Recession? What recession?

That's the question employees of the Virginia Department of Transportation might well be asking.

While ordinary Virginia workers faced a variety of belt-tightening hardships: layoffs, paycuts and salary freezes, VDOT workers were treated to half a million dollars worth of bonuses and pay hikes in 2008, according to a story in today's Richmond Times-Dispatch.

Stunning, no?

This largesse - courtesy of taxpayers, of course - was aimed at retaining the talented workforce at VDOT.

Please.

As if they had anywhere else to go.

Seems to me if there's one thing employers don't need to worry about in this kind of recession it's retaining workers.

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