Results tagged “employment”

This afternoon, DCPS released final details of the budget reductions that have caused an uproar in the schools community since probable staff cuts were first announced last month.

The Wall Street Journal has one of their career trends by ordinal list pieces today on where young people in the United States are deciding to move during the recession, and once again Washington, D.C. is at the top of the list. We've heard almost all of this before, but here's why the newspaper says the D.C. area is the best option for young job seekers:

Government hiring is projected to grow fast, and jobs in lobbying, aerospace, defense contracting and professional services are also a draw. Mr. DeVol calls Washington the national leader in high-tech services, surpassing Silicon Valley. Washington's 4,000-plus nonprofits hold appeal for service-minded youth. And amid rising regulation of financial markets, says Barbara Lang, president of the DC Chamber of Commerce, "much of Wall Street is now moving to K Street."

No big arguments from us here, though we can appreciate finally seeing a little hedging on the sustainability of the "so many government jobs" argument at the end of the D.C. blurb, too. At some point, the federal government is going to have to make cuts, just like all state and local governments have been doing for the last year or so.

Metro's board of directors voted to renew General Manager John Catoe's contract for another three years at their meeting today, the Post is reporting. Presumably they managed to come to that decision before board chairman Jim Graham was pulled out of the meeting to deal with the fact that his chief of staff had been arrested. WTOP says the only vote against Catoe came from City Administrator Neil Albert. Catoe's annual salary of $315,000 will remain the same, according to WTOP.

Are you plagued by the worry that all your friends make more money than you? Well Reuters's Patricia Reaney has filed this story to confirm all those fears! The D.C. area has "the nation's highest percentage of 25-34 year-olds making more than $100,000 a year," according to The Nielsen Company.

We wanted to extend our hearty congratulations to Prince of Petworth, aka Dan Silverman, who announced on his site last night that he has quit his day job in order to devote himself full-time to neighborhood blogging. Dan's been talking about making this move for a long time, so it's great to hear that his dream is finally coming true. As a 2+ year veteran of the Guild of Professional Bloggers, I can tell you that Dan is about to join an elite group of individuals who find themselves spending a preposterously high percentage of their time searching for coffee shops with reliable wireless internet, and far less time worrying about showering or putting on pants. Way to live the dream, Dan!

Or so says the Human Resource Association of the National Capital Area, which is the source for this Washington Business Journal story proclaiming it to be so. Considering how many people we talk to who say that they, due to the recession, didn't get raises this year, the 3.4 percent number just kinda feels slightly high, doesn't it? Oh wait, that explains it:

The financial services industry saw the highest salary increases at 9.3 percent. Publishing and broadcasting jobs saw the lowest raises, at 1.5 percent.

Continue reading "Average Salaries in D.C. Area Up 3.4 Percent"

In the wake of several recent high profile shenanigans on the part of Metro employees, including one Metrobus driver who was fired after being charged with kidnapping, and another who turned out to have a suspended license, WMATA today announced that it has implemented some new hiring standards.

WMATA offers this update on the fate of three Metrobus drivers who have been under investigation recently. Two bus operators have been fired this week, according to Metro. The first is the driver who was arrested and charged with kidnapping after refusing to let a passenger off the bus during a verbal dispute. The second fired driver had been driving with a suspended license, which Metro only discovered after the operator got into an accident with another vehicle on July 30. And finally, the bus driver photographed by a passenger while talking on her cell phone, made public by the local blog Unsuck DC Metro, will in fact keep her job, after an investigation determined she had used her personal cell phone to report a mechanical problem with her bus. "The internal Metro investigation revealed that the bus was stopped and secured when the operator communicated with Central Control and she did not operate the bus while on the phone. She has been re-instructed regarding operating procedures and returned to service." Metro General Manager John Catoe originally said that the driver would likely be fired.

Do make sure to check out the Washington City Paper's latest update on the Marion Barry girlfriend contract saga, which reveals that a previous paramour of Barry's, Sharon Bowen (she's the one who lives in Ohio), had a job arrangement with the Ward 8 Council member that was remarkably similar to the one that Donna Watts-Brighthaupt did.

Like Watts-Brighthaupt, Bowen was tasked to work in the area of poverty research. According to her personal-services contract with the District, Bowen was paid to “conceptualize, design, plan and execute” a poverty summit for the council’s housing and urban affairs committee, which Barry chairs.

Continue reading "Marion Barry's Other Lady Friend/Employee"

Credit goes to the increasingly excellent local blog Unsuck DC Metro for the news that a Metrobus operator will soon be fired for talking on a cell phone while driving a bus.

Serious inquiries only, this is very important to my family. Young Money Baby!Hopefully all of the sighted attendees of this birthday party can stop themselves from laughing during the Fake Lil' Wayne performance long enough to fool this kid.