poor people “lazy.” Fox News denied the President’s accusation, claiming to have only criticized policies, not people. Unfortunately for Fox, The Daily Show has apparently gained access to the Internet, and after a ten-second google-search and a few minutes in the edit bay, John Stewart was on the air with a devastating montage of Fox personnel referring to the unemployed as “sponges,” “leeches,” “freeloaders,” and “mooches.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/wp/2015/05/14/daily-shows-jon-stewart-buries-fox-news-on-coverage-of-poverty-president-obama/

Over the next few days, the echo chamber got very noisy. The Left howled about the bias at Fox and condemned the one-percent, while the Right shrieked about the bias at MSNBC and bemoaned the growing entitlement state. But through all the howling and shrieking, no one said a word about the millions of jobs that American companies are struggling to fill right now. No one talked the fact that most of those jobs don’t require an expensive four-year degree. And no one mentioned the 1.2 trillion dollars of outstanding student loans, or the madness of lending money we don’t have to kids who can’t pay it back, educating them for jobs that no longer exist.

I started mikeroweWORKS to talk about these issues, and shine a light on a few million good jobs that no one seems excited about. But mostly, I wanted to remind people that real opportunity still exists for those individuals who are willing to work hard, learn a skill, and make a persuasive case for themselves. Sadly, you see my efforts as “right wing propaganda.” But why? Are our differences really political? Or is it something deeper? Something philosophical?

You wrote that, “people want to work.” In my travels, I’ve met a lot of hard-working individuals, and I’ve been singing their praises for the last 12 years. But I’ve seen nothing that would lead me to agree with your generalization. From what I’ve seen of the species, and what I know of myself, most people – given the choice – would prefer NOT to work. In fact, on Dirty Jobs, I saw Help Wanted signs in every state, even at the height of the recession. Is it possible you see the existence of so many unfilled jobs as a challenge to your basic understanding of what makes people tick?

Last week at a policy conference in Mackinac, I talked to several hiring managers from a few of the largest companies in Michigan. They all told me the same thing – the biggest under reported challenge in finding good help, (aside from the inability to “piss clean,”) is an overwhelming lack of “soft skills.” That’s a polite way of saying that many applicants don’t tuck their shirts in, or pull their pants up, or look you in the eye, or say things like “please” and “thank you.” This is not a Michigan problem – this is a national crisis. We’re churning out a generation of poorly educated people with no skill, no ambition, no guidance, and no realistic expectations of what it means to go to work.

These are the people you’re talking about Craig, and their number grows everyday. I understand you would like me to help them, but how? I’m not a mentor, and my foundation doesn’t do interventions. Do you really want me to stop rewarding individual work ethic, just because I don’t have the resources to assist those who don’t have any? If I’m unable to help everyone, do you really want me to help no one?

My goals are modest, and they’ll remain that way. I don’t focus on groups. I focus on individuals who are eager to do whatever it takes to get started. People willing to retool, retrain, and relocate. That doesn’t mean I have no empathy for those less motivated. It just means I’m more inclined to subsidize the cost of training for those who are. That shouldn’t be a partisan position, but if it is, I guess I’ll just have to live with it.

Mike

PS. The Sweat Pledge wasn’t supposed to be partisan either, but it’s probably annoyed as many people as its inspired. I still sell them for $12, and the money still goes to mikeroweWORKS. You can get one here, even if you’re not applying for a scholarship. https://profoundlydisconnected.com/foundation/poster/

PPS. If you’d like Craig, I’ll autograph one for you!

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Living and working in paradise: the rise of the ‘digital nomad’

05_17-NOMAD_3303829b

Fed up with spending the 9 to 5 in a stuffy office? Anna Hart packs her Mac and follows the trend for extreme remote working – in Bali

By Anna Hart

7:00AM BST 17 May 2015

Typing these words, my forefinger sticks sweatily to the trackpad. When I glance up from the screen, I see steam rising from the neighbouring paddy field. As with all workplaces, there’s a steady hum of white noise: coffee being brewed, group meetings peppered with jargon such as “touch base”, “reach out”, “loop back” and “incentivise”.

But Hubud, AKA “Hub-in-Ubud”, Bali, isn’t a conventional office. It is a bamboo and wood building with an outdoor organic café and a pretty garden dotted with beanbags – and monkeys, as it is just 100m from Ubud’s famous Monkey Forest. For everyone who has ever come back from holiday and wished they could have stayed, I am living the dream – and working in paradise.

• Five reasons why everyone should live abroad at least once

This is one of a rapidly increasing number of co-working spaces, where freelancers, sole traders and small companies rent desks and share printers and coffee machines. But even within that hip, fast-evolving realm, Hubud is an outlier – and its 250-strong community believes that this highly covetable office environment is the workplace of the future. The diversity of this group also signals another change: that more and more jobs are becoming portable, possible to do at a digital distance – not just web designers and freelance writers but fashion designers, photographers, models, marketers and even a remote-working GP.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/features/11597145/Living-and-working-in-paradise-the-rise-of-the-digital-nomad.html

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‘The Math Is Scary’: Mike Rowe’s Unsettling Prediction on What Will Happen If Work Remains the ‘Enemy’

MikeRowe

What will happen when all of the baby boomers in the U.S. retire at age 65 and the “remarkable” advances in medicine keep many of them alive into their 90s or even into triple digits?

It’s a recipe for disaster and the “math is scary,” says Mike Rowe, the star of the CNN original series “Somebody’s Gotta Do It.”

“They are going to be retired for 40 years? There’s just no universe possible where you have enough money to live on if you’re an average Joe, 40 years after punching out,” he told TheBlaze. “Part of the reason, I think, we’re facing such a mess is because people are truly still clinging to the idea that, ‘OK, I worked for 30 years and now I’m done.’ That’s crazy.”

Rowe, of “Dirty Jobs” fame, also said one of the biggest problems in pop culture is the tendency to make work the “enemy,” which he said is a very dangerous concept. And though the solution to the terrifying problem is complicated, he argued putting an end to the myth that people should work as little as possible would be a big step in the right direction.

“If the key to happiness is working less, we’re in trouble,” Rowe added. “It’s that simple. Work can’t be the enemy, unless it is, and if you make it the enemy — look out.”

No one can argue that Rowe is afraid to work and get his hands dirty. He’s practically turned performing uncomfortable, unique — and sometimes dangerous — jobs into a career.

https://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/04/09/the-math-is-scary-mike-rowes-unsettling-prediction-on-what-will-happen-if-work-remains-the-enemy/

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Obamanomics: Obama Democrats’ troubling view on work

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Obamanomics: Obama Democrats’ troubling view on work
By Michael Goodwin
February 9, 2014 | 1:34am

Among its many stamps, the Postal Service has a series called “Made in America, Building a Nation.” The strip of “forever” stamps is a collection of iconic photographs of 20th-century industry featuring men and women toiling on railroads, skyscrapers and factory floors.

A celebration of work and workers, the series quotes Helen Keller saying, “The world is moved along, not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker.”

My, oh, my, how times have changed. America now has a government that views work as a trap and celebrates those who escape it.

That is the upshot of last week’s remarkable exchange over ObamaCare. It began when the head of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office reported that the interplay of taxes and subsidies in the law “creates a disincentive for people to work.” The report predicted the mix would lead to fewer hours worked, costing the equivalent of nearly 2.5 million jobs.

https://nypost.com/2014/02/09/obama-democrats-troubling-view-on-work/