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This week's Guru
BBC cost-cutting may really take the biscuit
As the recession starts to spread beyond manufacturing, newspapers are starting to fill up with stories of cost-cutting at Marconi, BA and so on.
But the pick of the bunch is the BBC's efforts to save £1.5m. It could result in BBC biscuit barrels being emptied. Free croissants and taxis are also on the hit list.
A report by the revenue department shows that the BBC spends £350,000 on tea and coffee and more than £200,000 on biscuits. But it's unlikely that staff will benefit from biscuits at the licence fee-payers' expense for much longer.
Elsewhere, the CBI has reportedly found £30,000 to have its logo redesigned. Apparently director general Digby Jones is fed up with it protruding from behind his head at photocalls so it is being shrunk to a more manageable size.
Shamen drive off wardens' woes
If you headed up HR for traffic wardens, how would you help them deal with psychotic drivers? Maybe an anger management course, kickboxing lessons or even sprint training.
Airport Corporation of America (APCOA), which operates Edinburgh's traffic warden service, has opted for tribal shamen. The shamen will help wardens cope with angry drivers by helping them get in touch with the spirit world.
It's an attempt to stem the flow of staff leaving, as over the past two years, 30 wardens have left and several more have complained of stress from irate drivers unhappy with their fines.
Guru fancies a bit of shamanic training - which puts people in touch with a spiritual "power animal" that provides protection - but faced with an irate white van man, would prefer a voodoo doll and a collection of large pins.
Your dream job may be out there
An increasingly eccentric bunch of job-seekers are scouring the Net for gainful employment.
Of the 6 million job searches made in the past month at fish4jobs.co.uk there were searches for positions of porn star, professional skateboarder, layabout and cake taster.
Guru sympathises with the latter, but has no time for the 1,000 people who spelt the job they want wrongly. "Secretary" was a tough one with 110 people making a mistake.
But apparently people after unusual roles should not give up - positions of tarot card reader and lap dancer, for example, have been advertised.
