I’m amazed at the number of correspondents that think an employee has any right to privacy for emails sent from an office, whether or not the employee was “on the clock.” Pure and simple, the company has a fiduciary obligation to ensure that intellectual capital, trade secrets and other information that might be useful to the competition are kept private within the company.
I am certain that Boeing, like all federal government contractors who participate in the defense industry, has an extensive orientation program wherein an employee is given written “requirements of employment”. Typically, these documents include statements (that are acknowledged by the employee in writing) that the employee has no “right of privacy” in any aspect of the business, and that email and telephone calls will be monitored as will be computer records. Another typical document the employee completes is acknowledgement that if the employee violates the requirements of employment, he/she will be dismissed.
As pointed out earlier, we don’t have the facts, and the “news story” was really more of an editorial against “big business” and “big government”. Did the company security force go too far in following the employee off the business campus and monitoring the employee’s contacts? Not at all if the employee held a federal security clearance and worked on defense industry projects. Despite what some extremists might think, the federal government has a concrete legal responsibility to ensure that “hostile foreign powers or terrorists” don’t get information that would compromise national security or national defense.
I realize that many of my colleagues in HR are very liberal in their feelings, but please put some common sense into your thinking! If the employee was unwilling to fulfill the requirements of employment, he should have taken a different position with a different employer. Acceptance of employment is tacit approval that the employee will comply with work rules.

I was called for an interivew the week before Thanksgiving and hired December 3rd. this may be an exception, but the company I work for is actively recruiting right now, and we hire up to 100 people per week…so I think your advice may be a bit off.

I think the suggestions made about continuing to network and writing notes of thanks make a lot of sense for a job seeker. Just because fewer hires may happen during the holiday season doesn’t mean that one shouldn’t continue to network during this time so that when the requisition opens in January, the hiring manager can think of that person or be referred to that person. Additionally, while things do slow down, they don’t always come to a halt. If a person is serious about finding new work, then they will continue to sieze these opportunities to network and sowe the seeds to harvest later. If I were unemployed right now, I would have found your article discouraging.

I’d bet the reason for this press release was that job search traffic plummets through the holiday season. Companies like the one that e-mailed you need to do anything to keep up traffic to their sites. They’re desperate.
I wrote a post about the trends in job search traffic on my blog and it can be found at
http://www.onedayonejob.com/blog/end-of-year-job-search/

Depending on where you are also has an affect on the job market. I live in a predominately tourist area. I try to help folks get back to work for a living as well as help employers find the right matches and I do notice an increase in restaurant and hotel jobs. Unfortunately, these ’seasonal jobs’ are for low pay, which poses a challenge to my veteran military customers. I agree with a previous poster, the labor does slow down but it doesn’t come to a halt. For the average job seeker that could mean the chances of finding that ‘right job’ becomes much lower since the jobs do slow down but the number of un-employed folks remains the same. Don’t give up on your job search. But beware not to allow yourself to become desperate and take the first thing that comes along.

I am HR Director for a company of 400+ employees. We are hiring right now and not for temporary or seasonal jobs.
If I were looking for work now, I wouldn’t take a break during the holidays. Even if little hiring is being done, there are lots of other job seekers that will take a break. That means less competition for the jobs that are out there. Use that as motivation to recharge your batteries.
Many of us do not have the luxury of having a job that will allow us to do nothing between Thanksgiving and Martin Luther’s Birthday. In fact, I don’t know many employers that would be happy knowing HR is taking a couple of months off during the year.

I have been involved with outplacement for the past ten years. Our data reveals that interviewing and hiring does occur during the last and first quarters. Because there is a perception that hiring does not occur during fourth quarter and soome job seekers do take timeoff during the holidays, competitively speaking this is a great time of year to explore opportunities in the marketplace.

I have to disagree with you. Many companies still do hire during the holiday season, and I think people who are looking for jobs should continue to seek employment during this time. I interviewed for my current position in November and started on December 10th. I’m glad I didn’t take your advice!!!