Kids Get a Taste of the Working Life
On February 2, more than a million young people across the country went into workplaces for National Groundhog Job Shadow Day 2000. Twice as many people participated this year as did last year, when the program launched. A coalition of business groups, including Monster.com, sponsored the job-shadowing program.

Bill Would Limit Injured Workers' Right to Sue
The House of Representatives has passed a bill aimed at protecting manufacturers of aging work equipment from lawsuits by injured workers. The bill would impose an 18-year liability limit on machinery. Critics say the bill is unfair to workers hurt on the job, while supporters say it would eliminate many frivolous lawsuits.

Ford Workers to Get Home PCs
All 350,000 employees of Ford Motor Co. will be given Hewlett-Packard personal computers to use at home, the company has announced. A color printer and Internet access -- for $5 a month -- are being thrown in with the deal. The company says the goal is to keep its employees on the cutting edge.

No More Welfare-to-Work Psychics
After a spate of bad publicity, New York City officials have ended a program that put welfare recipients to work as telephone psychics. The jobs were provided by the Psychic Network, which offers callers a peek into the future for $4.99 a minute. Since last April, the Psychic Network has hired 15 former welfare recipients.