As boomers near retirement, a brain drain is feared in government
Baby boomers, many of them inspired by President Kennedy's call to service, rode a wave of government hirings in the 1960s and 1970s to careers as civil servants. The following generation produced far fewer government workers, a trend that continues to this day, experts say. One result is an aging workforce. Read more.

HR outsourcing to be $2.85 billion industry
Outsourcing of human resources functions is poised to reach $2.85 billion by the end of this year and regain momentum in 2008. However, companies will have fewer choices in human resources outsourcing (HRO) suppliers due to clear segmentation in the supplier market, according to an analysis of the HRO supplier marketplace by the Everest Research Institute. Read more.

Top five outsourcing trends for 2008
Socially responsible outsourcing, global competition for talented employees and a power shift among outsourcing players will be among the key trends in the coming year, predicts the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals (IAOP). Read more.

U.S. companies think global
The corner offices of corporate America are increasingly reflecting the global reach of companies. Citigroup, the world's largest bank, named Vikram S. Pandit, a native of Nagpur, India, as its chief executive. Pandit joins 14 other foreign-born chiefs who are running Fortune 100 Companies. The head of the Altria Group was born in Egypt, PepsiCo's is from India, the Liberty Mutual Group's is a native of Ireland, and Alcoa's was born in Morocco. Their numbers have jumped from roughly a decade ago; there were nine foreign-born chief executives on Fortune's list of the 100 largest companies in 1996. Read more.

American workers are laboring longer hours
Americans are putting in more hours at work, about 42.5 hours in 2006, compared to about 37.5 hours in 2003, according to time-use surveys by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. The extra hours are a result of fewer employees to do work, fears of job security, a need for overtime pay and a hope for advancement, experts say. Drawbacks include burnout, and an impact on health and quality of life. Read more.

How blogs are changing the recruiting landscape
Corporate recruiters have long surfed the Web to vet potential hires, but now they're also surfing blogs to unearth job candidates, expanding their talent pool and gaining insights they say they can't get from resumes and interviews. In addition to blogs that focus on their industry or field of interest, recruiters say they check candidates' blogs about noncareer-related topics for evidence of writing skills and clues to how well rounded they are. Read more.

Broadway strike produced no winners
More drama happened off stage than on in 2007 as stagehands shut down most Broadway theaters for 19 days this fall. The strike got Broadway more publicity than all its hit musicals combined. But the cost to producers, the city and theater-related businesses was enormous. Estimates of losses ranged upward of $40 million during what is usually one of the most lucrative times of the year - the Thanksgiving holiday. So who won? No one, although the producers got a little relaxation of work rules governing the opening and running of shows and stagehands got modest raises. The only guarantee: Ticket prices will rise, probably sooner rather than later. Read more.

Anxious? You should be. It's good for business.
The success of great leaders is all about creating just enough anxiety - within themselves and their organizations - to unleash the energy that drives powerful leadership, accelerates growth and helps companies succeed. Just enough anxiety enables the best leaders to embrace uncertainty and to turn challenges into opportunities. It prods them to make meaningful and necessary changes within themselves and their organizations. Read more (Free registration required).

Writers' strike hits studio coffers
From this week, the main late night chat shows hosted by Jay Leno and David Letterman will be back on the air. Their programmes became the first casualties of the strike when their writers walked out in November. But the hosts have decided to return out of sympathy for their non-writing staff who found themselves laid off through a lack of work. Letterman's production company, Worldwide Pants, has done an interim deal with the Writers' Guild to allow his show to return with a full writing staff. Leno, however, will relaunch his show without a writing team. Read more.

Wachovia cutting call center jobs
Wachovia Corp. will cut 243 jobs at a loan operations center in San Antonio by Sept. 30.The reduction was disclosed in a letter dated Dec. 21 from Stacy Eggers, vice president of human resources, to the Texas Workforce Commission. The 3,300-employee center was established by Golden West Financial Corp., the thrift acquired by Charlotte-based Wachovia in October 2006. Read more.

15 hospitalized with breathing problems at Tennessee Wal-Mart
A Lenoir City, Tenn., Wal-Mart is open again after several patrons complained of shortness of breath and runny eyes. Wal-Mart spokesman Dennis Alpert said Wal-Mart Store 741 was evacuated on Monday and 13 people were taken to the hospital for evaluation after complaining of irritated eyes and throats. There were five customers among those taken to the hospital. The other eight were workers. Of those 13 people, only one was admitted to the hospital. Read more.

P&G promotes human resources executive from India to global HR officer
It is the first time a P&G India recruit would have made it to such a senior position at the global level. Moheet Nagrath's first interview in his new role will be a complicated three-way conference call between our office, P&G's corporate headquaters in Cincinnati and local headquaters in Mumbai. A P&G lifer, Nagrath worked in the company's offices in India, China and then Japan before settling down as vice president, corporate HR, in Cincinnati. Read more.

SRA names Mary Good as Senior Vice President of Human Resources
SRA International announced the appointment of seven senior executives, including Mary Good as senior vice president and director of human resources (HR). Good brings to SRA more than 20 years of HR expertise from organizational development and training to employee relations and recruiting on an international scale. Read more.