Employee Participation

In exchange for an agreement to create 5,100 union jobs in the U.S., General Motors will hire thousands of less expensive employees and try to replace some longtime workers.

Kaiser Permanente employees in Southern California are staging a walkout to protest proposed benefit cuts and a lack of progress on contract talks.

What weve got here is failure to communicate" Its more than just a legendary line from a classic Paul Newman film. It seems to still be a (sad) way of life at employers across the country. And its costing employees dearly in terms of both time and money.

The financially troubled Postal Service said Thursday it may close more than 250 mail processing facilities across the country and plans to reduce service standards for first-class mail in an effort to cut costs.

According to a recent Accountemps survey, 33 percent of chief financial officers report that remote work situations, such as telecommuting and working from satellite offices, have grown at their companies over the last three years.

As employers have tightened budgets in this economy, they are shutting down entire functions or departments in favor of cheaper outsourcing. The long-term unemployed were victims of budget problems, not talent problems.