Increased Layoffs in Q1 Led by Retail, Government Woes

John Challenger of Challenger, Gray & Christmas

The nation’s employers reported job cuts totaling 49,255 in March, a decline of 11 percent from the 55,356 cuts announced in February, according to the latest report on downsizing activity released Thursday by global outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.  Despite the decline, quarterly job cuts reached their highest level since 2011.

March job cuts were 30 percent higher than a year ago, when employers announced plans to shed 37,880 workers from their payrolls.  This marks the second consecutive month and the fourth time in the last six months that the job-cut total was higher than the year-ago figure.

Employers have now announced 145,041 job cuts through the first three months of 2013.  That 5.6 percent higher than the previous quarter’s 137,361 job cuts and 1.4 percent higher than the 143,094 job cuts announced in the first quarter of 2012.  The first-quarter total is, in fact, the highest quarterly tally since 233,258 job cuts were tracked in the third quarter of 2011. Continue Reading

80% of Job Openings Are Unadvertised

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock

I was recently quoted by the Wall Street Journal as saying that 80 percent of job openings are unadvertised. Several people have contacted me to ask where I got that number. Some believe that only 70 percent of job openings are unadvertised. So where did I get 80 percent from?

As well stated on the Jobfully blog, the number bounces around a bit year-to-year and even month-to-month depending upon the state of the labor market and is indirectly reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in their monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS). The survey reports these numbers: Continue Reading

U.S. Department of State Launches Mobile Career App

Students who want to work for a large, stable employer often choose to work for one of the hundreds of departments agencies within the U.S. federal government. The lead foreign affairs agency responsible for formulating and implementing U.S. foreign policy overseas is the U.S. Department of State.

Most of the Department’s civil service employees work in the Washington, D.C., or other cities throughout the United States on everything from improving trade opportunities for U.S. businesses, to helping American couples adopt children from overseas, to monitoring human rights issues. Others work overseas in embassies, consulates, and other locations. These Foreign Service employees are hard to recruit because the hiring standards are high, the hurdles many, and the competition fierce. Continue Reading

Sequestration Far Worse Than March Madness for Job Numbers

U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner

With the first round of the 2013 NCAA Division 1 men’s basketball championship tournament set to tip off next week, the nation’s employers should be readying themselves for the inevitable drop in productivity that coincides.  One new survey found that nearly one-third of workers spend at least three hours per day following the Tournament during work hours.

In the annual “study” hated by working basketball fans everywhere, global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc., estimates that March Madness will cost American companies at least $134 million in “lost wages” over the first two days of the Tournament, as an estimated 3.0 million employees spend one to three hours following the basketball games instead of working.

“At the end of the day, March Madness will not even register as a blip in the overall economy.  Sequestration is going to have a far bigger impact.  Will March Madness even have an effect on a company’s bottom line?  Not at all,” said John A. Challenger, chief executive officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Continue Reading

Federal Government Budget Woes Lead to Woes in Job Markets

John Challenger of Challenger, Gray & Christmas

Planned job cuts increased for the second consecutive month in February as U.S.-based employers announced workforce reductions totaling 55,356, up 37 percent from 40,430 in January, according to the report released Thursday by global outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.

The February total was 7.0 percent higher than the 51,728 job cuts announced the same month a year ago.  It was the highest monthly tally since last November, when announced layoffs reached 57,081.  Continue Reading

College Recruiting Bootcamp at LinkedIn Head Office on May 13, 2013

LinkedIn head office

LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional network on the Internet, and CollegeRecruiter.com, the leading niche job board for college students searching for internships and recent graduates hunting for entry-level jobs and other career opportunities, are co-hosting a half day college recruiting conference on Monday, May 13th at LinkedIn’s corporate headquarters in Mountain View, California.

No Selling

During the keynote and presentations there will be absolutely no selling of any kind. There will be no exhibit hall or sponsors and all presenters and attendees will be corporate or government recruiting and human resource professionals. No third party recruiters. No career service office professionals. No vendors. Just your peers.

TedX-like Format

The College Recruiting Bootcamp will feature today’s most innovative thought-leaders in the college and university relations space. Attendees will enjoy a fast-paced, interactive learning environment as presentations will be 20 minutes or less. That lightning fast pace will force presenters to be razor focused on their topics. Continue Reading

More Highly Educated People on Food Stamps and Other Forms of Welfare

Many people might not believe that college graduates with multiple degrees would have a hard time finding a job in their fields.  However, according to the following infographic, more of these graduates are having to settle for jobs not in their fields just to make it everyday. Continue Reading

Video: The Ultra-Flexible Hidden Corner of the Job Market

Plenty of people need jobs with very flexible hours — but it’s difficult for those people to connect with the employers who need them. In this Ted Talk, Wingham Rowan explains how the same technology that powers modern financial markets can help employers book workers for slivers of time.

Wingham is the Project Director of Slivers-of-Time Working, a U.K.-based, government-funded initiative that uses advanced (but easy-to-use) trading technology to help individuals who need to work on their own terms and at times of their choosing connect with employers who need their labor. Employers expanding their workforce in this new way include local authorities, housing associations, National Health Service Primary Care Trusts, retailers and caterers.

Rowan is the former producer and presenter of the UK’s longest running television series about the Internet, cyber.cafe, and the presenter of the children’s TV program Rowan’s Report. He’s is the author of two books about the social potential of online markets.

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Strengthening the American Workforce through Innovation

The following post explains a new initiative for career development to create a better prepared workforce in the U.S. for employment opportunities.

See the article here:

Strengthening the American Workforce through Innovation

Despite Hurricane Sandy, Jobs Up 146,000 and Unemployment Down From 7.9 to 7.7%

Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 146,000 in November, and the unemployment rate edged down to 7.7 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Employment increased in retail trade, professional and business services, and health care.

Hurricane Sandy made landfall on the Northeast coast on October 29th, causing severe damage in New Jersey, New York, and other states. Nevertheless, the BLS survey response rates in the affected states were within normal ranges. Its analysis suggests that Hurricane Sandy did not substantively impact the national employment and unemployment estimates for November.
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