By Brett Alston
It doesn't matter whether you're the general manager at a thriving company or a recent MBA graduate—you're doing what you must to live through this down economy. In recent months, the U.S. unemployment rate topped 10 percent—the highest in over 25 years—and seems to spare not even the well-accomplished.
Job losses are wide and deep, with some management-level workers contributing to this statistic having recently lost their jobs as companies look to reduce costs in the face of economic realities. On the other hand, some managers are embracing this statistic, using it as incentive to increase productivity and devote longer work hours. But for the majority of decision makers at large corporations, mere utterance of the word "recession" can lead to drastic measures such as budget cuts, frozen salaries, and layoffs—therefore deepening the root of the problem.
