BTW

Are Your Employees Just Biding Their Time?
The high unemployment rate has scared working Americans into hanging on to their jobs at all costs. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says the "quit rate"—the portion of U.S. employees who voluntarily leave their jobs—was just 1.3% in August, about half the rate that prevailed when the BLS began collecting such figures at the end of 2000.

But don't count on workers' loyalty to outlast the recession. A survey by benefits consultant Watson Wyatt (WW) found that the "engagement," or loyalty, of top-performing employees has dropped by 25% over the past year, largely because people who kept their jobs have been soured by layoffs, bonus and benefit cuts, and a halt in promotions. "Employers are really nervous that the minute the job market picks up, all these people that are very disengaged are going to take off," says Laurie Bienstock, the firm's national practice director for strategic rewards.

The loyalty that employers enjoy now is "totally cyclical," agrees Sean Bisceglia, CEO of TalentDrive, which sifts through online résumés. Indeed, many employees are already hunting for other places to work. In a Monster.com (MWW) survey back in May, 79% of jobholders said they had stepped up their search for a new place to work since the recession began.

Employers may not fully grasp what it takes to retain good people. In its latest biannual survey, released in October, temp firm Spherion Staffing Solutions asked about 300 employers and about 2,500 workers to name the top "drivers of retention." As they did in 2007 and 2005, the bosses listed soft stuff: "management climate" and "supervisor relationship," for instance. Employees' top two in all three surveys? Benefits and compensation. And this year, only 27% are "very satisfied" with their pay. Just 37% are equally happy with their benefits.
Santa Better Get a Move On
It's not even Thanksgiving, and some stores are already running out of hot toys. Blame cautious buying by retailers trying not to get stuck with unsold inventory, as they were last year. Among the items in short supply is a surprise hit: Zhu Zhu Pets, toy hamsters programmed to scamper around a plastic "home" whose rooms are connected by tunnels. The sets are sold out at Target.com (TGT) and Wal-Mart.com (WMT). Some who scooped up Zhu Zhus early for $9.99 each are reselling them for twice that on Amazon.com (AMZN) and eBay (EBAY). Meanwhile, the maker, tiny Cepia in St. Louis, is scurrying to get more shipments from China. Toys "R" Us says it ordered enough of the critters to keep shelves stocked (purchasers can buy only four at a time) but isn't offering them online or advertising them in flyers. Other hard-to-find items include Mattel's (MAT) Mindflex game ($79), which includes a headset that picks up signals from the brain—the wearer tries to "think" a Ping-Pong ball through an obstacle course. On eBay it's going for twice its $79 suggested retail price.
Up the Creek When That Rainy Day Comes
How well can Americans deal with a financial emergency? Almost half (46%) of 2,148 consumers surveyed recently said they weren't confident they could come up with $2,000 within a month in a crisis—from savings, family, friends, credit cards, or other sources. Even among those earning $100,000 to $149,000 a year, almost 25% doubted they could raise it, according to The Personal Risk Assessment and Risk Literacy Survey, conducted by research firm TNS with academics from Harvard Business School and Dartmouth College. "We wanted to know if people could fix a broken car or furnace," says Harvard finance professor Peter Tufano, who adds that most studies he has seen measure "how much [cash] people have ... not how much they can access." The survey results surprised him. "[The] ability to cope with emergencies is much less strong than we might have thought."
The (Hard to Install) Windows 7 Whopper
What delivers a marketing message—and a day's worth of calories? To publicize the release of Windows 7, Microsoft (MSFT) and Burger King's (BKC) Japanese unit have teamed up to sell a seven-patty hamburger at the fast-food chain's outlets in Japan. And it's a hit: Originally scheduled for a seven-day promotion starting on Oct. 22, the Windows 7 Whopper—five inches tall and 2,120 calories—will now be offered until Nov. 6. The first 30 burgers sold each day at the company's 15 Japanese outlets go for 777 yen ($8.60). After that, the price jumps to $16. Sales tallied 15,600 through Nov. 3, with YouTube (GOOG) videos showing customers trying to get their mouths around the monster. The publicity is a welcome change for Burger King, which has strugged for visibility in Japan since reentering the country in June 2007. It withdrew in 2001, after losing a price war with McDonald's (MCD), which has more than 3,700 Japanese outlets. Burger King's return is part of the company's expansion into markets such as Egypt, Hong Kong, and Poland.