As job losses mount amid the economic turmoil, more people are turning to Web sites specializing in career-development even if they are still employed, a new study finds.
Nielsen Online was set to report Thursday it found a 20 percent increase in unique visitors to job-search and career-development sites in January — 49.7 million, compared with 41.5 million a year earlier. The unemployment rate was 7.6 percent last month, the highest in more than 16 years.
“People are worried about their jobs,” said Chuck Schilling, Nielsen’s research director for agency and media analytics. “(Even) if they are employed they are worried about it.”
CareerBuilder.com and Yahoo Inc.’s HotJobs site were the two most popular sites, followed by Monster Worldwide Inc.’s Monster.com. CareerBuilder.com is owned by Microsoft Corp. and newspaper publishers Gannett Co., McClatchy Co. and Tribune Co.
How to let laptop thieves have it
Stolen laptop? Now you can tell those thieves exactly what you think of them.
Front Door Software Corp.’s Retriever program displays your contact information as your computer boots up. There’s even space for a plea to a Good Samaritan — “$50 for my safe return,” maybe.
In most cases, that’s enough to help an honest person return the machine, said Carrie Hafeman, chief executive of the five-person company based in Evergreen, Colo.
But in the darkest scenarios, Retriever takes off the kid gloves.
You can log on to a Web site and check a box indicating the computer is missing. Now during start-up, a big yellow and red banner appears on the screen, boldly declaring the laptop lost or stolen. This message is set to reappear every 30 seconds, no matter how many times the thief closes the window.
You can remotely switch on a second password prompt if you fear the thief has also stolen your regular Windows, Macintosh or Linux login.
Behind the scenes, Retriever uses built-in Wi-Fi to sniff out nearby networks, then suss out what Internet service providers power them. With that information in hand, Hafeman said, you can file a police report and get help locating the criminal.
Program fills you in on layoffs
In a sour economy like this, entrepreneurs inevitably dream up new ways to turn lemons into lemonade.
At least that’s the motive behind a free software program called Layoff Tracker.
Layoff Tracker can be planted on a Web site or a computer desktop to provide a running tally of the pink slips being handed out by major employers around the country. The tracker complies the numbers from news reports and company announcements.
The program is designed to make it easier to monitor the massive payroll purge that has been worsening the 14-month-old recession.
Associated Press
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