The recession isn't just hitting Americans in their wallets. It's also striking at their consciousness.

A research study of more than 1,100 full-time workers across a variety of occupations and career stages has examined how layoffs and other job changes associated with the economic slump has led workers to question their attitudes about work, their commitment to family and their desire to achieve more balance in their lives.

According to a global study of 1,500-plus CEOs conducted by IBM, 88 percent of business leaders say that getting closer to their customers is their top priority over the next five years.

In response to these results, research conducted by the Center for CIO Leadership has concluded that getting closer to end customers "may be the most important thing CIOs can do to earn and keep (their) seat at the table."

The next six to twelve months should reveal a lot about the U.S. labor market. Although the unemployment rate continues to hover near double-digits at 9.6 percent, some economists believe that strong productivity from U.S. workers over the past few years is one of the key factors that have kept employers from hiring.

The latest quarterly productivity figures, due out on Nov. 4, are expected to rise 1.7 percent for the third quarter after falling 1.8 percent in the second quarter.

I was reading an article the other day about how Procter & Gamble wants to triple the amount of revenue it generates from working with outside sources, including universities, entrepreneurs and even competitors, for developing ideas into new products.

It's all part of a more flexible approach to R&D known as "open innovation" where companies such as P&G and Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. draw upon internal and external ideas as seeds of inspiration - and revenue. Opening up to ideas from outside the organization makes a great deal of sense, particularly as companies struggle to find new sources for growth. Open innovation can also streamline the R&D process, reduce the time-to-market for new products and foster collaboration in an increasingly open-source business environment.

After a three-year downturn, it was only a matter of time before the economy picked up, business expanded and demand for IT workers accelerated.

For those who might question the strength of the economic recovery, consider these statistics from a recent Motley Fool article revenue for the S&P 500 is more than $250 billion higher over the past 12 months than it was in 2007. Meanwhile, corporate profits now represent 9.5 percent of GDP, well above the 6.0 percent average since 1947 and one of the highest percentages recorded since then.

For those who reside outside the Northeast U.S. or aren't familiar with the situation, Cablevision and Fox are in a heated dispute over renewal fees to broadcast a handful of Fox stations to millions of Cablevision subscribers in New York and New Jersey. Cablevision claims that Fox wants more than $150 million to carry WNYW, WWOR and WTFX, more than double its previous fees.

As a Cablevision subscriber, the disagreement between the two companies goes beyond being inconvenient and annoying. Since the blackout began, Cablevision has been running the equivalent of infomercials that are broadcast each time you turn on the service, blasting Fox for its greed and stubbornness. As a viewer, it's aggravating to have to see this every time you turn on the TV. What's even more bothersome is that Cablevision is now encouraging its viewers to petition lawmakers to intervene.