With summer upon us, so is the summer vacation. As one of the largest household expenses this time of year, this is one area in which many people are cutting back according to a survey commissioned by the career website Glassdoor.com and conducted by Harris Interactive^®.

More than half of U.S. adults (52%) say they are modifying their summer travel plans in certain ways compared to last year. While nearly three-quarters (74%) say they traveled last summer only 60% say they plan to travel this summer. Of those who do plan to travel, nearly half (49%) are planning to travel less or take more work with them, one-third (35%) will spend less money and nearly one-fourth (22%) will take shorter vacations and travel shorter distances.

It’s not surprising that people unemployed might be cutting back on travel more than others, but we noted even employed adults who have watched others be laid off at their companies in the past six months were cutting back on travel more frequently than those who work for companies that haven’t had layoffs. As you can see from the chart below, nearly half (46%) of those who plan to travel this summer and work for companies that have laid off/communicated plans to lay off employees in the past 6 months plan to spend less money on holiday travel than they did last year, nearly one third (32%) plan to take a shorter break and nearly 29 percent plan to travel shorter distances.. 

Only 7 percent of U.S. adults who plan to travel this summer plan to spend more on summer vacations this year, and just 10 percent plan to take longer vacations than they have in the past.  While this is good news for those who fall into this category, it’s also interesting to note that only 1 percent say that they will not bring work along. Does this mean 73 percent will?  Hardly sounds like a vacation, and after the last economic year, we can all probably use a real break. 

We’ll be releasing the full results of the Glassdoor.com Employment Confidence Survey next week.  For full results and survey methodology for this portion of our findings, please contact pr@glassdoor.com  

We reviewed how stress between those employed² and unemployed varied, and documented in the chart below the specific areas that are impacted as a result of work or finding work. The largest differences between employed and unemployed are the effects on relationships with friends and family, and the fact that people have less time to enjoy things outside of work and find less excitement in things they typically enjoy.

It’s also interesting to note that married people noted experiencing stress more often than single job seekers, 81% to 57% respectively. The  survey found that the highest rates of stress associated at work or with finding work are reported among those 35-44 (78%), and men in the age bracket are affected in the following areas: physical symptoms from stress (47%), less time to enjoy things important to them outside work (47%), and less excitement about things they typically enjoy (42%). Men reported experiencing physical symptoms more often than women (47% vs. 41%).

So what can job seekers do to keep their head up and feel a little less stressed out? We offer this round up of suggestions from recent articles that have posted on the topic:

• Dealing with Money Stress (About.com)
• How to Manage Stress at Work (ehow)
• How to manage stress now (ManagingStressNow.com)

In addition, here is some advice from our career and workplace expert, Rusty Rueff, who offers a supportive a straightforward perspective to those who have been laid off and are trying hard to stay financially afloat:

• Retraining: Reevaluate Your Skill Set with Areas of Opportunity
• Laid Off? Remember: You are Talented
• Overcoming Layoff Fears:
  • Part 1: Financial Fear
  • Part 2: Esteem Fear
  • Part 3: Achievement Atrophy Fear
  • Part 4: Rejection Fear

 ¹ The survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Interactive on behalf of Glassdoor.com between March 19- 23, 2009 via its QuickQuery^SM online omnibus service, interviewing a nationwide sample of 2,798 U.S. adults aged 18 years and older, of whom 1,576 are employed full time or part time. The Q4 survey was conducted Dec.16-18, 2008 among 2,281 U.S. adults 18+ of whom 1,331 were currently employed (full time or part-time).This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. A full methodology, including weighting variables, is available.

² For the purposes of this study “employees” were defined as U.S, adults 18+ employed full time or part time unless otherwise indicated.

Speaking topics range from “Innovate or Perish! 10 Tips to Improve Your HR Processes” to “The Future of Online Recruiting: Why Job Boards and Facebook Are Only Gateways to What Is Ahead.” Are you at SHRM 2009? Tell us how it’s going and what some of the important takeaways are for HR professionals in these next few months and years.

If you’re not at SHRM’s annual conference this year, here are some highlights from Twitter that show what’s catching the interest of conference attendees:

@recruiterdude says “complacency is the exact opposite of urgency” quoting this morning’s Keynote speaker John Kotter, a Harvard Business School Professor widely regarded as the world’s foremost authority on leadership and change.

A tweet from loismelbourne also comments on Kotter’s keynote: “#SHRM09 Kotter - bad times do not create urgency.”

Lisalotzer reiterates Kotter’s list of priorities HR should focus on “1-increase urgency, 2-build team, 3-get vision right, 4-communicate for buy-in”

Knessing writes: “Be bold, be brave, etc. say presenters. Agreed! But most companies won’t hire HR people with new ideas. They prefer sheep. #SHRM09″

Want to hear more about what’s happening at SHRM this year? Follow the conference on Twitter #shrm09.

The debate includes some who believe that while investing more U.S. resources in new energy will open the door to perspective new careers and needs in this space, the restrictions the bill places on pollution from factories, refineries and power plants could put a damper on some existing jobs that are dependent on these operations. 

In addition, many are discussing what financial impact passing the legislation, also known as the Waxman-Markey bill, will have on the American people.  The President was quoted in a recent Reuters  article that the bill will cost American households the equivalent of a postage stamp per day, disputing those who argue the the transition will sacrifice U.S. economic growth.

Only time will tell the long-term impact on the environment, and the economy, the bill will have if it does pass, however in the meantime there are a number of companies who are proactively thinking about their imprint on the environment today.  

Below is a list of some of the top U.S. companies that fit this bill, based on the 2009 Global 100: The Most Sustainable Companies in the World.  This recognizes companies that are “sustainable in the sense that they have displayed a better ability than most of their industry peers to identify and effectively manage material environmental, social and governance factors impacting the opportunity and risk sides of their business.”

As you can see from the Glassdoor report, these companies vary across the board in terms of both company and CEO approval rating, so there are no easy conclusions to be drawn that signify a sustainable company means a satisfied employee.  But at this point in our economy, the bottom line is that more jobs are a good thing.

In a down economy, many of us are thinking of ways to save on the everyday- eating more meals at home, giving up that daily Starbucks run (or at least limiting it to a few mornings a week) and decreasing our monthly cable bill.  Reports state that both Comcast and Time Warner Cable are seeing declines as a result of the economy, although the recently released Global Entertainment and Media Outlook study from PriceWaterhouseCoopers notes that the industry will recover by 2013, when it’s expected that $68.3 billion will be spent on basic TV services, up 33% from 2008.

While it does make some sense that families and individuals would cut back on some of the more expensive cable packages, it also seems logical that people could potentially justify the spend -  more time at home means less spent on going out to the movies.   So what does this mean for employees of these companies- are they worried about their jobs or do they feel confident they’ll make it through successfully to 2013? 

In the Glassdoor.com Report below, you’ll see the company ratings for the top cable TV providers are pretty consistent, aside from DISH network, where employees are dissatisfied with their jobs and the company.   For many of the reviews on Glassdoor, we see employees comment on the state of the economy and what this means for their job now, and in the future.  But when it comes to the review from employees of cable providers, little is mentioned on recession or the impact it has had on their jobs.  Could this mean they aren’t worried about job security?  Or do other, more concerning aspects of the company like pay and adequate training,  take higher priority in the minds of employees?

What is clear is that employees of these cable organizations do see room for improvement- with the highest company rating coming in at 3.3 (neutral).

So what does this mean for Citigroup employees? Some could see their salary rise as much as 50% — purportedly to help keep top-tier talent at the struggling investment bank. We see one Citigroup Senior Fund Accountant report on Glassdoor.com that they are ‘underpaid’ and suggests that the company should “Hire more qualified managers and give pay based on performance.” Given that the company received $45 billion from the government, switching bonus dollars to base salary hardly seems like a good use of taxpayer money.

Citigroup salary reports on Glassdoor vary widely, with Executive Vice Presidents reporting a total compensation package of more than $500K. Anonymous reports for Managing Directors with the company note an average base salary of $210K with bonuses of up to $1 million.

To add in another perspective, is this partnership one that employees would have suggested for their respective companies? Was Intel’s entry into the mobile market the creative and innovative direction employees wanted the company to head? And was Nokia’s partnership with Intel the technological step employees thought the company should focus on?  Provided below is snapshot of advice employees at these respective companies have suggested for senior management. 

Intel Employees Advice for Senior Management: Within Intel company reviews, employees suggest cutting out bureaucracy and improving the planning process, but what we find more telling is that they caution top executives to consider more of the long-term benefits and outcomes that a new partnership would bring.

“Be a foundry and leverage your advanced process technology. Short-sighted moves like partnering with weaker companies makes them better and you weaker.” - Intel Corporation Senior Process Engineer 

“Poor project planning and constant re-orgs/shuffles are distracting to the individual contributing employees.” - Intel Corporation Component Design Engineer

“Get rid of the good old boy network before it negatively impacts Intel the way it impacted the Big 3 in Detroit. Some organizations within Intel are just world class…others need a lot of work.” - Intel Corporation Process Engineer

Nokia Employees Advice for Senior Management: Nokia employees, on the other hand, seem more supportive of finding ways to advance their product line, and it may be that this partnership is just the ticket. From some of the recent commentary, Nokia employees note the thirst for keeping the Nokia technologically competitive.

 ”Focus on technology, instead of becoming just a user experience company.” - Nokia Architect

“More money should be focused on understanding the latest technology, rather than on marketing in random movies or buildings.” - Nokia Product Manager

“The lack of direction is frustrating…We’ve forgotten our purpose, which is make life easier for the consumers of our products. Instead of constantly expecting them to adapt to our systems.” - Nokia Manager

As the partnership begins to take effect, we will continue to keep you updated on whether company and CEO approval ratings will rise or fall. At the time of the announcement, we observe the CEOs are relatively close in approval and disapproval ratings, and that there is significant room for them to improve according to employees. Stay tuned to see if the ratings for one company and CEO start to fluctuate. 

Tell you us what you think about Intel’s engagement into the mobile foray. And if you work at Intel or Nokia, keep us informed as to what the impact has been on company and your job.

This was during a time when every resume came in a paper envelope with a cover letter attached and a human being opened each and every one of those letters, read them, and then processed them to the correct recruiter who would then respond either positively or negatively. (Yes, this was when we walked to work both ways in the snow bare foot!) The supply of candidates and resumes back then was so high that my staffing admin, God love her, had back problems from carrying the bags of resumes home each night to open. This was even before bags with wheels.  

In a recent San Francisco Chronicle article, HR Managers were complaining about having to sift through the huge amounts of incoming resumes (which are now delivered electronically thank you very much and probably already screened through a keyword search program…no breaking backs there) and determining what to do with all of these people. A former boss used to say to me in times like this, “are you bragging or complaining?” If you are complaining about this problem then you have contracted an “arrogance of supply.”  

Here are a few tips and antidotes to HR/recruiting professionals to correct this condition: 

• A change of heart is in order - Start by realizing that every resume coming in your inbox is someone who is interested in you and wants to be of your team. Be flattered that so many people find your company desirable. If this was Match.com and you were an eligible dating candidate, wouldn’t you be ecstatic to receive so much interest? Start bragging about all the interest and the complaining will go away. 
• A simple and honest “thank you” will suffice - As soon as a resume is received, an automated, honest response should immediately feed back to the job seeker. This action provides two benefits: each job seeker will get insight into the interview process, and it can also help build a positive reputation as job seekers will feel they have been recognized. I suggest a transparent response message like this: “Thank you so much for your interest in working at (our Company). Each time we receive a resume, such as yours, we are humbled and consider ourselves fortunate to be a company that attracts such talent and interest. It is a busy time for us right now as we continue to find ways to grow in this economy and in all honesty, we are trying to keep up with limited resources and people. If you don’t hear back from us soon, it is not because we don’t think you are important, it’s just because there are only so many of us trying to do the best we can in these unprecedented times. Again, thank you for your interest, and we will follow up with you soon.” 
• Do the math - If you know your sourcing and hiring ratios well enough you know approximately how many resumes you have to review so that you can run your process which narrows down the job candidate pool enough to ultimately find that ‘right’ person for the job. So, do the math and figure out if, because of the history and experience, you have to review 200 or 2,000 resumes to find that person. By taking a more calculated approach to reviewing resumes, you will feel better knowing that having more than enough resumes to choose from is a great problem when it comes to finding the best employee for the job. 
• Hire a closer - No, not a closer like Mariano Rivera of the New York Yankees. No, not a closer to convince someone to take the job. But rather, a closer who works each day with the metric of ensuring that every person who ever applies to your company gets a final response to his/her candidacy. This is a valuable company resource and as every marketing or PR person knows, every candidate is a customer and every candidate a potential ambassador for the company, whether good or bad. If you have a closer on your team (and yes, I know, times are tight and resources must be justified, but this is important) you’ll know that each job seeker, no matter the outcome, will have a positive impression of the company. But most of all, a successful closer will stop you from ever being accused of having an arrogance of supply and you may start to really be proud of that talent flow, not complaining about it.

So what’s it like within the walls of a health care plan company in America today? We selected a UnitedHealth Group company review as the winner of the May review of the month to help give a better idea.  The review provides an overall look into what’s working at UnitedHealth Group and what needs improvement. As of today, UnitedHealth Group receives a 2.7 company rating (neutral) and CEO Steve Hemsley receives a low 20% approval rating and a 43% disapproval rating. This winning review from a Technical Support Analyst in Minneapolis, MN gives a pretty interesting snapshot into the private health care plan industry.

What’s Working:

• Job Security

“We will always need healthcare and will only continue to need more of it as time goes on. With that, all these kinds of jobs are here to stay. The company seems to make money which is not a bad place to be in the current economy.”

“I am never worried about my job being outsourced somewhere else.”

• Amount of Paid Time Off

“I get something like 23 days/yr of PTO (good for sick time or vacation) and I’ve rarely had problems getting days off when I need them”

What Can be Improved:

• Creativity and Ingenuity

“My job is starting to feel really repetitive. There are many problems which get farmed out to workgroups and I don’t get to really fix anything.”

• Work appreciation

“All the management cares about are metrics like call handle times. They don’t seem to care if we go above-and-beyond in quality, in trying to fix a chronic or recurring problem or if we try to diffuse some other problem that some other goofball caused.”

• Language and cultural barriers

“I get calls from contractors overseas and they are often hard to work with due to language/cultural barriers, phone line quality, incongruities in how corporate stature is treated in other cultures and sometimes general arrogance.”

• Company morale

“Someone else in another review summed it up - everyone here would rather work somewhere else…Here - people feel like a number.”

• Benefits Package

“For being a health insurance company, they are really chintzy on their health benefits. Get rid of the consumer-driven plans, give me something real!”

Advice for Senior Management:

This company review offers some straightforward advice by simply stating: “Give me something to work for and I will work like a machine to earn it.”

To read more feedback from this employee, visit the entire company review here. Do you work in health care? Tell us what you think about Obama’s proposal and the impact it will have on your job.

With this step forward for government jobs, we were curious which private-sector employers offer domestic partner benefits. The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) provides a list of private companies that offer such - more than 8,600 businesses are listed. HRC reports that in 2008, 39% of Fortune 1000 companies and 83% of Fortune 100 companies offer partner benefits. For example, Expedia (Fortune 699; 3.4 Company Rating) offers comprehensive health benefits to: opposite-sex spouses, same-sex partners and opposite-sex partners. To top it off, the benefits package at Expedia is frequently noted as a ‘Pro’ among the company reviews on Glassdoor. In fact, close to 20% of Expedia company reviews favorably comment on the benefits offered by the organization.

While Glassdoor is not on the Fortune 1000 list - yet - we were disappointed there wasn’t a public list to promote our domestic partner benefits and figured there are many smaller companies in the same boat.  Does your company offer domestic partner benefits and is not included on the HRC website? We’d love to help you promote the benefit to prospective employees.  Let us know by commenting on this post or tweeting @glassdoordotcom. Please be sure to provide the employer name, URL and the location of the headquarters.  Our hope is greater transparency will help contribute to equal rights for all.