From CNNMoney.com’s They work harder for the money:

The International Labor Organization (ILO), a United Nations agency, conducted a study of more than 50 countries and found that 22 percent of the total workforce surveyed (614.2 million people) worked more than 48 hours a week, an amount the ILO defines as excessive.

Among the developed nations covered in the report, ILO found that the countries with the highest percentage of workers putting in a longer than 48-hour workweek are:

• Japan: 39.3%
• United Kingdom: 25.7%
• Israel: 25.5%
• New Zealand: 23.6%
• Australia: 20.4%
• Switzerland: 19.2%
• United States: 18.1%

First off, it is a UN agency so that must be considered. I must admit I was surprised by some of the countries on this list.

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Toby Dayton at Diggings has a remarkable study regarding regional newspapers and their use of online employment ads in conjunction with printed employment ads.  I posted earlier this week that I do not understand why some hiring companies continue to view the newspaper as the top option for ad placement.  It isn’t.  Online employment ads continue to expand while newspaper circulations continue to decline.

Here are the results from Toby’s study (my emphasis):

…we were surprised at how ineffective the dailies were in cross-selling print and online postings to their employer advertisers. Across all 6 categories, the average percentage of print ads that also appeared on their respective daily paper€™s web site was 62%, with a specific breakdown for each paper as follows:

71% – Minneapolis Star Tribune

70% – Omaha World Herald

67% – Fargo Forum

62% – Wichita Eagle

60% – Milwaukee Journal

60% – Sioux Falls Argus Leader

58% – St. Cloud Times

52% – Des Moines Register

I guess we can be proud of our ridiculous local paper for leading this motley crew.  The percentage seems inverted – I would expect a “modern” newspaper would default to placing ads online and then cross-selling down to the printed paper.  Not so with these Luddites.

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I am catching up on old email newsletters and came across a very interesting read from Penny Freymiller at MinnesotaJobs.com regarding cell phones. I thought these were great tips:

1. The Emergency Number worldwide is 112. Apparently even if you are out of your coverage area or your keypad is locked you can dial 112 and it will search any existing network to establish the emergency number for you.
2. Imagine your cell battery is very low, by pressing *3370# your cell will restart with reserve power and will show a 50% increase in battery. This reserve will get recharged when you go to charge your cell phone the next time.
3. If your cell phone gets stolen, you can phone your service provider and give them your serial number and they will then be able to block your handset so even if the thief changes the SIM card, your phone will be totally useless. To find out your serial number dial * # 0 6 # and your number will appear on the screen.
4. Save your money by dialing 1-800-373-3411 or 800 FREE 411 when you need a number instead of incurring the dollar or two that you may get charged for calling 411.

Kudos to Peggy for sending this information out.

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