Companies are constantly seeking ways to lower their payrolls. These methods inevitably end up screwing workers. But there are signs that the government may at last be ready to ask companies to take responsibility for their own employees.

A survey from the U.S. Travel Association finds that 41% of you who are lucky enough to have jobs that offer vacation days "do not plan to use" all your paid time off this year. Time for a new plan.

Those of us who are "knowledge workers" in "the online media" typically spend our days surfing the internet, doing laundry, going to the gym, and watching TV. Then we write some garbage about it, and get paid. Meanwhile, marvel at what some of our own government's lazy employees have been doing:

Over the past few weeks, we've brought you several installments of true stories from the overworked, underpaid, and ill-treated employees who work at all levels in reality TV. We now offer you an absolute slew of new emails about the dark side of the "nonfiction" TV industry.

Since the Great Recession of 2008, the political focus has shifted in turn from widespread unemployment, to acute long-term unemployment, and, now, to the perils of widespread part-time underemployment. Does part-time work have to mean full-time poverty?

From California to Arizona to Texas to New York, the restaurant industry is booming, and restaurants are desperately seeking to hire new employees. At an average annual wage of $16,446.

Boxlike megastore Walmart is reaping a good deal of positive PR today after a gaudy event showcasing the company's intentions to spend more money on American-made products. We'd like to take this opportunity to remind you what kind of employer Walmart is.

Reality television can seem exciting and glamorous. Working on reality television, much less so. As the following stories from "professionally abused" insiders show, reality TV workers will continue to be beaten down as long as they have no union to defend them.

Strong new employment figures for June have pushed the rate of long-term unemployment—those out of work more than six months—down to 33% of all unemployed Americans, its lowest rate in five years. (It is still much too high.)

Yesterday, we brought you true stories of people who work behind the scenes in reality (or "nonfiction") television. Since then, we've been flooded with more emails from industry insiders, detailing poor working conditions. We bring you some of them below.

The rise of reality TV programming over the past two decades has been driven in large part by the fact that reality shows are cheap to produce. Labor costs are a big reason why. What does that mean for the people who work on these shows? Allow some of them to tell you.

"Do you want to work for an exciting educational organization, with the children of our dedicated U.S. Military members?", asks the posting on a federal government jobs site. Well, of course you do. Who wouldn't? But do you want to do it at Guantanamo Bay?

We have brought you quite a few firsthand accounts of the misery of working for Amazon at all levels, from the corporate offices to the warehouses. Today, we bring you tales of woe from the people who answer Amazon's customer service calls.

Target, America's third largest retailer, has been the source of multiple recent leaks to us from employees at all levels detailing the company's myriad problems. Today: a detailed look at the life of a Target buyer, and how they game both vendors and the company itself.

Vice Media is one of the hottest media properties in America. It's the counterculture empire that even Rupert Murdoch could love. Vice's founder, Shane Smith, has speculated his company could raise tens of billions of dollars. So why are its employees so broke and pissed off?

Beleaguered retail empire Target announced weak-ass first quarter earnings today, thanks in large part to its disastrous Target Canada division, which lost $211 million just this quarter. How did Target Canada become the laughingstock of the retail industry? A Target Canada veteran explains in detail, below.

Target, the slightly less popular and cleaner version of Walmart, is having a terrible year. Today it fired one executive, and clawed back compensation from another. What's the atmosphere like inside Target now? Allow another employee to explain.

A broad issue that's arisen as an offshoot of the whole Jill Abramson-getting-fired discussion: Do successful people (in the media and elsewhere) get there mainly by luck, or by skill/ virtue/ drive/ other endearing quality? It is luck, of course. Never forget that it is mostly luck.

Last week, we brought you the words of an employee at Target's headquarters lamenting the way that the company is run. Now, one of Target's top executives has seen fit to respond to these criticisms. Which is a perfect opportunity for us to expand upon them.

At Amazon, the office workers tell us they feel trapped, and the warehouse workers tell us they feel exploited. Let's cover the rest of the bases, shall we? Today, a contract worker and an intern describe their own unpleasant Amazon experiences.