By JOYCE GANNON, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Salary freezes, employee layoffs and greater health-care costs count among the obvious reasons for low morale in many workplaces.

Combine those forces with the stress of figuring out how to pay the mortgage or college tuition, and many employees end up seriously disengaged from work.

During nearly three decades in Washington, D.C., Ed Modell considered himself to be a peacemaker as much as an experienced litigator on the complex, civil cases he tried.

In a lawsuit filed last month that seeks $100 million in lost salary and benefits, six current and former female employees of Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals in Wayne, N.J., say they worked in an atmosphere where executives were openly hostile to women -- especially working mothers, pregnant women and those who took maternity leaves.

As a speech pathologist in the 1980s and 1990s, Judy Tobe worked closely with individuals suffering from neurological and facial disorders, and she provided diagnostic expertise about whether surgery would help or hinder communication skills.

One person showed up in leather pants and cowboy boots. Another wore a plastic skirt. Yet another was dressed in a cat suit.

Problem was, this was not the attire on display at a costume party. These were outfits that prospective employees wore to job interviews, according to a survey by a California-based professional staffing firm.

Late one January afternoon, Erin Fitzgerald opened an e-mail from the National Academy of Engineering seeking her input on a design project.

It wasn't an unusual request considering that Fitzgerald, 30, is a trained electrical and computer engineer who is a research fellow at the U.S. Department of Defense in Arlington, Va.

Many companies won't hand out raises or bonuses this year. Many will ask their workers to do extra work to pick up the slack for colleagues who have been laid off.

A new survey that attempts to pinpoint reasons why women and minorities are underrepresented in science, math and engineering fields found that many females and minorities were discouraged from pursuing careers in those areas even when they were college students.

To make the best possible impression at the holiday office gathering, stand with your arms at your side or behind you, try to make eye contact with other guests, be an active listener, smile and by all means, avoid the mistletoe.

Leadership consultant Joanne Sujansky is a baby boomer. Her three children belong to Generation Y -- also known as the millennials. She has experienced first-hand the culture clash between the age groups and how it can impact a business.