Green buildings: Good for people, productivity and profit
Jobs & Hire
Today's leading-edge green buildings are driving a radical shift in office politics. Gone are the days of the senior management pinching the penthouse floor and hogging the best harbor views. Today, green buildings are providing truly equitable workplaces with fresh air, natural light and views of the outdoors available to all staff regardless of their salaries.More

The truth about generation entitlement
Portfolio.com
They are the future of the workforce, yet they have earned a generational reputation bad enough to send shivers up the spine of mature small-business owners everywhere. They are generation entitlement, the ambitious millennial children of baby boomers who grew up hearing "you can be whatever you want to be because you're special." And they are sick of the bad press.More

New Jersey worker retirements surge
Bloomberg
State and local-government workers in New Jersey are retiring at the highest rate in at least a decade as Gov. Chris Christie seeks to charge them more for health insurance and cut their pensions. A total of 10,885 people in the Public Employee Retirement System have filed since January to leave the workforce this year, according to state Treasury Department records. That's already higher than the 10,731 workers enrolled in that fund who retired in all of 2010. If applications through the rest of the year continue at the current pace, at least 13,000 state and local workers would retire this year, a 20 percent increase.More

How old is too old?
Naples Daily News
How old is too old to work? It used to be easier to answer this question. Prior to 1900, you worked until you could no longer work. The Social Security Act changed things. In 1935, older workers could draw benefits and retire at 65. The question of being too old to work is not answered based on chronological age. Rather it is answered based on financial resources, desired lifestyle, need for engagement in challenges and functional (physical and mental) abilities.More

Importance of retirement planning
The Korea Times
Considerable discussion and debate is now taking place on the challenges and impact that Korea's retirement-bound baby boomers born between 1955 and 1963 will have on society in the coming years. This is an important and welcomed opportunity for the baby boomers and policymakers to focus on what needs to be addressed, from both a personal planning and policy initiative standpoint. Korea's 7.2 million baby boomers and their looming retirement is one important piece of the bigger picture of a rapidly aging society, which will have ramifications for all of Korea's citizens.More

Silver lining to inflation: Social Security checks likely to grow
The Baltimore Sun via Belleville News-Democrat
After two years without seeing an increase in their Social Security checks, more than 59 million retirees and other beneficiaries can expect a bump up in benefits next year. The Social Security trustees' annual report released recently estimates that the cost-of-living adjustment in next year's checks will be 0.7 percent. The increase, which will be announced in October, could be higher, depending on where prices head in the coming months.More

House panel would cut defense budget by $9 billion from Obama request
The Hill
The House Appropriations Defense subcommittee is proposing a $544 billion budget for the Pentagon in 2012, $9 billion less than the White House requested. That level would be a $11 billion hike from the 2011 Defense spending measure approved after an 11th-hour compromise between the White House and congressional leaders earlier this year. More

Building effective global teams
Human Resource Executive Online
Managing in today's complex world has been made even more challenging due to global unrest and continuing economic uncertainty. In building and aligning successful cross-functional and multicultural teams on global projects, senior-level human resource leaders must take a custom-tailored and nuanced approach.More

Training and professional development
NFBPA News
Executive Leadership Institute & Mentor Programs
The National Forum for Black Public Administrators is currently recruiting for its 2011- 2012 Executive Leadership Institute and Mentor Program. ELI is dedicated to grooming African-American and other minority administrators for the rigors of executive positions in public service. We are particularly interested in admitting those persons intent on securing the position of city/county manager within the next 2-5 years. Participants attend training sessions in eight cities over an eight-month period; interact with elected and appointed administrators in each city, in an "academic style" setting at some of the most esteemed schools of public administration and public policy. The mentor program is designed to positively impact the professional development of emerging public administrators through the fostering of mentoring relationships with seasoned public executives. For the mentor program, we are interested in applications from entry-level public servants, or those recently completing a master's degree in public administration or a related field.
To request an application, please contact Yvette Harris at 202.408.9300 ext 1- 102, or Valerie Reed at 202.408.9300 ext 1-112. Application deadline – July 30.More