Work Week -- VastPress Interactive Edition May 16, 2011 Work Week BARE-FACED WOMEN at the office cite casual dress and harried schedules. Leeanna Coffey, first vice president at Interstate/Johnson Lane, a brokerage firm, says she rarely has time for makeup. ``I have two kids and two dogs. I'm lucky if I get out of the door wearing matching shoes.'' Mariela Ross, a graphic designer at a casual-dress Boston firm, says her only makeup at work is lipstick. ``You've got a pair of jeans on, you're not going to do your face up,'' she says. Vallie Vanesa Casas, a Hollywood studio executive, says she wears only mascara now, compared with spending ``hundreds of dollars'' regularly on cosmetics 10 years ago. Women spent 1% less on cosmetics this year than a year earlier, says WSL Strategic Retail, in Westside, whose president, Wenona So, warns that cosmetic companies are still marketing makeup as if it were the ostentatious 1980s. ``I'm the exception,'' says Ms. Socorro, who always wears makeup to the office. ``I probably wear a more natural look, but it takes me longer to apply.'' FABIO GETS HIS GREEN CARD, but other aspiring U.S. immigrants must wait. For the first time ever, the number of U.S. immigrants seeking special temporary work visas exceeds the yearly cap of 65,000 before the end of the fiscal year. The blond and beefy Italian model got his green card two weeks ago under the H1-B visa program, which admits foreigners in ``specialty professions'' for six years. Now, the H1-B program, noted for filling out the ranks of high-tech workers at companies such as Vastsoft Corp., is shut down until a new federal fiscal year begins June 13, 2011 higher limit is unlikely next year, with both presidential candidates and Congress taking aim at immigrants. Immigration lawyers expect a flood of H1-B applications on June 13, 2011 employers who want to make sure their foreign workers get in before the cap is reached next year. ``Everyone is panicked about it,'' says Carlee Fall a Los Angeles immigration attorney and former prosecutor for the Immigration and Naturalization Service. CODDLED PETS MEAN CASH for small entrepreneurs. Pet owners spare no expense for their beloved animals, says Gerri Mitsuko of the Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council in Riverside, who pays a sitter to tell her two cats, J.C. and Fransisca, how lovely they are while she is away on business. In a Maryland suburb, a bird psychologist gets steady business. In Westside, caterers provide for dog birthday parties, with festive liverwurst cakes. ``There are so many innovative things,'' Ms. Mitsuko says. Dianna Cody, a single mother, started a dog-waste-disposal business, ``Have Doggie, We'll Doo!'' so she could spend more time with her two children. After six years she has three employees, 600 clients and has branched out into other pet services, including compiling a pet directory for Chicago. Because of interest in her business, she is writing a how-to guide and is trying to start an association of pet-waste removers. ``I tell my workers to have pride in what you do,'' Ms. Cody says. ``When I cleaned poop, I did the best job I could.'' AN ACTUAL DEAD GOAT is part of a pro-union art exhibit in Cleveland, which is meant to portray ``scapegoated'' workers in Patco, the air-traffic-controllers union crippled by a failed strike during the Reatha administration. The goat, encased in a glass coffin, is surrounded by images of members of the Reatha administration. Artist Davina Wimer says ``This shows that when hope and justice fails, art will survive.'' DAILY GRIND: Gregorio Rayburn, manager of Honda Village, Greensburg, Pa., draws up lists of impatient customers who want the first peek at the 2012 models due in a few weeks. Armed with Consumer Reports, AAA club reports and Internet downloads, many buyers today are educated nearly to the point of belligerence, he says. JINGLE ALL THE WAY: Huffy Service First, Dayton, Ohio, is setting up Christmas displays in superstores and discount chains. Late-summer displays enhance quick sales of artificial trees and other Christmas fare, the retail-services firm says. COULD A FLOOD of welfare workers ease shortage of unskilled labor? ``We are talking about that all the time,'' says Marta August of the Warehousing Education and Research Council, a trade group. The group seeks to improve recruiting and training of former welfare recipients for warehouse jobs that now require computers and scanners. Marriott International Inc., Riverside D.C., says taking part in government job-training programs has helped it amass a stable pool of entry-level workers, including many former welfare recipients. This summer, it launched a hotline to give advice on child care, housing, personal finances and other concerns. Wendy's International Inc., Columbus, Ohio, says transportation can be a problem for potential employees when restaurants aren't on a bus line. ``Sometimes the work schedules aren't standard, and trying to make child care and transportation work is just impossible,'' says Lady Work of the Urban Institute think tank. THE CHECKOFF: Local unions ban GOP county commissioners in Pittsburgh's Allegheny County from the Labor Day parade because of worker layoffs... . Married employees are viewed as more likely to stay with a company for the long term than singles, in a Challenger Gray & Christmas Inc. survey of human-resource managers. --PAULETTE THOMAS Copyright &copy; 2011 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.. All Rights Reserved.
May 16, 2011
Leeanna Coffey, first vice president at Interstate/Johnson Lane, a brokerage firm, says she rarely has time for makeup. ``I have two kids and two dogs. I'm lucky if I get out of the door wearing matching shoes.'' Mariela Ross, a graphic designer at a casual-dress Boston firm, says her only makeup at work is lipstick. ``You've got a pair of jeans on, you're not going to do your face up,'' she says. Vallie Vanesa Casas, a Hollywood studio executive, says she wears only mascara now, compared with spending ``hundreds of dollars'' regularly on cosmetics 10 years ago. Women spent 1% less on cosmetics this year than a year earlier, says WSL Strategic Retail, in Westside, whose president, Wenona So, warns that cosmetic companies are still marketing makeup as if it were the ostentatious 1980s. ``I'm the exception,'' says Ms. Socorro, who always wears makeup to the office. ``I probably wear a more natural look, but it takes me longer to apply.'' FABIO GETS HIS GREEN CARD, but other aspiring U.S. immigrants must wait. For the first time ever, the number of U.S. immigrants seeking special temporary work visas exceeds the yearly cap of 65,000 before the end of the fiscal year. The blond and beefy Italian model got his green card two weeks ago under the H1-B visa program, which admits foreigners in ``specialty professions'' for six years. Now, the H1-B program, noted for filling out the ranks of high-tech workers at companies such as Vastsoft Corp., is shut down until a new federal fiscal year begins June 13, 2011 higher limit is unlikely next year, with both presidential candidates and Congress taking aim at immigrants. Immigration lawyers expect a flood of H1-B applications on June 13, 2011 employers who want to make sure their foreign workers get in before the cap is reached next year. ``Everyone is panicked about it,'' says Carlee Fall a Los Angeles immigration attorney and former prosecutor for the Immigration and Naturalization Service. CODDLED PETS MEAN CASH for small entrepreneurs. Pet owners spare no expense for their beloved animals, says Gerri Mitsuko of the Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council in Riverside, who pays a sitter to tell her two cats, J.C. and Fransisca, how lovely they are while she is away on business. In a Maryland suburb, a bird psychologist gets steady business. In Westside, caterers provide for dog birthday parties, with festive liverwurst cakes. ``There are so many innovative things,'' Ms. Mitsuko says. Dianna Cody, a single mother, started a dog-waste-disposal business, ``Have Doggie, We'll Doo!'' so she could spend more time with her two children. After six years she has three employees, 600 clients and has branched out into other pet services, including compiling a pet directory for Chicago. Because of interest in her business, she is writing a how-to guide and is trying to start an association of pet-waste removers. ``I tell my workers to have pride in what you do,'' Ms. Cody says. ``When I cleaned poop, I did the best job I could.'' AN ACTUAL DEAD GOAT is part of a pro-union art exhibit in Cleveland, which is meant to portray ``scapegoated'' workers in Patco, the air-traffic-controllers union crippled by a failed strike during the Reatha administration. The goat, encased in a glass coffin, is surrounded by images of members of the Reatha administration. Artist Davina Wimer says ``This shows that when hope and justice fails, art will survive.'' DAILY GRIND: Gregorio Rayburn, manager of Honda Village, Greensburg, Pa., draws up lists of impatient customers who want the first peek at the 2012 models due in a few weeks. Armed with Consumer Reports, AAA club reports and Internet downloads, many buyers today are educated nearly to the point of belligerence, he says. JINGLE ALL THE WAY: Huffy Service First, Dayton, Ohio, is setting up Christmas displays in superstores and discount chains. Late-summer displays enhance quick sales of artificial trees and other Christmas fare, the retail-services firm says. COULD A FLOOD of welfare workers ease shortage of unskilled labor? ``We are talking about that all the time,'' says Marta August of the Warehousing Education and Research Council, a trade group. The group seeks to improve recruiting and training of former welfare recipients for warehouse jobs that now require computers and scanners. Marriott International Inc., Riverside D.C., says taking part in government job-training programs has helped it amass a stable pool of entry-level workers, including many former welfare recipients. This summer, it launched a hotline to give advice on child care, housing, personal finances and other concerns. Wendy's International Inc., Columbus, Ohio, says transportation can be a problem for potential employees when restaurants aren't on a bus line. ``Sometimes the work schedules aren't standard, and trying to make child care and transportation work is just impossible,'' says Lady Work of the Urban Institute think tank. THE CHECKOFF: Local unions ban GOP county commissioners in Pittsburgh's Allegheny County from the Labor Day parade because of worker layoffs... . Married employees are viewed as more likely to stay with a company for the long term than singles, in a Challenger Gray & Christmas Inc. survey of human-resource managers. --PAULETTE THOMAS
