The Ayers Perspective: In Good Times and in Bad
by Bill Ayers
 Fasten your seatbelts. It’s going to be a bumpy ride. Another bubble has burst. The subprime collapse in the U.S. market has the credit markets in turmoil – affecting consumers and corporations alike – and the stock markets are on a roller coaster ride. The housing sector is unraveling, financial institutions are under intense pressure, and mergers and acquisitions are being canceled. The fallout is global.
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Kelly Ranked One of America's Top Companies for Women
Kelly Services ranked third among the “Elite Eight” on the inaugural “Top Companies for Women” list published by PINK magazine and KPMG. The eight companies were recognized for their strong focus on
- Power – women in board seats, C-suites, and positions with P&L responsibility
- Pipeline – leadership training, mentoring, and coaching programs to retain and promote talented women
- Pay – evidence of pay equity, including number of women in the top 20 percent of company salaries
- People – a work culture that allows women to balance their career and personal life.
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Preparing for Volatility in the Job Market
by Terry Ebert
 It’s still early when it comes to predicting the long-term impact of the subprime-mortgage-market collapse and the turmoil in the credit markets. Businesses related to the construction, sale, and finance of residential properties are certainly feeling the impact, as is the broader financial services industry, including hedge funds, investment banks, insurance companies, and private equity firms. With credit tighter, there will be fewer M&A deals.
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Successful Landings: A Snapshot of What Candidates are Finding in the Market — and How
After two decades with a major media company, a senior financial executive was to be released during a restructuring. Prior to the actual separation, he worked with an Ayers consultant to develop a positive story showcasing his career accomplishments, inventory his transferable skills, and build the confidence he would need after a 20-year hiatus from the job market. At his consultant’s suggestion, the candidate joined a senior-level networking group, which made a tremendous difference in his outlook and enhanced his ability to network effectively. After a six-month job search, the executive landed a senior financial position with another major media company. Not one to take chances, he hired an executive coach to help him assimilate quickly and ensure his success in “onboarding” at his new company.
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Assimilation Coaching — Insurance for Turbulent Times
by Joan Caruso
 Companies are especially nervous about their investments in people right now. When you go out on a limb to hire someone in a time of economic instability, you're even more worried than usual about whether that new hire will succeed – and with good reason.Job change is always a stressful, risky, high-stakes undertaking, for both employer and employee. That amplifies during times of economic uncertainty. The Center for Creative Leadership has reported that 40 percent of new leaders fail in the first 18 months. Companies can ill afford the expense and disruption of leadership change at any time, much less in turbulent times. To echo what Bill said elsewhere in the Ayers Perspective this is a time that demands steady leadership.
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From Collision to Cooperation — Bridging the Generation Gap at Work
For the first time in history, there are four distinct generations in the American workforce. Because of the speed of change, each has been shaped by different influences and experiences and brings a different set of perspectives, values, behaviors, and expectations to the workplace. Conflict is inevitable, raising concerns about retention at a time when global demographics and looming boomer retirement have begun shrinking the talent pool.
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Managing in a Multicultural Workplace
by Susan Farwell
 In 1990, the number of multinational firms was 6,000; today, it’s well over 60,000. Even if you aren’t with a multinational, you will certainly have a multicultural workforce. Recent immigrants constitute 43 percent of the workforce in New York City alone. By 2020, 75 percent of the global workforce is predicted to be from Asia.
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Crashing Through the Glass Ceiling
More than 200 executive women gathered in the new Shoe Salon at Saks Fifth Avenue in early October to hear Joan Caruso talk about “Cracks in the Glass Ceiling.” Ayers’ Managing Director of OEC looked at the obstacles women face in being promoted to senior executive and board positions and presented advice for overcoming those obstacles, many of which are self-imposed.
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