Two talking heads engage in a he-said-she-said over the merits of marrying a career woman. According to the female voice, slacker men should stare-down added competition from workplace suitors, consider the gym and quit floundering on the couch. Indeed, it does seem like today's economic climate may be a perilous time for love as more British couples postpone marriage. Yet, how does a professional couple overcome the odds when layoffs loom.

In your current situation, which comes first: Your career or your partner?
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Unscrupulous employers may take advantage of newly arrived immigrants who don't know the laws of the land. Squeezing a couple of extra minutes of work out of them, in lieu of their rightful breaks, seems to be the norm with these dodgy employers. The best advice is for employees to bone up on their local labour codes. An informed employee is a happy employee. Rules can vary depending on different categories of employment.

Those wondering about the ROI on an MBA may be SOL. One strategy during an economic downturn is to head back to the ivory towers of cloistered college campuses and retrain for even better job prospects upon graduation. However, this approach hasn't worked for recent business school grads. Reports from the trenches suggest that the numbers are down across the board: recruiters at career fairs, postings on job boards, and internship opportunities.

Cookies, chocolate bars, pledges, causes, charities, casual Fridays, the end-of-year office parties: The reasons for shelling out to workplace shills are infinite. The depths of employees' pockets, however, aren't. So how does one navigate this minefield of do-goodery without seeming miserly and most importantly, without sabotaging your career? Shouldn't the boss's daughter be out peddling her Girl Guide cookies door to door? It builds character.