The Starbucks Guide to Job Status

Roman bath houses, or thermae, were massive public spheres (the Baths of Diocletian covered almost one and a half million square feet) that served as public gathering spots for every cross-section of society. Today, we have Starbucks.

CFO’s, soccer moms, drifters, aspiring musicians and more aspiring musicians all wait on line together. And then there’s you, a worker type. You could be unemployed, passing yourself off as a 9-to-5er. Or, you’re collecting a fancy salary but you’d like to pretend you’re one of the unwashed—you know, for kicks. You know which one you are, but can your co-caffeinators tell? It’s all right there in your order.

Espresso, Cream, No Sugar, to go-

You are gainfully employed. Usually you would be at work now, but you had to take a trip to the bank to deposit all of those paychecks and were in the area (of course you were). Plus, some extra caffeine will give that extra boost you need to pump out the Ralston account and serve as a responsible and contributing member of the work force. Drink up, you deserved it!

Starbucks Doubleshot on Ice, with an extra Espresso shot, to go-

You are painfully employed. No one should need that much caffeine. Yes, I’ve heard Voltaire drank between 20 and 30 cups a day, but you are not in the process of writing Dictionnaire Philosophique…

Screwed: 564 at Bulgarian Railway Infrastructure Company

A daily review of the employment fallout around the country and the world.

Today’s Total: 1,357

Bulgarian Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC) plans to cut 564 workers by next year… Pfizer plans to lay off 414 employees in northern New York… Florida Power & Light Co.‘s Inadiantown solar has laid off 170 workers… Layoffs handed out by publisher Gannet Co. include 26 newsroom cuts at USA Today and 11 staff cuts as USA Weekend magazine… Missouri Department of Transportation is laying off 100 employees statewide… The Greenspun Media Group, publisher of the Las Vegas Sun, has laid off 20 employees… 19 layoffs in Lucas County have been approved by county commissioners… Carroll County has approved 18 layoffs which go in effect in February… Bellevue game start-up Smith & Tinker has laid off up to 15 employees in an effort to retain company profits…

Screwed: 5,000 at Lloyds

A daily review of the employment fallout around the country and the world.

Today’s Total: 5,735

British lender Lloyds Banking Group will cut 5,000 jobs by the end of next year in its insurance, retail and administration departments… Adobe is laying off 680 employees, 9 percent of its workforce… Catevo Group, a PR firm in Raleigh, N.C., is closing its office Nov.13 resulting in 25 employee layoffs… The city of Plainfield, N.J. is cutting 25 unfilled municipal positions and expects more layoffs in the future… Rumored layoffs expected at Zac Posen and Gucci… Richard Petty Motor Sports has begun laying off employees.

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Screwed: 700 at Potash Corporation

A daily review of the employment fallout around the country and the world.

Today’s Total: 1,018

The Potash Corporation has laid off 700 mine workers at its Lanigan and Rocanville mines… The 2010 Albany County budget includes 109 layoffs, most from the county nursing home… Aviation firm AAR Aircraft Services is laying off 106 employees this December… High-performance-audio maker, Stillwater Designs, is laying off 50 employees by the end of the month… Shaba Games has laid off 30 employees, leaving only 50 percent of its former workforce still employed… Conde Nast has laid off 15 employees from its digital unit… LPGA headquarters announced 8 staff layoffs, including the elimination of the Deputy Commissioner position.

Recession Briefing 9.3: Homeowners Are the New Landlords

What you need to know today to survive and thrive in the recession.

With housing prices still in the dumps, more Americans are finding themselves in the uncomfortable position of renting out their homes. Many are finding that rent checks don’t come close to covering their mortgage payments. (Wall Street Journal)

To the long list of reasons American companies aren’t hiring — business losses, tight credit, consumer retrenchment — add the fact that many of their older workers are unable, or afraid, to retire. (New York Times)

A new study finds that the recession has left many jobless workers struggling to cope with the psychological stress caused by becoming unemployed in a weak economy. (Associated Press)…

Laid Off and Learning…to be a DJ

While the kids return to school in the coming weeks, adults impacted by the recession have been returning to the classroom as well. For an increasing number of the recently laid off, unemployment has turned into the chance to explore the creative jobs they dreamed about as a kid.

At local community colleges and private learning centers around the country, the New York Times reports, “hundreds of thousands” of newly unemployed white-collar workers have begun taking advantage of low-cost classes. While many are using the additional schooling as a way to beef up resumes or transition into new careers, an increasing number are checking out the classes simply as a way to pass the time and have a little fun while they wait for a new job in their current profession.

Still wondering what opportunities exist for those with unlimited free time and a steady stream of unemployment checks to fund a foray into fun education? A few ideas…

7 Tips for Living with the Unemployed

The economy is supposedly in recovery, but layoffs are still prominent in virtually every industry. Many more people than usual can relate to a phenomenon usually restricted to the over-60 set: living with an unemployed spouse.

While being laid off and entering into retirement are far from the same, they both often leave one half of a couple with extra time on their hands, and plenty of pent-up energy that their significant other, coming home after a long day at work, can’t handle.Read: 4 Reasons To Date The Unemployed

WSJ.com recently wrote an article that shared a few words of wisdom on how to deal with this situation. Here are a few of their tips, plus some of our own…

You’ve Got the Job! See You in Six Months

Is there such a thing as job security without a job? In this recession, anything’s possible.

To balance a strict hiring freeze with the need to secure talent, more and more employers are signing up new hires with delayed start dates, some as long as six to eight months away.

In a new CareerBuilder survey, one in ten of more than 2,500 hiring managers, HR managers and other recruiters said they’ve recently offered positions with postponed start dates. The move allows them to develop staff for the future, while keeping the current headcount down as the recession lingers.

Less than half of these recruiters said they provided a pay incentive to new hires who were willing to wait out the downturn, the survey found.

The new strategy comes as employers face the allure of a buyers’ market for talent at a time when few have the resources to take them on…

Laid-Off Workers’ Call of Duty

Curious as to what the legions of laid off workers around the country are doing with all their free time? Playing video games, apparently.

A new study released this week by the Nielsen Company, shows that video game enthusiasts have spent more hours playing since the recession began than ever before. They’re trying to cut back on gaming expenses by renting titles or buying used rather than spending $60 or more for a new game.

So what does all this mean? Well for starters, it looks like the recession hasn’t lessened the amount of playing time gamers are spending in front of their consoles, as some gaming executives had previously worried. More than that, thought, it shows that people don’t mind spending on video games even when their budgets are tight—and may oftentimes be spending even more than they were previously—so long as they feel like they’re getting a good value for their money…