Archive for March, 2009

« Older Entries

Job Cuts Annouced At FedEx

Thursday, March 19th, 2009

Some FedEx employees will, unfortunately, soon be back on a job search. Due to the deterioration in the global economy, the shipping giant will implement additional cost-reduction initiatives, both in the U.S. and internationally. These measures include the following:

  • Network capacity reductions at FedEx Express and FedEx Freight
  • Further reduction of personnel and work hours
  • Expansion of previously announced pay actions to include non-U.S. employees, where permitted
  • Streamlining of information technology systems and other internal processes
  • Additional reductions in other spending categories
  • Increased economies in the acquisition of goods and services

These cost-reduction actions are expected to result in fourth quarter charges of approximately $100 million, excluding any potential asset impairment charges. For fiscal 2010, these actions are targeted to reduce expenses by approximately $1.0 billion.

“Our goal when we implemented compensation reductions in January for U.S. salaried personnel was to both protect our business and minimize the loss of jobs,” said Smith. “With industrial production and global trade trends worsening since last quarter, we are applying these additional measures to continue to secure as many of our jobs as possible during this downturn. We remain focused on providing outstanding service, and will ensure that our actions do not impede our industry-leading customer experience.”

Tags:
Posted in Job Search | No Comments »

Caterpillar Cuts Illinois Jobs

Thursday, March 19th, 2009

In a blow to Illinois jobs, Caterpillar Inc. notified full-time production employees at its Aurora, Decatur and East Peoria, Illinois, manufacturing facilities of permanent layoffs. A total of 2,110 production employees will be laid off at the three facilities as a result of this decision.

In Aurora, where Caterpillar manufactures wheel loaders and hydraulic excavators, 500 production employees will be laid off. In Decatur, where the company manufactures off-highway trucks, motor graders and wheel tractor scrapers, 1,026 production employees will be laid off. In East Peoria, where Caterpillar manufactures track-type tractors and pipelayers, 584 production employees will be laid off.

In addition to the production employees, a total of 416 support and management employees in Aurora, Decatur and East Peoria have also been notified of layoffs today. This includes 96 support and management staff in Aurora, 146 in Decatur and 174 in East Peoria. These 416 support and management staff make up a portion of the as many as 5,000 layoffs and separations announced by Caterpillar on January 26, 2009. Other Caterpillar business units are currently determining the level of layoffs and separations needed to reach the previously announced plan to reduce the company’s support and management workforce.

These actions are in response to lower demand for products made at the Illinois facilities. As previously announced, Caterpillar is rapidly executing strategic “trough” plans and implementing actions throughout the company to deal with a very challenging global business environment. Depending on business conditions, more layoffs and separations may be required as the year unfolds.

“It is never easy to take steps that impact the lives of our employees and their families,” said Bob Williams, Caterpillar vice president for the Americas Operations Division that includes the facilities in Aurora, Decatur and East Peoria. “But over the last few months, recessionary conditions have had a very negative impact on our customers and we must drastically reduce our production levels and cost structure in order to remain competitive for the long run.”
Employees impacted by this decision were notified today by Caterpillar that the layoffs would begin on April 13, 2009. In addition, various government agencies and other officials were notified of this decision under the United States Department of Labor‘s Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) and the Illinois Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (“IL WARN”).

In addition to reducing its global employment, Caterpillar has previously announced other actions in response to current conditions. These include:

  • Hiring freezes and suspension of salary increases for most support and management employees.
  • Significant reductions in total compensation for executives/senior managers.
  • Significant reduction in capital expenditures.
  • Sharp declines in overtime work.
  • Several facilities have shortened workweeks. Others will or have implemented full and partial plant shutdowns.

Tags:
Posted in Job Search | No Comments »

Healthcare Technology Jobs Are Here to Stay

Thursday, March 19th, 2009

With the promotion of information technology in healthcare, the industry is all set for the revolution. The healthcare and IT industries will see a major boom in the coming years — translating into an influx of jobs in healthcare.

The $19 billion economic stimulus bill signed by President Barack Obama will give a much needed boost to the healthcare information technology sector. This will promote the use of healthcare technology in a big way and will also create a safety revolution in the healthcare sector.

This will encourage e-prescribing in a big way. According to Reuters, as many as 75 percent of US doctors will be writing electronic prescriptions within the next five years and 90 percent will be e-prescribing by 2018. E-prescribing will help prevent medical errors and also would save the US government $22 billion over the next decade according to the report prepared by the healthcare research firm Visante. ”Greater use of e-prescribing also will prevent 3.5 million medication errors and 585,000 hospitalizations by 2018”, as predicted by the Visante report.

”The growth in e-prescription will result in a surge in the demand for healthcare technology professionals. Healthcare technology jobs are becoming increasingly popular, and InformationTechnologyCrossing has already started adding thousands of such jobs to its niche job site,” says A. Harrison Barnes, CEO of InformationTechnologyCrossing.

InformationTechnologyCrossing searches, organizes, and displays every information technology job it can find on the Internet. It is a private website, and only members have access to its job-opening research.

Posted in Healthcare | 2 Comments »

Jobs in Florida

Sunday, March 15th, 2009

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the part of the population without jobs in Florida reached 8.6 percent in January. This is an increase of 1 percent from Decembers 7.6 percent. This most recent data is seems even more startling when compared to statistics from the previous year, when only 5 percent of the state’s population was unemployed.

During the same month of this year Florida’s unemployment rate was also a full percent higher than the national average of 7.6 percent. This comes as no surprise when one considers the fact that the state’s jobless rate has been higher than the national unemployment percentage for over a year now.

According to the state Agency for Workforce Innovation (AWI), approximately 800,000 residents out of a workforce of nearly 9.3 million are now in the process of looking for new jobs in Florida. The last time the state’s unemployment rate was higher than it was in January was back in September of 1992 when it hit 8.9 percent.

According to the AWI, the total nonfarm employment in January was 7,557,700. This figure is down 355,700 jobs from the first month of 2008. One factor that seems to be causing the state so much trouble is its reliance on the construction industry, where 26 percent of job losses statewide occurred in the last year.

Before the housing market crisis hit, real estate was a big business in Florida. This served to create many jobs with every new development constructed. Now that foreclosure rates are up and available properties remain empty, there is no need to continue building at such a rapid speed and no new building or homes means no new jobs in a time when the area needs them most. Since the beginning of 2008 AWI’s figures show that this industry has lost a total of 100,000 jobs. This represents a decrease in employment in the sector of around 18 percent.

Another area of the employment market that usually helps to provide many jobs in Florida, the leisure and hospitality industry, is also suffering. With most of the country in an obvious recession fewer individuals have the money to spend on a vacation to the Sunshine State. Because of this, jobs in the industry have decreased by approximately 4 percent.

One industry that continued to fair well despite being surrounded by so much bad news was the education and health care sector, where approximately 23,000 jobs were created. Considering the necessity of many of the services provided by this area of employment, this is to be expected. For the most part, this sector is doing well through most of the nation.

The government sector also served to create around 4,100 Florida jobs, making these two of the few areas of employment that job seekers can be optimistic about.

Tags:
Posted in Job Search | 1 Comment »

Illinois Jobs

Friday, March 13th, 2009

Unemployment throughout the nation has been on the rise. In February 8.1 percent of America’s population was without work. Although several states’ unemployment rates for last month have yet to be released, data from January shows that finding a job in that finding a job in Illinois is becoming more difficult.

In January Illinois’ unemployment rate rose from 7.2 percent to 7.9 percent. According to the State Department of Employment Security, part of this increase can be blamed on the fact that 10,800 Illinois jobs in manufacturing. With Caterpillar Inc. having to severely reduce the number of employees, many experts expected the number of individuals claiming jobless benefits would rise significantly. During the same month, the national average was 7.6 percent, which means that finding work was somewhat more difficult in Illinois than in many other parts of the country.

With Caterpillar currently doing away with somewhere around 22,000 more jobs throughout their global operations, Illinois will likely lose a significant number of positions. This is due to the fact that the company has its headquarters in Peoria.

Over the last 12-months, Illinois has lost a total of 175,100 jobs. This has caused the state’s nonfarm employment to fall to 5,820,200. Manufacturing employment in Illinois fell by 38,800, which is approximately a 5.8 percent decline. The state’s construction industry has also been suffering, most likely due to the fact that housing market crisis has caused the necessity of new building projects to dwindle. The sector’s total job losses for the year ended up around 30,600 positions. Since this industry already employed a smaller number of people, the decline was much more significant. Around 11 percent of those employed in this industry lost their jobs. Other sectors that saw some problems included the financial industry, leisure and hospitality and the professional and business services sector.

Despite all of this, residents in Illinois have gained a little faith in the job market. According to Spherion, the state’s Employee Confidence Index rose 2.6 percent to 40.6 percent during January. Around 83 percent of those who are employed in the state feel that they are unlikely to lose their current position. This is a 10 percent increase from December.

“Illinois is keeping pace with the nation as far as the unemployment rate and national job picture is concerned, but surprisingly our national report indicated an increase of overall employee confidence,” said Jodie Wood, regional director of Spherion Staffing Services in the state. “There is really no clear cut reason why the state’s employee confidence has increased month over month, except for the fact that there is a renewed sense of optimism stemming from the new administration and economic stimulus package which we are hoping will create the jobs needed to jump start our market.”

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, things could be much worse in Illinois. Several states ended up having unemployment rates over ten percent in January. Michigan, where unemployment reached 11.6 percent, had the highest jobless rate in the country. The issues facing the auto industry have seriously affected the state. South Carolina followed with an unemployment rate of 10.4 percent. Rhode Island came in third with 10.3 percent of the population unable to find work. California rounded out the four worst states in the nation with an unemployment rate of 10.1 percent.

Tags:
Posted in Job Search | 1 Comment »

Virginia Jobs

Friday, March 13th, 2009

New data shows that finding a job in Virginia has become more difficult recently. According to the state’s Employment Commission, 6.4 percent of Virginia’s population was without work in January, which was a .4 percent increase form the previous month. During the same month the national jobless rate was 7.6 percent.

Around 89,000 people in the state were drawing unemployment benefits during the first month of this year. This was an increase of 32,000 new claimants in comparison to December.

This is the highest unemployment rate the state has had since June of 1992, which was almost 17 years ago. At this time, approximately 8.5 percent of the country was without work.

Although this number may already sound bad enough, experts say it is not as high as it probably should be. According to Forbes.com and The Associated Press, this data does not include information on those who have been so discouraged about finding Virginia jobs that they have stopped seeking employment altogether. Since many of these individuals are no longer eligible for unemployment benefits, they are not taken into consideration.

“Generally speaking, if you added those in it would add about 2 percent to the unemployment rate,” said The Commission’s chief economist William F. Mezger to a reporter for The Associated Press.

Currently unemployment is the highest in Danville, Virginia, where somewhere around 14 percent of the population cannot find work. Only one month prior only 11.1 percent of the area was jobless. Since Danville’s economy is strongly influenced by the state of the manufacturing industry, the employment situation was already not the best. Then the area’s largest employer, Goodyear, did away with 400 Virginia jobs.

Arlington County had the lowest jobless rate at 3.7 percent. This is no surprise considering the large number of government jobs in the area. Arlington was the only county in Virginia that had an unemployment rate below 5 percent. Despite this, jobless rose .6 percent between December and January in this part of the state.

According the Commission, no area of employment seemed safe from the effects of the recession. Between December and January all sectors lost jobs. Even the healthcare services industry, which has been the one bright spot in the nation’s economy, failed to perform in Virginia at the beginning of this year. Since many experts believe the economy and labor market won’t begin to improve for sometime, data will likely show continual rises in joblessness for the foreseeable future.

Tags:
Posted in Job Search | 1 Comment »

Coping with ADD/ADHD on the Job

Wednesday, March 11th, 2009

With the continued recession and struggling economy, keeping your job is a priority. With increasing budget cuts, employee “productivity” has become more important to businesses. The “P” word, or lack of it, is often used to determine which employees are fired or laid off. Many newly unemployed Americans with adult ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) or ADHD (Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) have been forced into jobs they would normally not accept in order to preserve their financial security. Unfortunately, these jobs are often a poor fit for the employee’s strengths and can magnify their weaknesses. Increased demands at current jobs can also “expose” some adults with ADD who were just getting by through extra effort and time spent at the workplace.

Ohio psychiatrist Adam Brandemihl, MD, has noticed an increasing number of adult ADD patients seeking medical treatment for the common disorder. Dr. Brandemihl notes that in the past, “many adults with ADD would have been able to find jobs that were a better fit for their unique skill sets. Ideally the patient wants to find a job that plays to their strengths such as the ability to multitask, think outside of the box and expend short bursts of intense energy. However, with the poor economy many of these adult ADD sufferers have been forced into jobs that they are not suited for because of financial desperation. The increasing job stress can lead to unhappiness, depression, anxiety, worsening productivity and ultimately, termination from the job.”

Dr. Brandemihl says that the first step in treatment is “getting diagnosed by a mental health professional, preferably a board certified psychiatrist.” Once the diagnosis of ADD is established, medication can be discussed as a possible option and behavioral changes that can help counter ADD can be implemented. Dr. Brandemihl offers the following tips for dealing with ADD in the workplace:

  • Make sure any additional psychiatric conditions are being addressed through therapy and/or medication. Anxiety and depression can affect focus, concentration, motivation and energy, mimicking ADD.
  • Utilize an electronic planner or phone to keep a schedule and set alarms to remind you of appointment times, due dates, break times and meetings.
  • Set all of your clocks ten minutes ahead. This way you are at least on time, if not early, for scheduled meetings.
  • Separate large assignments into smaller, more manageable assignments. If possible, give yourself short breaks every fifteen to thirty minutes. Use an egg timer or alarm to remind yourself of “break times” (even if they are only for one or two minutes).
  • Take care of yourself. Get at least eight hours of sleep a night. Eat several small meals a day and try to exercise at least thirty minutes per day. This can make a huge difference in energy, motivation and concentration levels.
  • Make your work environment work for you. You may consider an MP3 player or earplugs to block out noisy distractions.
  • Organize your work area. Labels and folders are your friends. Everything should have its own place. Only have one assignment in front of you at a time.
  • Keep the momentum going at home. Structure, routine and repetition are crucial. Ask family members for help. It is important to utilize and practice your new coping skills both before and after work.
  • Ask your supervisor or boss for feedback. Tell him or her you are aware of the issue and ask for their opinions on your progress.
  • Reward yourself with a special treat for progress. Positive reinforcement is crucial to help encourage any new behaviors.

Posted in Job Search | 1 Comment »

651,000 Jobs Lost in February

Sunday, March 8th, 2009

Recently, unemployment lines have been reflecting what those looking for work already know: finding a job has gotten much more difficult. According to the most recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, unemployment has hit the highest its been in over 25 years. In February the jobless rate jumped from January’s 7.6 percent to 8.1 percent.

During the month, U.S. employers did away with a total of 651,000 jobs. This made February the third consecutive month that the country lost more than 650,000 positions, which is the first time this has occurred since 1939. According to Bloomberg News, around 80 percent of economist surveyed said they had predicted the job losses to be around this high, but had expected that unemployment would only be 7.9 percent.

BLS data shows that almost all of the major industries in the country experienced a decline in employment during the month. Health care was once again one of the few areas of the job market that added new positions, with 27,000 jobs being generated. The largest decrease in jobs was seen in professional and business services, manufacturing and the construction industries.

Professional and business services saw a decrease of 180,000 jobs during the course of the month. This was followed by the manufacturing sector, where 168,000 positions were cut. The largest part of these layoffs happened in part of the industry that deals with “durable goods”.

The construction industry came in third with 104,000 jobs lost. This sector has been struggling for some time due to the fact that fewer people can afford to purchase new properties. Because of this, the need for new homes has seriously declined. Since the industry saw its peak in January of 2007, approximately 104,000 jobs have been lost. According to the BLS’ most recent employment situation release, around two-fifths of these losses have happened over the course of the last 4 months. Both residential and nonresidential construction saw a drop.

The financial industry also continued its struggle during February. For the month this sector saw the loss of 44,000 jobs. Since it’s employment peak in December of 2006, employers in this sector has done away with 448,000 jobs. Officials from the Bureau say that half of these positions have been done away with in the last 6 months.

With so many people having trouble making ends meet, less money is being spent on unnecessary consumer goods. This in turn has severely injured the retail trade, which lost 40,000 jobs in February and only serves to continue the already existing economic problems.

Judging from current trends, many experts believe that things should begin to get better around by the end of 2010 at the latest. CNNMoney.com recently reported a study that found that around 85 percent of advisors agree on this fact. Despite this, it may take some time before people really recover and begin to have faith in the economy again. Another 15 percent said that they believed that it will take longer before we’re even on the right track.

Tags:
Posted in Job Search | 2 Comments »

Pre-Employment Test Expert Hired by AOA.ORG

Thursday, March 5th, 2009

Trying to find the perfect new hire for an available job can be difficult for any hiring manger. No matter how good a candidate may look on paper, it is impossible to know if they can provide all of the talents they boast on their resume through an interview alone. Because of this pre employment tests have become a very popular way to find out exactly what applicants will be able to offer the workplace if hired.

Knowing that these measures can greatly improve the quality of workers hired, AgentsOfAmerica.ORG (AOA) recently announced that is has hired pre-employment testing a hiring expert Dr. Michael Mercer as their new Hiring Techniques Expert. According to the press release, this decision will end up being very valuable for the group.

“Dr. Michael Mercer is the most widely respected, national expert on pre-employment test – so it is a huge benefit for our members to have his expertise,” said AOA’s Executive Director Angelo Gioia. “AgentsOfAmerica.ORG is committed to offering our members the best and the brightest experts and Dr. Mercer certainly fits that bill.”

The website is considered one of the best associations for insurance agencies and professionals in the industry to belong to. Through AOA members are offered a variety of methods geared towards helping the growth of their businesses.

With the addition of Dr. Mercer, AOA members will now have access to several new valuable services. These include: pre-employment tests created to make it easier to hire better equipped employees and evaluate existing hiring techniques, training seminars that will teach members how to interview and test applicants, and articles that feature tips on hiring.

“When AOA looking for the nation’s leading expert on how to hire great employees, everything pointed to Dr. Mercer,” said Mr. Gioia. “After numerous discussions, we feel delighted Dr. Mercer agreed to share his spectacular expertise with members of AgentsofAmerica.ORG.”

“AgentsOfAmerica.ORG is a very special association serving insurance agencies and insurance companies,” said Dr. Mercer in a recent press release. “I feel honored and thrilled AOA asked me to help AOA members on their business goal to hire productive, dependable employees.”

Dr. Mercer is the president of Mercer Systems, Inc. He’s published 5 books, such as “Hire the Best – & Avoid the Rest”. He’s created several pre-employment tests and gives speeches at conferences and seminars on better hiring techniques.

Tags:
Posted in Job Search | No Comments »

New LinkedIn Blog Offers Tips for Sales, Jobs, Recruiting, and HR

Monday, March 2nd, 2009

LinkedIn users should put common misspellings of their last name into their profile. Why? Because people looking for them might use those misspellings in their search.

That and other insightful tips, such as how to put a maiden name or nickname into a profile, are available in the new LinkedIn training blog by Patrick O’Malley, the nationally known trainer and speaker. The trick is to put these names into the Summary Field of the user’s profile. The first blog post will describe the technique, and will also demonstrate it in a short video. Later posts will help users harness the undocumented power of LinkedIn to increase sales, get jobs, hire employees, or network in general.

The new blog is at LinkedIn Tips For Sales, Jobs, HR.

O’Malley has given countless speeches on LinkedIn and other Internet Marketing topics to audiences of all kinds, including the American Marketing Association, Meeting Planners International, the Harvard School Of Public Health, and NEHRA (the Northeast Human Resources Association).

One recent attendee said, “These LinkedIn tips were really insightful, especially the one about putting in misspellings of my name.”

Also, since Facebook has become such a popular social networking site, he will create a blog with similar tips for Facebook. For example, users can put common misspellings of their name into the About Me section of their profile. This would allow old friends to still be able to find them, even if they spelled the name incorrectly during their search. The same technique can be used to put in maiden names and nicknames.

Posted in Job Search, Recruiting | No Comments »

« Older Entries