Overcoming Unemployment Discrimination
Recent articles in the New York Times and Forbes have discussed the increasingly common phenomenon of employers running ads only for job applicants who are currently employed or are only “recently unemployed”. The implication here, of course, is that applicants who are currently enduring long-term unemployment need not apply. And while this practice is clearly discriminatory, it’s not illegal – at least, not yet. The Obama Administration’s Jobs Bill contains provisions that would make this type of discriminatory hiring practice illegal, but even with such a provision, only the language of the posts on job boards is likely to change.… [Continue Reading]
It Really is All About the Jobs
With President Obama slated to give a speech on job creation this evening, many are waiting anxiously to hear what he has to say. Certainly the equity markets will react tomorrow morning to his message, as they are today in anticipation of various points he’ll be touching upon. Make no mistake, however, that anything any federal government representative says about job creation is really nothing more than sleight-of-hand subterfuge. Government does not create jobs. Not real jobs anyway, since every job that is “created” by government also has to be paid for by government. That, of course, means that taxpayers… [Continue Reading]
Amidst Terrible Job Market, Part Time Jobs are Popular
In the throes of the worst economic downturns since the Great Depression, the talk has focused on a few key metrics that are used to measure the economy as a whole. Of particular focus in the media are housing sales and prices, GDP growth, consumer confidence and, of course, the unemployment rate. At a stated rate of 9.1% nationally – and in reality much higher than that but for the “interesting” methods the federal government utilizes to calculate the number – the employment situation in the U.S. remains grim. Add to that the massive number of Americans who are “underemployed”… [Continue Reading]
Unemployment Remains High, 2011 May Finally Get Better
For those currently unemployed, the constant reports of high unemployment nationwide can either be seen as good news – you’re not alone – or bad news that things aren’t getting any better. From a recent Bloomberg Report: [Job] Openings decreased by 163,000 to 2.93 million, the Labor Department said today in Washington. The number of people hired rose from the prior month and separations declined.”Labor demand is simply not strong enough to support a complete job recovery,” Henry Mo, an economist at Credit Suisse in New York, said in an e-mail to clients. There is “intense competition among job seekers.”Openings… [Continue Reading]
It’s Friday – Are you Closer to Finding a Job?
Fridays can be tough. When gainfully employed, and generally happy with work, it is most often the happy end of the workweek and the beginning a few days without having to think about going to the office or job site. It’s time to stop thinking about work for a while and spend time with family, friends or simply your sofa and an HD television showing a football game. For those who are unemployed, however, Friday is just another angst-inducing day. A reminder that another week has passed without gainful employment being attained. And since weekends are generally a bad time… [Continue Reading]
#Hirefriday on Twitter – Why it’s a Good Idea
Twitter is not necessarily my preferred means of communication, but since I’ve been professionally engaged in SEO, social media marketing/optimization and web marketing in general since the industries came into existence, I am quite familiar with the medium. The point is that I don’t spend a lot of time on Twitter, but when I do utilize this tool, I tend to use it more as a means to learn about “new things” than to broadcast anything that I have to say (with one exception: the jobs posted to the Locate Jobs Network get tweeted far and wide!). As I was… [Continue Reading]
New Job Boards from Locate Jobs Network
The Locate Jobs Network of job search sites has launched a new group of job boards – as with all the sites in the network, the new sites all focus on a niche that offers value to both employers and job seekers. The new sites that have been launched are detailed herein: Adult Foster Care Jobs – this online job board offers positions in the field of adult foster care, including positions for medical staff as well as general care givers. Anesthesia Nurse Jobs – offers positions for Certified Registered Nurse Anesthesiologists (CRNAs). Positions are available nationwide. Bilingual RN Jobs… [Continue Reading]
Stimulus Adds 640,000 Jobs…Not so Fast
It has been widely claimed that the economic stimulus package that was launched early in President Obama’s administration has been responsible for saving or creating 640,000 jobs. The problem, however, is that the data supporting this claim are flawed, placing such claims squarely in the “statistics” category of the “lies, damned lies and statistics” triumvirate. Earl Devaney, whose agency actually collected and released data on the stimulus’ affect on job creation and “savings,” noted that the reports are rife with errors. While questioned by Congress, Devaney went so far as to say that the White House should have acknowledged the… [Continue Reading]
Real Estate, Careers in the Field Making a Comeback?
It may be too early to declare that the U.S. real estate market is “back.” In fact, if you ask folks in California and Florida, they’d probably laugh at the suggestion. Nonetheless, September saw an increase in home sales that was unexpected, and it appears that with several more months of “inventory reduction” at fire-sale prices, the market may finally level out and begin to provide some legitimate employment opportunities for those looking to get into the field (or back into it). It may take a brave soul to begin a career in real estate at the moment, but I… [Continue Reading]
For Social Security Recipients, No COLA for 2010
For the first time since automatic cost of living adjustment began in 1975, recipients of social security will not receive a “cost of living adjustment”, or “COLA” in 2010. Though the move sets a precedent, it’s not entirely surprising given the fact that prices of consumer goods are actually falling. The cost of living adjustments that accompany social security payments are tied directly to inflation, measured by the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index (CPI). Last January, those receiving social security payments saw a 5.8% increase in their payments, largely the result of increases in energy prices. Now, inflation… [Continue Reading]