Getting a Job -- or Escaping One -- Dominates the Covers of the Latest Business Magazines

With the economy in the midst of a healthy rebound, it's the question everyone's been asking for months: Where are the jobs? The job market is the one aspect of the recovery that stubbornly won't take off. In the past, strong growth and job creation always went hand-in-hand. Not this time around. The March 22 issue of BusinessWeek explores why in a special report.

The cover story, "Where Are The Jobs?", by Bruce Nussbaum, suggests that while outsourcing jobs to other countries is being blamed, the real culprit is high productivity. "Unlike most previous business cycles, productivity has continued to grow at a fast pace right through the downturn and into recovery," Nussbaum writes. "One percentage point of productivity growth can eliminate up to 1.3 million jobs." Of the 2.7 million jobs lost over the past three years, only 300,000 have resulted from outsourcing.

Could it be that, just as you suspected, and griped to anyone who would listen, you do the work of two people around the office? No, we're not working harder. Technology is cutting costs and requiring less labor than ever. Workers are right to worry about the future of jobs in high tech and services -- we're going to see a repeat of what happened to manufacturing jobs.

But the flip side of high productivity means rising profits, lower inflation, rising stocks, and higher home prices. "Productivity is generating wealth, not employment."

A fat investment portfolio and plenty of home equity sounds great, but for those of us who would like to collect a weekly paycheck as well, the cover of the March issue of Business 2.0 predicts "The Next Boom Towns" -- America's 20 hottest job markets.

Once you finally land that new job, Fast Company's March cover story, "What We Learned In The New Economy" provides words of caution as the economy revs its engines, by picking through the "boom-time buzz" for which ideas held up and which burst with the bubble.

The notion of "The Brand Called You" proved itself to be even truer in the bear economy than it did during more bullish days. Originally, the idea was an optimistic one. You can do anything you want, the theory went, and you should be valued because of scarcity of talent. That proved to be wrong, explained Fast Company writer Jennifer Reingold.

"The truth is, 'The Brand Called You' is important, but for more cynical reasons." Reingold said. "It is up to you to define yourself as a brand, to make yourself marketable, because no one else is going to do it for you. You are not so unique, so wonderful, so irreplaceable that you can rely on any company to give you job security."

As hard as it is just to stay afloat, it's no surprise that many want to opt out of the job they have -- for good and as soon as possible. Dreams of retiring early may be a carryover from the go-go bull market, but you can still make it a reality. The March issue of Kiplinger's Personal Finance, "Retire When You Want", explores how to do it, now that stock options riches are unlikely.

If you can't retire anytime soon, but could use a break, SmartMoney explains how to "Take Your Best Trip Ever - For 70% Less" in its March issue.

There's money to be made from all these people who want to break free of the workplace -- whether it's for a week or forever -- and Wade Thompson, head of Thor Industries, the world's biggest recreational vehicle manufacturer, is cashing in big time. This "Lord Of The Rigs" graces the cover of the March 29 issue of Forbes. The profile by Jonathan Fahey details how Thompson -- who drives a Mini Cooper of all things and headquarters his company in the least RV-friendly city in the world, New York -- has made a fortune off the exploding RV market.

Copyright © 2008 Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism