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Category Archives: Office / HR / Employment

Finding Reliable, Qualified Child Care Is A Significant Issue For Working Parents

Posted onFebruary 25, 2025
Brightside Up’s Regularity Services Team had the distinction of being honored in 2022 as one of the Great Places to Work in the Capital District. Courtesy of Brightside Up

By Rod Bacon

The difficulty working parents have finding reliable child care has been an issue for decades. Various government and private sector programs have attempted to solve the problem to no avail. Now that many employers are requiring employees to return to the office, at least part-time, following the COVID-19 pandemic, many in the social services field are calling it a crisis.

According to Abbe Kovacik, executive director of Brightside Up, Inc., a child care resource center that serves Albany, Fulton, Montgomery, Rensselaer, Schenectady, and Saratoga counties, the child care issue is multi-faceted. 

“Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic it was a challenge for families to find and afford regulated high quality child care in Saratoga County as well as across the state and country,” she said. “The pandemic had a significant impact on child care centers with two-thirds of working parents changing their child care arrangements.”

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2025 Job Market: An Employer’s Market Dominated By Competition And Caution

Posted onFebruary 25, 2025
Rene A. Walrath is the president of Walrath Recruiting Inc.
Courtesy Walrath Recruiting Inc.

By Rene A. Walrath

As we move into 2025, the job market has experienced a significant transformation, evolving into what many are calling an “employer’s market.” This shift is characterized by increased leverage for employers during hiring, a wider pool of candidates, and heightened competition among job seekers. It is essential for both employers and employees to understand the factors driving this change and its implications in the current landscape.

Global economic challenges, including inflation, rising interest rates, and geopolitical tensions, have led many companies to adopt more cautious hiring practices. Layoffs in certain sectors, particularly in tech, have created a surplus of skilled professionals competing for fewer job openings. Although the pandemic initially expanded opportunities for workers through remote work, companies are now recalibrating their operations by consolidating roles, enforcing stricter return-to-office policies, and reevaluating workforce needs, which has resulted in fewer available positions.

With more individuals re-entering the workforce post-pandemic—including retirees, part-time workers seeking full-time positions, and international talent—employers now have access to a larger and more diverse talent pool.

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Elevate Your Management Skills With The Saratoga County Institute Of Management (SCIM)

Posted onFebruary 25, 2025

Empire State University, in partnership with the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce, is relaunching the Saratoga County Institute of Management (SCIM). This program, designed for emerging and new managers, provides the essential skills and strategies needed to succeed in today’s workplace.  

SCIM offers six-week programs that sharpen technical and soft skills and address common challenges faced by new managers. In track one, participants learn strategies to boost team dynamics, improve communication, and engage in effective leadership. Track two covers finance, legal, human resource and resource management.  

Empire State University President Lisa Vollendorf said, “The SCIM program is an important investment in our community. It helps strengthen the capacity of emerging leaders across sectors in our region. Empire State University is proud to be part of this impactful initiative.” 

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Business Report: Managing the Multigeneration Workforce

Posted onFebruary 20, 2024February 26, 2024
Rose Miller is the president of Suite Advice, LLC.

By Rose Miller

Many managers are finding it difficult to manage today’s multigenerational workforce.  It is becoming clear that younger employees express themselves differently from older employees. As a person in the Boomer category, I struggle too.  I’ve had to learn to adapt management strategies to fit the various generations, who work, think, train, and communicate differently.

The workplace is more multigenerational than ever before. It’s not unusual to find employees over 60 working alongside 20-year-olds, and it’s possible to find recent college graduates supervising employees old enough to be their parents.

The primary generations in workplaces today are Baby Boomers (born between 1946-1964), Generation Xers (born between 1965-1980), and Millennials (born between 1981-2000), with members of Generation Z (born from 1997-on) quickly filling a larger share of job vacancies. 

The competitiveness of Boomers and the ego-centric approach of Gen Xers are causing friction with the younger generations. Layer on a company’s need to preserve institutional knowledge, and it’s critical that older managers begin to transfer knowledge to the younger generations.  

Although we should be mindful to avoid stereotypes or try to paint with too broad a brush, there are certain tendencies that a group will commonly identify with. As a group, each generation has different values, attitudes, expectations, needs and motivators. Managers are dealing with employees with shifting views towards job satisfaction, which is tethered to employee retention. 

Boomers tend to be characteristically hard-working, loyal to company and career, respectful of hierarchy, and enjoy face-to- face meetings. They value security, stability, and structure. Problem: They have trouble letting go of power.

Generation X are characteristically independent, fast learners who are impulsive yet practical, flexible, creative, self-reliant, and cynical. They value work/life balance, a casual and friendly workplace, flexibility and freedom, feedback, diversity, and independence. Problem: They don’t like being told what to do.

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The Remote Working Option Is Becoming A Thing Of The Past For Employees In Region

Posted onFebruary 20, 2024
Executive recruiter Renee Walrath (right) confers with a client seeking employment through Walrath Recruiting, Inc.
Courtesy of Walrath Recruiting, Inc.

By Susan Elise Campbell

If executive recruiter Renee Walrath has one mission for her business and her clients, it may be “helping people and their families.” As top-level and mid-level executives and managers move from position to position, Walrath said she and her staff of nine at Walrath Recruiting, Inc. are “dedicated to the perfect fit” as they connect companies and candidates.

The pandemic touched the executive search industry like every other. Employees quickly moved to their homes in great numbers and then slowly have been called back. Now an individual may want to work remote, but the positions are no longer out there, according to Walrath.

“I have no one-hundred-percent remote job openings in the Capital District,” she said. 

Last year, in 2023, a “big chunk of organizations made the move back to their offices,” said Walrath. “Now our firm gets calls that ‘my company is calling me back in, but they are out of California or in Boston.’”

“They say, ‘we moved here to New York, like it here, and want to stay here,’” she said.

Only one of her client companies offers working at home full time, but the individual “has to live near headquarters in New Hampshire just in case,” she said.

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City Officials Commit To Work To Increase The Quality Of Life In Saratoga Springs

Posted onFebruary 20, 2024

The Saratoga Springs State of the City was a little different this year as each city official provided an update on where things stand in their respective departments.

That being said, one common refrain from the City Council members was the city would not operate without the city employees.

“The mayors can come and go every couple of years and the deputies can do the same, but the heart and soul of the city are the people in charge of the various departments,” said Mayor John Safford, who earned his first term in office with a victory over former mayor Ron Kim in November.

City officials took turns underscoring the accomplishments of the various departments they oversee, while also speaking briefly of goals they have for the year ahead.

Safford closed the meeting reiterating his message of harmony from inauguration day and challenged everyone to once again imagine what Saratoga Springs will look like for their children and grandchildren.

Safford is seeking to limit the amount of time it takes the majority of applicants to get a building permit in the city to anywhere from four to six weeks. The building department conducted over 2,100 inspections last year but only issued just over 800 permits.

The grand opening of the city’s third fire station is expected to take place in mid-March. Work on the facility was largely completed in 2023 and will receive final touches over the next month or so, according to Public Safety Commissioner Tim Coll. Finance Commissioner Minita Sanghvi said the city was able to hire 16 new firefighters for the department under the SAFER Grant and has set up a reserve account to pay for those positions once the grant money is gone.

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Business Report: Create Mindset Of Abundance Vs. Scarcity

Posted onFebruary 13, 2023
Rose Miller, SPHR, area HR thought leader, speaker, writer.

By Rose Miller

I went to the Multiple Sclerosis Society’s Together for a Cure fundraiser where the keynote speaker gave an eloquent speech about being a victor or victim. 

Dealing with MS can be daunting on a continual basis. It can impact your ability to live your life fully. The keynote speaker wrapped up a victorious talk with, “Will life happen to you or for you? Do you see your life as a nightmare or a fairy tale?” She told the crowd how MS will not defeat her.

I was reading Michael J. Fox’s new book where he writes about how he takes after his late mother, who had an impactful positive attitude. He said, “She never added up the losses. She’d always look at the gains.” 

Boiled down, these two people exhibited a mindset of abundance versus a mindset of scarcity.

Stephen Covey initially coined these terms in his best-selling book, “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.” Scarcity mentality refers to people seeing life as a finite pie, so that if one person takes a big piece, that leaves less for everyone else. 

Psychology studies have found that children who believe intelligence can be developed were better able to overcome academic challenges versus children who believe their intelligence is fixed in some way. A scarcity mindset can limit a child’s growth.

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AARP Survey Finds Seniors No Are Longer Settling For Jobs With Stressful Conditions

Posted onFebruary 13, 2023

Many older workers are no longer settling for stressful working conditions or fully in-person jobs, finds a new AARP survey of adults age 40 and older. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a shift in attitudes about work, with more people prioritizing work-life balance and making workplace flexibility as a job prerequisite, the report said.

“Understanding a Changing Older Workforce: An Examination of Workers Ages 40-Plus” shows that flexible work hours are now a job requirement for 79 percent of older workers, while 66 percent say they would only accept a new job if they are able to work remotely at least some of the time. Most older workers (90 percent) also say they require a job that provides meaningful work.

“During the pandemic, many people took time to reexamine their personal goals and how their job fits into their life,” said Carly Roszkowski, vice president of financial resilience programming at AARP. “Given the high level of burnout that so many older workers experienced during the pandemic, especially those who are caregivers, it should come as no surprise that work-life balance has emerged as not just a priority but a requirement.”  

Over half (53 percent) of those ages 40-49 and 36 percent of all workers age 40 and older are caregivers for an adult, typically a partner/spouse or parent, and report having to work remotely, change work hours, reduce hours, use paid caregiving leave or quit their job altogether to provide care in the last five years, the report said.

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Business Report: A Time For Kindness

Posted onFebruary 14, 2022February 15, 2022
Rose Miller, senior director of strategic relationships, GTM Payroll Services Inc.
Courtesy Rose Miller

By Rose Miller

Every New Year is a time for reflection and planning. There is no better plan than reflecting includes ways to be grateful. It is also beyond time to exercise being nice to one another.

My mom passed away last August and her shining attribute was her kindness. Condolences from friends contained a repetitive story. They all remembered how my mom would always greet them with a warm smile, reach out to hold their hands and look them straight in the eye.

Such a simple gesture that impacted so many. It got me thinking about how important little gestures of kindness can be in the workplace.

Amidst the ongoing pandemic, being kinder has become a necessity. Everyone is fighting some kind of battle. These battles have challenged our ability to be kind. There is so much negativity and confusion out there and practicing kindness daily can counterbalance the dark messages.

The workplace is an ideal place to do this. We are physically and virtually together five or more days per week. We are interacting with a variety of people, some of whom are adding to our kindness challenge. Kindness, especially when unexpected, boosts morale and makes work feel a little less of a burden.

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Regional Provider Of Bookkeeping Services Launches Professional Development Division

Posted onFebruary 14, 2022February 15, 2022
Sabrina Houser is the owner of Capital CFO in Saratoga Springs.

Capital CFO, LLC, a regional provider of bookkeeping, consulting and CFO services to businesses and nonprofit companies, has launched its Professional Development division.

With an eye toward providing increasingly comprehensive business management solutions, Capital CFO Professional Development Division launched in January with online courses, workshops and webinars for business and nonprofit professionals. The complete curriculum will roll out over the course of 2022.

Sabrina Houser, Capital CFO president, saw the need for a cost-effective way for small businesses and nonprofits to invest in their employees. 

“Providing employees with professional development opportunities is a smart investment that increases retention, builds confidence and credibility, and improves succession planning. Ongoing professional development can also re-energize staff and improve efficiency. It’s a win-win,” she said.

The addition of Professional Development extends the breadth of Capital CFO business management solutions to include webinars, workshops and online courses addressing topics that include strategic planning, finance, and nonprofit management. 

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