About 18 months ago, in the midst of this recession and a diminished jobs market, I gave up the security of working for established firms and launched my own business. My new company, Hire Partnership, is a full-service staffing and workforce solutions firm serving Boston-area businesses.

As many of you know, I am passionate about babies and because of that, and because my eldest, my son Robert was born six weeks premature, I became one of the many devoted supporters of the March of Dimes Foundation. March of Dimes has raised millions of dollars for research into the causes of prematurity among babies, the neonatal care they receive, and for the support of moms and families.

Years of salary freezes, benefit cuts and layoffs mean employees have been working harder for less compensation.  The job market was tight so they couldn’t do anything about it, but now that pent up frustration is ready to explode.

Recent surveys indicate that a full 81% of your workforce might be in play. As many as 60% of your workforce intend to leave this year, and another 21% are networking to keep their options open.*  

Like it or not, it is time to get social media savvy.  It is easy to dismiss every new social networking venture as something for someone else or for the under 18 set but that is dangerous to your career. By not engaging personally or professionally you risk looking out of date, stodgy or stubborn - all dangerous things to be in the shark tank of today’s job marketplace. 

A look at a sweeping study that shows how many adults care for others on an ongoing basis by Barbara Dillon of the MetLife Foundation.

The financial industry imploded.  That’s not news.  But the big banks and the companies left behind are in a moment of reinvention.  In the public arena, they have been cast as the bad guys.  But internally, they are still big employers, with workforces who need to keep money moving around the globe and around the clock.  

Working Mother Media recognizes the demand for knowledge by corporate leaders on how to make flex work in the business.  We officially launched the 2010 events season with the Flex Leadership Summit on Wednesday, January 27th. Held at Credit Suisse's NY headquarters on Madison Avenue, the one-day conference gathered senior corporate leaders from the US, UK, Singapore and Mexico to discuss how to successfully implement Flexible Work Arrangements and Informal Flex for millions of employees.

A staggering 22 million working women in the United States don’t have access to paid sick leave benefits, according to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research. The current state of our economy may make this number escalate as we continue to see rising numbers of union concessions and corporate employee benefit reductions. However, paid sick days and family-friendly policies may be even more important today than ever before.

Making It Work as a Lawyer and a Mom by Leslee M. Cohen, a principal at Chicago-based law firm Much Shelist.

I was trained by a renowned attorney at a prestigious securities boutique law firm in New York City for six years, and then decided to move back to Chicago in 1997.

I have survivor’s guilt as I watch talented friends lose their jobs. But I applaud the businesses that realize this is the most critical time to support working families.

I don’t know a single company in this country that hasn’t had to make cuts, both in staff and operating budgets, to survive this historic economic crisis.