According to the American Institute of Stress, 80% of US workers feel stressed on the job and workplace stress costs about $300 billion in lost productivity annually.  Everyone experiences periods of job stress, but extreme periods of prolonged stress can be detrimental to your long-term health.  If you’re feeling stressed at work, try these seven strategies to help mitigate your workplace stress. Read More 

It currently takes an average of 31 days to fill a position vacancy in the United States, according to a recent report by Deutsche Bank. This is the longest span ever, contrasted against 15 days to fill a job in 2009.

As if to confirm the report, the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) recently said 85 percent of employers claim to have few or no qualified applicants.

Additionally, the NFIB reported earlier this year that 33 percent of small businesses could not fill a job vacancy from the previous month.

Experts pointed out that wages might be a contributing factor in the “tight” labor market. Some employers have quickly filled positions with qualified candidates simply by offering better wages.

To discuss strategies for strengthening your recruitment efforts, please contact your Deutsch & Associates, LLC representative. Read More

DID YOU KNOW?

On July 28, 2017, the Department of Treasury announced that it will be shutting down the my Retirement Account (myRA) program. The program was put in place by former President Barack Obama as a means to help those who did not have access to a retirement account at work to save for retirement.

Jovita Carranza, the United States Treasurer, explained that the program is being discontinued because it cost too much compared to the demand for the accounts.

For more information, please see the Department of Treasury’s myRA press release announcement. Read More

Pain and stress can end up causing physical, mental or emotional issues. Often this physical or emotional pain significantly impacts our health, happiness and overall quality of life. Learning how to relax can lessen the impact that this pain has on your life.

The Pain Cycle

Perhaps the first step to healing ourselves is learning to better understand how our body reacts to and deals with stress and pain. Once pain occurs, whether from an injury or other source, your psychological reaction to it can have a strong effect on its intensity and duration. For some people, pain can become a vicious cycle: pain causes anxiety and tension, and anxiety and tension cause more pain. Many common health disorders, such as migraines, involve tension as a contributing source of the initial pain. By using relaxation techniques, one can release tension, greatly reduce certain types of pain and sometimes actually prevent the pain from occurring. Relaxation techniques, such as meditation and breathing exercises, are simple methods you can use to relax and break your pain cycle.

Meditation as Medicine

Meditation is an activity that can calm your mind and keep you focused on the present. In a meditative state, you can clear your mind of cluttered thoughts and memories. Studies even show meditation is effective in controlling anxiety, enhancing the immune system and reducing conditions such as high blood pressure, substance abuse and chronic pain. There are numerous kinds of meditative techniques, but concentrative, mindful and transcendental are the most common. Read more