Monday, May 21, 2012

The Wheel Deal

If the subways seemed less crowded last Friday, it may have been because it was National Bike to Work Day, which had thousands of New Yorkers saddling up for their commute.

The pro-biking group Transportation Alternatives marked the event by handing out iced coffee and fruit on the Brooklyn Bridge and in a half-dozen other city locations.

The group also geared up for the event last Wednesday by staging a commuter showdown that put a biker, a motorist and a subway rider head to head in a race from Williamsburg, Brooklyn, to SoHo.

The pedaler prevailed, making the trip in a mere 15 minutes — beating the subway rider by 11 minutes. The driver fared the worst, with a laggardly travel time of 41 minutes (and $37 spent on gas and parking).

Biking commuters have spiked in New York City in recent years — more than doubling since 2005, according to the city Department of Transportation.

Misery & Co.

If you’re not in love with your current job, you’ve got plenty of company, according to a new survey by Right Management. When the firm asked workers to rate whether they were “satisfied,” “somewhat satisfied,” “somewhat unsatisfied” or just flat out “unsatisfied,” the latter won by a landslide – 44 percent gave that answer, while 21 percent more said they were “somewhat unsatisfied.” Only 19 percent deemed themselves content.

Hire aspirations

We’ll follow that grim statistic with some better news: the seasonal job market is expected to be reasonably healthy this summer, according to the hourly employment network Snagajob.

In Snagajob’s annual survey of hourly hiring managers, employers said they expected to hire at a level similar to last year’s — which showed a marked improvement from the previous few years.

As for what they’re looking for in a worker, flexibility was number one, with 32 percent of hiring managers saying they needed people willing to adapt to their required schedules. Second was a positive attitude, with previous experience coming in third.

Transportation Alternatives, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, National Bike, the Brooklyn Bridge

Nypost.com

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