In cities in developed countries worldwide, we are seeing a revitalization of downtown areas.
Sometimes called “re-gentrification”, this phenomenon is being fueled by a number of trends. First, gasoline prices that remain stubbornly over $2 per gallon have hurt U.S. workers who commute. Some employers even provide supplements to their employees to ease that financial pain.

We have all seen the popularity of hybrid cars. Now, we are seeing the use of fuel cell technology in stationary applications. Before now, the technology had been too expensive.
Fuel cells can generate electricity in remote areas or anywhere that an uninterrupted power supply is desired including private homes, small office complexes, hospitals, manufacturing plants, platform refineries and even large boats.

Each year at this time, The Herman Group issues its annual forecast. Typically, we have offered an abbreviated version. This year, we offer you our full forecast for the coming year:

As the saying goes, “Information wants to be free.” Savvy job-seekers know this.
Millions of people go online every day to research companies and compare potential employers. Company Web sites, job boards and other recruiting sites, and blogs posted by disgruntled former employees and upset customers provide a treasure trove of information to help us make career decisions.

These increasing structural costs harm workers and threaten competitiveness because they prevent job creation and take money away from research, development and worker training.

During the past decade there has been a dramatic increase in corporate accountability. High profile accounting debacles have brought management practices under close scrutiny.
To answer calls for justice from shareholders, employees and the public, courts are holding governing boards and the executives they hire to task.

One sure sign of a tightening labor market is employers’ willingness to sweeten the pot to aid recruitment and bolster retention of qualified workers.
According to an employer survey, this trend is exactly what happened during the first two-thirds of 2006.

Employers have long struggled to accommodate the special needs of people with disabilities who have lost limbs.
In the future, those employers may not need to be quite as concerned, because the new prosthetic arms from Otto Bock are light years ahead of previous artificial limbs.

Consumers have accepted the fact that burgers, fries and soft drinks are not health food or even healthy food.
However, with the latest successful U.S. introductions of Denny’s “Grand Slams” and Burger King’s “BK Stackers,” the latter featuring three hamburger patties, three pieces of cheese and four strips of bacon, consumers have clearly chosen to say to the nutritionists, “Forget about it.”

Recently, Joyce Gioia attended Wired Magazine’s NextFest technology show in New York City to research the interface between leading-edge technologies and work force/work place trends. We will share information gathered in Herman Trend Alerts.
In back rooms of casinos and other hospitality venues that that offer mass-produced beverages, bartenders labor away, mixing the same drinks for hours at a time, out of the view of guests.