My recent posts at America's Job Exchange

I haven’t had time to post on this column, but posted a few blogs for America’s Job Exchange covering the developments in the on-line recruitment space – especially the emerging emphasis on diversity hiring and the controversy surrounding the ‘dot jobs’. Here are the links to these blogs:

1. Promoting Diversity in the Workforce: Disabled Candidates
2. Unemployment Rate Improves to 8.9%, Economy Gains 192,000 Jobs
3. Why Workplace Diversity Is Important to Your Recruiting Strategy
4. ICANN rules breach of .Jobs charter by Employ Media
5. Veterans Face Unique Unemployment Challenges
6. January Employment Numbers, a Sign of a Positive Trend?
7. Modest growth in private sector offset by the decline in public sector jobs!

Putting America Back to Work

While the entire nation continues to endure one of the most severe unemployment scenarios, the mood at the 74th annual conference of the National Association of State Workforce Agencies (NASWA) is quite upbeat. This conference is the largest gathering of state administrators of employment services, several other related programs provided through public funds. In a nutshell, it is the forum of ideas exchange and learning between the practitioners, and a platform for the development of private and public relationships to address the critical needs of the America’s workforce, and in particular, provide for the short term needs of potential and displaced workers needing immediate help to weather the recession.
In his speech, Governor Jim Doyle described the challenges associated with a change in focus from training people to meet business need in which supply was scarce, to an era where helping those out of work and re-employing them is the immediate need. Governor reiterated his belief that there is going to be demand for workforce growing again, and he encouraged everyone to continue to keep faith and move forward even at the time of such economic distress. He promised continued investments in workforce development and the need for working together.
America’s Job Exchange was in attendance at the conference as a sponsor and shares the enthusiasm of the broader NASWA membership in support of the theme of the conference “Putting America Back to Work”. It was heartening to see the new attitude of openness toward public-private partnerships to be able overcome the challenges of this recession. For more than a decade in our role in developing and maintaining the first and the largest job exchange, the America’s Job Bank, the professionals at AJE have demonstrated not only expertise and technical knowhow but also the conviction and care toward the workforce. AJE is truly the job site for the rest of us, not the highest paying executives, but hard-working normal Americans trying to earn a living, build a future for children and participate for the good of the community. The pundits can continue their debate if this has been a ‘W’ shaped or ‘L’ shaped recession but we know that the only way to help America to get back to work is to ensure that public and private sectors are working together to bring in all the new opportunities in front our workforce while helping them improve their skills and effectiveness in job search.
At AJE, we are privileged to be part of the solution.

Read this blog at America's job Exchange.

Recipe for a cheerful Labor Day

As America celebrates Labor Day to pay tribute to the contributions of its workforce, the mood is anything but festive for millions of Americans. While shifts in the labor system has been occurring for years, the recent global recession has taken a far greater toll on the American worker than workers in any other developed nation. Since the beginning of 2007, unemployment in the US has increased by 5 percent compared to only 1 percent increase in France and Japan, and a 2 percent rise in Britain. In the same period unemployment rate remained mostly unchanged or even went down in the economies of China, India and Germany. American employers have responded to the recession with far more layoffs and staff reduction than those in other countries.
For those fortunate to be employed, wages remained mostly flat or lower while counterparts in the economies of China and India have seen double digit growth, especially in the manufacturing and technology sectors. As the demand for goods and services have declined, requiring lower supply of labor in America, availability of substitute labor in lower cost countries have created unparalleled competition for the American worker and diminished leverage wage negotiations.
Indeed, job loss and wage stagnation has hit almost every corner of the American labor force. However, the impact is more profound among minorities and several specific disadvantage communities. While the national unemployment rate is at a dismal 9.5 percent in August 2010, unemployment rate among African Americans is at a disproportionately high 16.3 percent and among the Hispanics at 12.0 percent. Unemployment among Veterans remains close to 15% and reached a record 16.4 percent in August among people with disabilities.
Whether such high unemployment rates are here to stay due to permanent structural shifts in the labor market, or they are simply short term events in the wake of the turmoil of the financial market and housing bubble are unclear. The implications for the America workforce, however, are clear. This Labor Day is the time to take control of your career. You can’t rely on the policymakers in Washington to take care of the situation soon, and you can’t live with the elusive hope that employers are going to pick up the pace of hiring in the US anytime soon.
While we at America’s Job Exchange (AJE) can’t control the economy, we can help you be prepared. We have created search technology and partnered with employers and job sites so that you can search and find a job. Simply go to www.americasjobexchange.com and use our search features to find a job, and our web tools to build a resume, and apply for a job. We have assembled the experts in the career ecosystem so that you can get a professionally written resume and distribute to recruiters. You can read through expert advice and articles, and sign up for job scouts to receive additional similar jobs directly to your email box. You can also check out the salary center to learn what other people are earning in positions that you want, take a career test to see where you stand and visit our education center to see if signing up for training and education is the right solution for you.

Read this blog also at America's Job Exchange