Labor Day brought us quite a month to labor through… We saw fuel prices shoot through the roof thanks to shortages caused by Hurricanes Gustav and Ike, presidential candidates (and potential VPs too) shoot barbs at each other, Fannie’s and Freddie’s previous lending practices shoot themselves (and Wall Street) fatally in the foot, and unemployment shoot upward to a seven-year high. But hey, it’s not all bad news: the Cubs shot down the competition by clinching another spot in the playoffs! (Could this be the year?)

The Hiring Site from CareerBuilder.com had several posts offering tips and advice for dealing with and overcoming the ways these issues hit the workplace and hiring process:

• Tough times call for leaders to actually start leading (we’re not talking about polticians here)
• People are calling for a lot of change in culture–could your corporate culture use it too?
• Show employees compensation-love that won’t kill your bottom line during budget-crunches
• Are your employees putting your clients on hold to take calls from their own? How to deal with daylighting
• Take a hike, or a bike, to get to the office. There might be a shortage of fuel, but not common sense for commuting and tele-working options