Does it feel recently as though your commute has gotten...longer? If so, you may be experiencing sympathy pains for your fellow travelers; according to the Huffington Post, new estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau show that the amount of time Southern Californians spend getting to work is on the rise. The information comes from the 2005-09 American Community Survey. Of 15 million Californians who commute, the majority -- about 2.2 million -- reported that they spend between 20 and 24 minutes getting to their job. more ›

Or, if you don't want to be a robot, how about a wizard? Or a panda? These very short shorts from DeviantART encourage the worker bees out there to give up and go out with a bang. Your video lunch today is meant to entertain, though, not inspire actual job quitting. Unless you know something about being a robot we don't... more ›

New figures released today from the state's Economic Development Department show that the unemployment rate has stayed the same this fall, according to the Daily News. "The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in Los Angeles County held steady at 12.6 percent between September and October," which is just above the statewide rate of 12.4 percent. Both figures show slight increases over the rates from October 2009. While there was an increase in local jobs by almost 30,000, a "617,000 people were unemployed in October in Los Angeles County, which has a labor force of nearly 4.9 million." In California last month, 2.25 million people were unemployed. more ›

The American Psychological Association's just-completed "Stress in America" study finds that Los Angeles residents are the most stressed residents in the entire country. Not New Yorkers. Not Chicagoans. Not Bostonians. Despite our temperate climate (no long dark winters here), Angelenos report that our stress about money and the economy is higher than the national average at a time when our job satisfaction and physical health is lower than the national average. These jumps and dips along the "national average" curve equal one big pot of unhappiness. more ›

IBM has released their findings in their Global Commuter Pain Study, and Los Angeles fares "well, relatively speaking." more ›

Independent business research and analysis organization The Conference Board has released their data for the ratio of job seekers to jobs posted online for the month of September. They found that there "were 5.66 people in the Los Angeles-Orange County metro area looking for jobs in September for every online help-wanted ad," explains the OC Register. more ›

The Wooster Group returns to REDCAT tonight with La Didone, a daring production of Francesco Cavalli's 1641 Baroque opera mashed up with elements of Italian director Mario Bava's 1965 sci-fi cult film Terrore nello spazio (Planet of the Vampires). This West Coast premiere of La Didone runs through June Tonight’s performance begins at 8:30 pm, and tickets are $40-55, with student discounts available. more ›

Following an unsuccessful period of meetings between the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) at the request of federal mediator Juan Carlos Gonzalez, according to the AMPTP, "the parties were unable to reach an agreement and the mediator has adjourned the mediation process." more ›

Now that the contract between the largest actors guild and the movie studios has expired, with talks to resume Wednesday, the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers is using a tactic on their website to show the economic pain the actors will supposedly cause if they authorize a strike. Two flash animation boxes on their homepage give out these statistics based on an Milken Institute study (for the writers strike) and Screen Actors Guild's reported earnings. more ›

Day 42 into the negotiations between the Screen Actors Guild and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers and no result. The contract expires Tuesday at 12:01 a.m. and the next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday. more ›

"Mom, Dad...I want to be an artist." more ›

When i was still a teenager, i got hooked up selling sunglasses on a street corner in Inglewood. It seems like a random job, and it was, but man that shit paid like whoa, paid in cash, and plus i never had to worry about new shades. The sunglass stand was on La Cienega and Arbor Vitae, and it was ran by this weird Italian guy who lived in various motels around town, chain... more ›

By the time I got to Gorky's Russian Cafe, its communist-leaning founder had sold out to a south bay capitalist named Fred. He hired me as a server, promoted me to cashier, then made me manager -- of the 1am-9am shift. From 2-6, I was the only staffer there at the corner of 8th and San Julian downtown. People would come in after Jac Zinder's dance club, or a show at LACE, arty people... more ›

An article in the New York Times yesterday says that March is the No. 1 month for distracted workers. Hmm. Really? Though we think holiday Internet shopping in December comes in at a pretty close second, nothing says "blow off work" better than March Madness: Lost productivity from March Madness could cost companies more than $1.2 billion, the consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas estimates. But according to a survey, most companies do not... more ›

Welcome to Monday, people. And welcome to the first post of the Daily Disgruntle -- your weekday touchstone of work related games, diversions, commiserations, news, recipes, and on-the-clock subterfuge for the LA office culture. Today we’re going to talk about space. Now, if you are lucky enough to work for Buck Rogers, your office probably looks like this. But, if you are one of the millions of worker bees who is not gainfully employed... more ›