1 Britian’s young the new have-nots (Daniel Boffey
in The Guardian) Britain is on the verge of becoming permanently divided
between tribes of haves and have-nots as the young increasingly miss out on the
opportunities enjoyed by their parents’ generation, the government’s social
mobility tsar claim. The under-30s in particular are being priced out of owning
their own homes, paid lower wages and left with diminishing job prospects,
despite a strong economic recovery being enjoyed by some.
Those without the benefits of wealthy parents are
condemned to languish on “the wrong side of the divide that is opening up in
British society”, according to Alan Milburn, the former Labour cabinet minister.
In an illustration of how the less affluent young have been abandoned, Milburn
notes that even the Saturday job has become a thing of the past. The proportion
of 16- to 17-year-olds in full-time education who also work has fallen from 37%
to 18% in a decade.
Milburn spoke out as tens of thousands of people,
including public sector workers such as teachers and nurses opposed to a
below-inflation 1% pay offer from the government, protested in London, Glasgow
and Belfast about pay and austerity. The TUC, which organised the protests under
the slogan “Britain Needs a Pay Rise”, said that between 80,000 and 90,000
people took part in the London march.
He said that only a radical change would save a
generation of Britons buffeted by an economic downturn and condemned by a
fundamental change in the labour market that left them without hope of better
lives. Milburn said: “It is depressing. The current generation of young people
are educated better and for longer than any previous one. But young people are
losing out on jobs, earnings and housing.
“This recession has been particularly hard on young
people. The ratio of youth to adult unemployment rates was just over two to one
in 1996, compared to just under three to one today. Young people are the losers
in the recovery to date.” The median pay of a 22- to 29-year-old, £9.73 an
hour, was more than 10% lower today than it was in 2006, according to Milburn.
The pay of 18- to 21-year-olds, £6.73, is 8.8% lower. Both are at the same wage
level as they were in 1998.
2 Five benefits of being an introvert at work (Belo
Cipriani in San Francisco Chronicle) In a competitive job market it may seem as
though being an introvert may count as a strike against you. After all,
extroverts seem to get everything they want. But even though it may be hard to
immediately recognize, being quiet or soft-spoken can be an advantage at the
office. Here are five benefits of being an introvert at work.
Colleagues get more done around you. Even extroverts
need quiet time to think and be creative. By not engaging in constant chatter,
introverts help colleagues stay focused. People confide in you. Whether you are
a person who enjoys being a listener or not, being an introvert automatically
makes you a person people can trust. You rarely speak without thinking. Although
introverts can make mistakes at the office, being shy often keeps them from
saying something inappropriate in a meeting, company function or industry
event.
Colleagues find you very professional. Because you
don’t interrupt coworkers at meetings, yell your personal plans across the
office, or talk so loudly on the phone that even people in other departments
can hear everything you say, colleagues find you more professional; something
that will play in your favor when being considered for a promotion.
Management respects your opinion. One of the biggest
pluses of being an introvert is that because you rarely comment on company
culture or procedures, whenever you do speak up, people will listen. This is
especially true when it comes to discussing issues with management.
3 Demand up for ethical hackers (Aw Cheng Wei in
Straits Times) Calling yourself a penetration tester might invite some laughs
at dinner parties, but the job of a cyber security expert is anything but
funny. It is serious business.
Just ask American bank JPMorgan Chase. The names and
addresses of its clients - more than 76 million households and seven million
small businesses - were stolen by hackers this month in one of the worst
intrusions ever.
In the fight to stay safe online, penetration
testers are the necessary foot soldiers. They are external consultants or
in-house workers who try to find loopholes in their employers' computer
security systems before others with malicious aims do so.
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