Via CareerBuilder.com …

Employers throughout the world are increasingly struggling to keep pace with expanding hiring needs. A recent workforce planning study conducted by Aon Consulting for one of its clients showed that nearly 60 percent of its key knowledge workers and leaders would need to be replaced in the next five years.

But, demand for talented employees exceeds the supply, leaving many organizations wondering what strategies to adopt to retain and expand the workforce to maintain competitive advantage. Systematic workforce planning linked to key strategies and business challenges is a foundation for informed talent strategies and processes that will impact the bottom line favorably.

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Via ZDnet.com …

There’s currently a certain sense of déjà-vu within the IT community, as companies look at shaving even more cost out of a function that has been battered since the 2001 dot-com bust. However, when we look at the lessons of the past, you do have to question companies which decide to sharpen their knives once more when they address their IT costs. Companies need to offset the cost of every layoff with the cost of replacing that talent when the economy improves. It is not so much who is left standing, but rather who is in position to grasp the brass ring of prosperity when it returns.

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From Workforce.com …

By now, the only thing that should be surprising about economic bad news is that the experts are surprised by it.

Yesterday, the figure of 573,000 new unemployment claims blew past the 520,000estimate from analysis firm Briefing.com. The payroll job loss tally from last week was a bigger shocker still. U.S. employers shed 533,000 payroll jobs in November, nearly 80 percent more than the 300,000 forecast by Briefing.com.

What’s an employer to do in the midst of this worse-than-expected recession? Business gurus call for counter-cyclicality—that is, avoiding layoffs or excessive cost-cutting; tapping the flush talent market; and stealing market share from competitors by going big rather than retrenching.

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Via ERE.net …

Recruiting departments will continue to be under pressure to cut staff. Wayne Cascio, a professor of management at the University of Colorado in Denver, has done research on which approaches to downsizing work best. His research on downsizing can be found in his book Responsible Restructuring: Creative and Profitable Alternatives to Layoffs.

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Via The HR Capitalist …

You’re in HR – a partner to whomever you serve… Guess what?  That means you’re supposed to tell people when they’re messing up.  For a lot of us, that’s easy when it’s employees and even the managers we serve in other departments.  It gets trickier when we have to tell our boss that there’s something rotten in Denmark related to … well, them.

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Via Reuters …

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Almost half of U.S. workers do not respect their boss and only half believe they are competent, according to an online survey released on Friday.

The study by Randstad USA, a unit of the world’s number two staffing company Randstad NV, found that the growing financial crisis has seen companies focusing more on their bottom line at the expense of relations with employees.

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From HartfordBusiness.com …

Workers at Microsoft get grocery delivery. And valet parking. Free.

Employees at Anheuser-Busch enjoy a monthly two-case beer allowance. No charge.

The folks at Google get homemade French toast in the morning with ginger-infused maple syrup and caramelized apples. Gratis.

Workbytes could go on, but we already know what you’re saying. And it likely includes the word “squat.”

That’s because most of us will never see the kind of perks that are handed out at some U.S. companies in the name of employee retention.

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