tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55822782007-04-16T22:18:25.102-07:00Not Working for a LivingThe Timesnoreply@blogger.comBlogger180125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5582278.post-1086581943176516712004-06-06T21:14:00.000-07:002004-06-06T21:19:03.176-07:00My tribute to Ronald Reagan will only contain the memory of the many times the president would sum up the unemployment problems of the '80s by stating that he didn't understand how there could be a problem when the Sunday papers were full of want ads and the homeless were making the choice to be homeless. Reagan maintained this stance all the way to Dec. 22, 1998 with his final interview with The Timesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5582278.post-1086114024350219422004-06-01T11:18:00.000-07:002004-06-01T11:20:24.350-07:00This in from The Conference Board on how help wanted advertising is basically stagnant to a year ago.
The Conference Board’s Help-Wanted Advertising Index – a key barometer of America's job market – declined one point in April. The Index now stands at 38, down from 39 the previous month. The Index was 37 one year ago.
In the last three months, help-wanted advertising increased in five of The Timesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5582278.post-1086062180290453002004-05-31T20:49:00.000-07:002004-05-31T20:56:20.290-07:00On this Memorial Day, you may think it is about time that I remembered the fact that I have a blog. For the last month, I've had to focus all of my attention to my professional life apart from the blog we share here together. As I've always disclosed, I am employed and have been so for the last year, but this past month, my employment status could have been in jeopardy, at minimum, my future withThe Timesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5582278.post-1083362033876908562004-04-30T14:53:00.000-07:002004-04-30T14:57:01.543-07:00A great way to know the status of the job market is to judge the volume of ads in the daily newspapers across the country. This is a monthly survey provided by The Conference Board that gives some insight into how fast, slow or backwards the job market is becoming. The lastest survey is a mixed blessing in that employment advertising is remaining stable, but it is not suggesting a sudden spike The Timesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5582278.post-1083087155069345492004-04-27T10:32:00.000-07:002004-04-27T10:40:01.950-07:00Beware the voodoo that Lou do!
So says John Castellani, president of the Washington-based Business Roundtable, when discussing CNN's Lou Dobbs who has consistently spotlighted the issue of outsourcing jobs from the U.S. Castellani is upset about Dobb's focus on the issue and accuses the veteran newsman of "one-sided" journalism.
"It's as if whatever made Linda Blair's head spin around in "The Timesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5582278.post-1083001753315061792004-04-26T10:49:00.000-07:002004-04-26T10:52:16.246-07:00By many people's standards, this is the resume of a person almost anyone would want working for their company. However, this person submits this resume my way with the added comment that it hasn't done him any good. Browse over this resume and tell me why a person with a background such as this should feel as if his resume does him no good? When someone with a backgournd like this is out of work The Timesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5582278.post-1082769216908772012004-04-23T18:13:00.000-07:002004-04-23T18:20:38.326-07:00As goes the economy, one would expect so goes the job market. However, the economy has been slowly gaining momentum for the last several months, but the job market remains relatively stagnant. Recently, the Federal Reserve (that organization followed religiously by all those stock market players who also play are significant role in pinning down job expansion) released some encouraging news aboutThe Timesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5582278.post-1082433258188198522004-04-19T20:54:00.000-07:002004-04-19T20:57:14.280-07:00Hot headlines from the weekend:
Job fair for Maury prison draws more than 100 unemployed It's funny how our definition of a "good job" goes through all types of changes during the different stages of our unemployment. I don't know how many of the 100 people who lined up to apply to help in the construction of a new prison. I'm not knocking construction work, my father did it for many years andThe Timesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5582278.post-1082056608824045872004-04-15T12:16:00.000-07:002004-04-15T12:19:41.043-07:00Tough news below for those in the HR field, according to The Conference Board, 80 percent of companies that outsource HR functions would do so again, and of those companies that have outsourced their HR services, none plan to take outsourced services back in-house.
Below is text from the press release sent today:
More than three-fourths of executives at large North American and European The Timesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5582278.post-1082054320141828902004-04-15T11:38:00.000-07:002004-04-15T11:41:32.030-07:00Today's the IRS deadline for filing your federal taxes and mine hit the mailbox earlier this morning. It was quite a different experience than a year ago when Tax Day was probably the absolute lowest point emotionally of my nine-month stint on unemployment.
With my benefits nearly exhausted and few opportunities presenting themselves to me, I was eagerly awaiting the arrival of my completed The Timesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5582278.post-1081749541893659342004-04-11T22:59:00.000-07:002004-04-11T23:01:49.983-07:00Hot headlines from the weekend: (Sorry for the delay in posts, my children did something drastically improper to my computer. At least they weren't downloading porn!)
Situation Wanted for Unemployed Professional Desperate times call for desperate measures as white-collar professionals are beginning to run "Jobs Wanted" ads in daily newspapers. Normally, this is the portion of the Careers The Timesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5582278.post-1081210720708294472004-04-05T17:18:00.000-07:002004-04-05T17:21:23.140-07:00The recent announcement from the Bureau of Labor Statistics that the economy spurred the growth of 308,000 new jobs has some people questioning the quality of those jobs. From one standpoint, you could say we should embrace the positive news and not try to pick it apart. Momentum may be swinging back in favor of the unemployed as the CEO survey cited below in an earlier entry today.
However, The Timesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5582278.post-1081190860940171752004-04-05T11:47:00.000-07:002004-04-05T11:50:22.686-07:00Following up on the good news over the 308,000 new jobs in March comes this press release from The Conference Board showing the economic confidence level of CEOs in the U.S. to be at its highest point in 20 years and also shows CEOs are downright bullish on the hiring front.
CHIEF EXECUTIVES’ CONFIDENCE SURGES, THE CONFERENCE BOARD REPORTS
Index at Highest Level in 20 Years
Chief The Timesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5582278.post-1080929333508807122004-04-02T10:08:00.000-08:002004-04-02T10:11:32.716-08:00Comments this morning from Kathleen Utgoff, Commissioner of the Bereau of Labor Statistics:
"Nonfarm payroll employment rose by 308,000 in March. This follows revised gains of 159,000 in January and 46,000 in February. Since August 2003, payroll employment has risen by 759,000. The unemployment rate was 5.7 percent in March, little changed over the month.
"Job growth was fairly widespread The Timesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5582278.post-1080672577968426902004-03-30T10:49:00.000-08:002004-03-30T10:52:33.843-08:00Few industries have enjoyed as much success as the home building and construction industries. As President Bush pointed out recently, home ownership is as at an all-time high and I'm sure there are developments springing up in places all over your town as well. However, the good times have hit a speed bump attributed to substantially higher material costs which may translate into layoffs, or The Timesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5582278.post-1080610055527212712004-03-29T17:27:00.000-08:002004-03-29T17:30:10.780-08:00Hot headlines from the weekend:
Manufacturers say they'll add jobs Bucking the national trend of the last two decades, the manufacturing sector is expecting to hire as many as 250,000 jobs this year alone. The National Association of Manufacturers says 55 percent of companies surveyed expect to increase payroll while only 16 percent expect to reduce employment. (Click here to read the press The Timesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5582278.post-1080576550506713322004-03-29T08:09:00.000-08:002004-03-29T08:12:07.983-08:00Although it happened later than I expected, the first major casualty of the "Do Not Call" list is MCI who is in the process of laying off 4,000 employees from various call center locations throughout the country.
While I'm sure there have been other call centers that have closed because of the list, this is the first one I've noticed and it hits thousands of workers across the country. What I The Timesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5582278.post-1080326619638968312004-03-26T10:43:00.000-08:002004-03-26T10:46:47.610-08:00As promised, below is the portion of John Kerry's speech today announcing his jobs plan for America. Earlier today, I posted the relevant portions of President Bush's jobs speech that he delivered Thursday in New Hampshire. Stay informed and read both posts as there is quite a bit of depth to the topic of job creation in the U.S.
As with Bush, I have cut out portions of Kerry's speech that doThe Timesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5582278.post-1080322472741655212004-03-26T09:34:00.000-08:002004-03-26T09:39:52.746-08:00One of the risks of a blog is how quickly things can change to make your last entry seem so far out of touch. Below you can read as I go on and on about how President Bush, and most notably John Kerry, had taken the issues of unemployment and job creation out of the political spotlight.
Sure enough, Thursday in New Hampshire, the president got out in front of the issue jobs before Kerry could The Timesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5582278.post-1080189169281288822004-03-24T20:32:00.000-08:002004-03-24T20:35:19.606-08:00During the time the Democrats were vying to become the party nominee for president, the unemployment problem in the U.S. was finally getting the attention it deserved. As regular readers of this blog know, it wasn't until Howard Dean imploded that Democrats began taking shots at the Bush administration on the jobless recovery and found that those shots were connecting with average Americans. The Timesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5582278.post-1080020945493323772004-03-22T21:49:00.000-08:002004-03-22T21:56:39.436-08:00Hot headlines from the weekend (plus Monday):
'Show Us the Jobs' tours Rust Belt Following up upon the incredible success of the Bush administration’s "Jobs and Growth Tour" of the last two years, the AFL-CIO has created a bus tour of its own in search of either jobs or growth. The tour kicks off in the Rust Belt where the search crew doesn't figure to be slowed up by finding either jobs or The Timesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5582278.post-1079737404746452532004-03-19T15:03:00.000-08:002004-03-19T15:05:50.263-08:00When stabbed in the back, does it matter if the attacker refers to its weapon as a knife, dagger or shank? To the helpless victim dying on the floor, it sure doesn't.
The National Park Service is once again going through another round of layoffs, job eliminations or dismissals. However, the Bush administration is changing course and playing with words, not numbers this time, and creating a newThe Timesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5582278.post-1079581581050835852004-03-17T19:46:00.000-08:002004-03-17T19:48:44.186-08:00A lot has been made about the recent Manpower survey showing that 28 percent of leading American companies plan to hire within the next three months. This is the strongest survey result in three years for the forecasting of hiring trends, however, the last three years have also seen a drop of around 2.6 million U.S. jobs, so it's not as if this upcoming hiring binge is at a breakneck pace. The Timesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5582278.post-1079327879858929582004-03-14T21:17:00.000-08:002004-03-14T21:20:20.513-08:00Hot headlines from the weekend:
Economists Say 'Offshoring' Overblown as a Problem Easy for them to say when it is not their jobs magically being recreated across the Pacific. Is this an issue that's getting more attention than it deserves? One could consider the following from the story: "Forrester Research estimated in a November 2002 report that 3.3 million service-industry jobs would be The Timesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5582278.post-1078725258683996802004-03-07T21:54:00.000-08:002004-03-07T21:56:31.780-08:00Hot headlines from the weekend:
Long-term unemployment at 30-year high Our friends at the Economic Policy Institute are having fun with numbers again, but don't expect the Bush administration to want to play along. The EPI shows that those unemployed for six months or longer make up almost a quarter of all unemployed Americans. The long-term unemployment percentage is the worst it has been The Timesnoreply@blogger.com