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I’m an on-the-cusp Gen-Y worker listening to a stereotypical Gen X-er talk about what Gen Y wants in their careers.Really, I think. What can she teach recruiters about how to manage me and my generation in the workplace?

It’s not that I don’t respect the rat-a-tat, rapid-fire delivery by workplace writer Penelope Trunk, speaking at the ERE Expo in San Diego. Her witty observations appear in her syndicated Boston Globe column and on her popular blog. It’s not her delivery that annoys me; what is bugging me is that for as many times as she completely misses the mark about what Gen Y wants, she also sometimes nails it.

But the painfully obvious takeaway is that her observations about Gen Y are predicated on a classic case of sibling rivalry. Gen X is the typical oldest child who has fought their “parents,” or those Boomer bosses, all their careers.

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As recruiters dive into the more than seven-million business cards available on Jigsaw.com, it’s obvious that Jigsaw can be valuable, but is it ethical? Who’s responsible for protecting people’s privacy — Jigsaw, or the recruiter who uses Jigsaw?

A hostile, rousing debate about ethics transpired during the ERE Expo San Diego, and the audience got a first-hand account of user-generated content as Jim Fowler, Jigsaw’s founder and CEO, and Susan Pierce, executive director of the non-profit organization PrivacyActivism, broke apart the privacy puzzle.

Dennis Smith, a recruiting leader known for his wirelessjobs.com blog, served as referee, er, moderator, between the two polar opposite views on the privacy puzzle.

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Some soundbites from the keynote by Gene Stanaland, former head of the Auburn University economics department:

-The U.S. economy has been resilient through a tumultous period of several major events packed into a few years: a recession, terrorist attacks, war in Iraq, war in Afghanistan, stock market and accounting scandals, controversial elections that ended up in the Supreme Court, a hurricane, and more.

-Chances are good Democrats will take the White House.

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A new acquisition, the slowing economy, increased competitive pressures, or plummeting sock prices. There’s a good chance your business felt the impact from one of these major events in the past year. But did your company have a workforce plan in place that anticipated the event’s impact on human capital?

The most likely answer to that question is no, because nearly 90 percent of the attendees at the “Workforce Planning” workshop at today’s ERE Expo in San Diego said their companies only had basic workforce planning models in place, and those traditional models don’t forecast human capital needs based upon possible future business scenarios.

“Too often the first step in the workforce planning process happens when the requisition is received, and that’s too late,” said Ed Newman, president of the Newman Group, who facilitated the workshop. Newman says that intermediate-level workforce planning combines workforce analytics with scenario modeling to look at how future business circumstances may impact retention and future hiring needs.

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You know how great you feel when a person comes along and surpasses your expectations; this person almost always makes you reconsider how you measure for the next position.

But you also know what happens when a person comes along who does not meet your expectations. Sure, this person is no superstar, but they’ll fill the position and maintain the status quo.

Which version of the above scenarios happens most at your company? Are your days filled with chest puffery bravado or feelings of blasé compliance? There has to be hope for a middle ground of sourcing success. So if we can all agree that the “employee model” is in need of a serious overhaul, where do we start?

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Does the federal government stand a chance in competing alongside your company for the most sought-after senior-level workers? If you thought the private sector had an advantage, it might be surprising to learn that the hiring of upper-level employees from outside the government has steadily increased in the last 15 years, but especially since 2000.

After all, the federal government is fighting similar battles to what is happening in your organization — a surge of retirement-age analysts, supervisors, and managers are departing — and the government is probing the private sector to fill this critical shortage of senior-level specialists.

A newly issued report analyzing hiring trends for new employees at the grades 12, 13, 14, and 15 in fiscal year 2005 shows that the government hired more than 12,000 new upper-level workers, or 39% more than the 8,600 employees of the same rank hired in FY 1990, preceding the workforce downsizing of the 1990s.

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Some more thoughts and trends on the Class of 2008, and the best ways to tap into the most promising new graduates this spring:

— Despite what is happening at Bear Stearns, NYC-area students are hungry for their bite of the Big Apple, with Wall Street jobs in the highest demand. Results from the Universum IDEAL survey of six area undergraduate universities reveal that both Goldman Sachs (24%) and the financial services industry (29%) are tops. In contrast, undergraduate students outside of New York are more interested in Google as the ideal employer, and the government/public service sector as the ideal industry. NYC-area students also value compensation packages the most (40%), compared to the general population, which prefers work/life balance (39%).

— The Universum survey also reveals students’ preferences when it comes to gathering information about employers, with career fairs coming in first, followed by internships, company websites, online job boards, and coming in fifth, company recruiters at school. The students say the information they prefer the most at career fairs includes material on internships; current job openings; career-development opportunities; the actual recruitment process; and mentoring.

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After a tumultuous week, which saw the company’s stock plummet to $2/share and ensuing threats of lawsuits, embattled Bear Stearns is seeing a different kind of law-related issue.

TheLawyer.com is reporting a “feeding frenzy” by recruiters for the approximately 100 attorneys in Bear Stearns’ compliance department, most of whom may face layoffs once the buyout by JPMorgan Chase is completed. Most of the attorneys are in Bear Stearns’ fixed income department, with additional legal support in areas including litigation, vendor contracts, and employment.

At present, Bear Stearns’ entire legal and compliance division counts about 475 people.

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Forget Enron. The destruction of shareholder value on an epic scale is how Wall Street analysts are explaining what has happened to Bear Stearns workers this week, as they saw their company sold to JPMorgan Chase for $2 a share.

Last year, stock at Bear Stearns, once the fifth-largest investment bank in the United States, sold for $170 a share. And about one-third of the bank’s outstanding stock is owned by its own employees, the same workers who may see pink slips in the near future.

James Dimon, the chairman and chief executive of JPMorgan Chase, addressed Bear Stearns executives for 45 minutes on Wednesday evening, explaining that while “No one on Wall Street could have anticipated this,” he anticipates that many of Bear’s 14,153 employees will lose their jobs as a result of the deal. He noted that JPMorgan executives will try to keep the best performers as they move to integrate the two firms.

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Though their approaches to interviewing and working styles may differ, members of Generations X and Y (those born between 1968 and 1988) seem to have something in common after all.

Both groups are now acknowledging that they need to pick up the slack when it comes to planning for their financial futures.

A new report released by the Divided We Fail group and the American Savings Education Council shows that while 86% of Gen Xers and Gen Yers know they should be more prepared for a “rainy day,” most are surprisingly clueless about how to make that a success.

Need proof? The survey of 1,752 young people shows they know more about their iPods (40% very knowledgeable) than they do about filing their taxes (26%), buying a home (21%), investing outside of work (15%), and saving for retirement (15%).

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CareerBuilder.com is out with its annual survey of the most outrageous interview mistakes candidates have made, so if you’ve ever dealt with toilet-flushers, hair-brushers, or cell-phone hushers, read on.

The careers site asked more than 3,000 hiring managers and HR professionals, and here are some of the wackiest snafus:

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Is it bad for business or a weapon against retention battles?

That’s the question New Jersey recruiters are asking this week, after the State Senate voted to provide all workers with six week’ paid leave for the care of a newborn baby, adopted child, or sick relative, essentially expanding the state’s temporary disability insurance program.

Business advocates attempted to derail the plan, contending that companies would bear the financial brunt through higher operating costs and the necessity to hire temporary workers. Proponents of the measure offered a more progressive theory of “what’s good for employees is good for business.”

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It’s still early yet, but the Class of 2008 will be graduating sooner than you think. Here are some trends of note to help you on your path toward this year’s crop of new job candidates:

– Engineering services and accounting firms are among the employers showing the most interest in this year’s new college graduates, according to the Winter 2008 issue of Salary Survey. Other hot spots include consulting, financial services, retail, and petroleum products companies. Here’s a glimpse at the average starting salary offered by most employers:

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About 70% of Cisco Systems employees work from home at least 20% of the time, but you would never guess that after reviewing an alarming Cisco study that paints remote workers as ignorant about online security.

The study of more than 2,000 remote workers and IT professionals from various industries shows that remote workers’ security awareness and online behavior may inadvertently heighten risks for themselves and their employers.

Spanning 10 countries — the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, China, India, Australia, and Brazil — Cisco security executives report that workers’ perceptions of security threats are softening. And more than 50% of IT respondents believe their remote workers are becoming less diligent toward security awareness, an 11 percentage-point increase from the year before.

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Is your ideal boss more likely to say “Make my day!” or ask “You talking to me?”

This Sunday night, after Barbara Walters’s tete-a-tete with nominees but before the Academy Awards are handed out, take a moment to consider who your ideal boss would be if you could choose from past Oscar recipients.

CareerBuilder.com recently did just that, asking 6.704 U.S. employees which Oscar-winning actor or actress they would most like to work for. According to the new survey, most prefer Julia Roberts or Tom Hanks as their ideal boss.

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A couple of new studies are out with plenty of new data for you to analyze:

First up, the difference between a formal and informal contract labor program could save your company about 10%. A new Aberdeen study indicates that organizations that tie together procurement and human resources not only save 10% — a figure that is 115% higher than your competitors with no level of collaboration – but they also will fare better in “volatile” times.

The “Contract Labor Management” report shows blending centralized program management with technology and collaboration results in a 20% year-over-year cost savings on their contract labor spend; a 23% faster time rate to fill an open requisition; and shorter time periods to onboard new contract labor employees.

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Keep ‘em busy and they won’t complain?

According to a surprising new survey, bored employees have a more negative impact than overworked employees on an organization’s overall morale and productivity.

Employees who report having not enough work are often doing work for which they are ill-suited, or have jobs that are poorly designed, according to Sirota Survey Intelligence research.

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On the same day that a new niche job board for medical professionals was unveiled, a new survey shows that physicians are likely to consider lifestyle issues more important than income when selecting an opportunity to relocate.

According to the “Willing to Relocate Survey” of 2,831 physicians in 25 major medical specialties, physicians weighing employment options are greatly influenced by the quality of life that they and their families will enjoy in a new area, including flexible or fewer work hours.

Jackson & Coker issued the current survey to determine the chief motivators for accepting new full-time employment. Respondents included residents who are preparing to launch their careers along with seasoned physicians who are entrenched in their practices.

Potential income and immediate income rank second and third in physicians’ overall calculation of whether to accept a practice opportunity involving relocation. In addition, demographic statistics reveal that 73.4% prefer to relocate to the Southwest or Southeast.

Jackson & Coker last conducted this survey in 1987, and the new data shows distinctly different trends among career-minded practitioners.

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What do the alcohol, chemical, and tobacco industries have in common? According to a new global survey, they are the three industries with the worst reputations among top-tier MBAs.

In fact, only 13% of the participants in Hill & Knowlton’s eighth annual Corporate Reputation Watch expressed interest in working in the tobacco industry. The alcohol and chemical industries are attracting about 20% and 19%, respectively.

Oil & gas and the pharmaceutical industries are also losing the “reputational battle” in the global war for talent. Oil and gas is attracting 32%, while pharma is attracting 31%. On the positive side, industry winners include banking/finance, IT, and energy.

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There’s “no way” I’ll stay at my job through year’s end, more than 1 in 10 European employees say.

Around the world, the consulting firm BlessingWhite found that people just seem less interested than they used to be in sticking around. A year ago, 65% “definitely” planned on staying through the end of the year. Now, 58% are ready for that sort of commitment. Below are the survey results.

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