Germany's may be on to something. The active labor market policy in Germany has been able to stabilize unemployment.  All the while unemployment in the rest of the global markets is still on the rise. 

Germany, which usually runs a higher unemployment rate than the United States, has been able to currently stabilize its labor market challenges - at least for the time being.  The German government has implemented a "short work" program that encourages employers not to lay off employees. If an employer's production falls by 10% or more, the government will pay the employer up to 67 ...

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Awhile back I wrote a blog about the "green collar jobs" and it looks like green sector is here to stay.  The new administration is committed to reducing carbon emissions in an effort to fight global climate change. These new investments have the potential to provide economic benefits that go way beyond the primary one of emissions reduction. 

This would also create new jobs...the potential is there to not only add jobs to the economy, but also "new and improved" jobs to the labor market.  A 2005 study of clean energy and energy efficiency employment identified 8,400 individuals ...

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The federal government uses what is known as the Current Population Survey, a monthly survey of 60,000 households across the nation, to determine who is in the labor force and whether they are employed or unemployed. To be considered in the labor force, someone has to be employed, or available for work and has to have actively looked for work in the preceding four-week period.  Those who may want to work, but are so discouraged about their chances of finding a suitable job that they haven't actively sought one in the preceding four weeks, are not counted among ...

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We are experiencing job loss at a rate not seen in 34 years and an unemployment rate not seen in over 16 years.  To add to the challenges and for the first time, there are four generations in the US labor market all bringing different values and experiences to the mix. 

There is a lot of research that outlines the difficulties of managing a multi-generational workforce.  Although there are differences from country to country, we can generally identify four generational groups that are currently active professionally:  Traditional workers (born before 1946), Baby boomers (1946-1960), Generation X (1961-1979), and Generation Y ...

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The evolution of jobs and positions within companies is directly impacted by the economic changes over time.  The impact is felt across all industries at a global level.  This evolution has affected organizational positions from non-exempt to the executive level.  In essence it has affected the labor market in its entirety.  Given the current economic climate, companies are struggling with reorganizations, cost containment, headcount, and other efforts to stay in business  

We are in the midst of a unique transitional economic time and will be facing what is known as a �??Jobless Economic Recovery.�??  We have suffered from the elimination ...

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The media is painting a scary picture otherwise known as the labor market.  Last month�??s unemployment numbers are another brushstroke. Over the past 18 months, 3.3 million workers have become jobless.  There are currently 10.1 million unemployed workers in this country since late 07. 

The unemployment rate is at 6.5% and the under employment rate, which measures the number of people only working part-time, but looking for fulltime work, is at an all time high of over 11.1%,

The majority of downsizing in the first three quarters of 2008 occurred in the construction, real estate ...

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As you may already know, the unemployment rate jumped to 6.1% last month.  Making it the highest unemployment rate since September 2003 and we continued to shed 84,000 more jobs. 

Looking back, payrolls are down by 605,000 since November 2007.  We have experienced the eighth month in row of consecutive declines.  Since March of 2007, over 2 million people have become jobless. 

In addition, the unemployment rate increased among new college grads.  Their jobless rate rose from 2.4% to 2.7% last month.  It�??s the highest college unemployment rate since August 2004. 

I also pay ...

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Labor Day, the first Monday in September, not only does it mark the end of the summer and the back-to-school blues, it�??s a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. We celebrate a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.

The first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City in accordance with the plans of the Central Labor Union. The Central Labor Union held its second Labor Day holiday just a ...

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Search engines are an important resource when looking for resumes, whether you�??re searching on general search engines like Yahoo or Google or on resume specific job boards like HotJobs or Monster. To really make your search effective you need to remember Boolean Language. Boolean tools will help you create more effective and focused searches, producing resumes that more closely meet your requirements and also reducing the number of resumes you need to search through that miss the mark.

What is Boolean Logic?

Boolean logic is named after George Boole (1815-1864), an obscure nineteenth century English mathematician. Boole invented a ...

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The unemployment rate dipped slightly from 5.1 in March to 5.0 in April and we experienced more job cuts as well as core working hours are being cut more and more. 

Some positive gains were tracked in healthcare services last month, reflecting 37,000 new jobs as well as professional services (office jobs), which was up 39,000.

The interesting thing is that the underemployment rate has jumped dramatically to 5.2 million workers who are currently involuntarily employed on a part time basis or their hours have been reduced ? but they are all looking for full time ...

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We are all familiar with Blue and White collar job sectors, but now a third sector is emerging and is growing by leaps and bounds - The Green Collar Job Sector.

Green collar jobs have been defined as work force opportunities created by firms and organizations whose mission is to improve environmental quality and involve products and services that are environmentally friendly.  The new job sector includes opportunities that involve the design, manufacture, installation, operation, and/or maintenance of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies.

Moving away from environmentally unfriendly work and towards environmentally friendly work will bring significant changes and ...

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The job market numbers were released by the BLS last week and it?s not looking good.  The report paints a picture of what it looked like in the last official recession in 2001. 

Payrolls fell by 63,000 and the unemployment rate dropped slightly, from 4.9% to 4.8%.   You could argue that the unemployment rate should be higher, but it is largely due to the numbers in the labor force leaving the market.  Overall it?s been the largest loss in about 5 years and a strong indicator that the troubled economy has reached the job market ...

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"Super Tuesday" marks two important events. It will be the biggest step so far in selecting the next President, but it will also be the first coast-to-coast election since the nation's economic troubles became front page news.

Of the 24 "Super Tuesday" states, 20 have seen their unemployment rates rise over the last six months.  Signs of economic trouble are a rising unemployment and under-employment rate.  When the job market weakens it hurts not just those who are out of work, but also suppresses pay levels for working people from the lowest-paid through middle-income families. Pay raises are fewer ...

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Happy New Year! 

Interesting article on what jobs are hot for 08.  Here are the 30 fastest growing occupations for 2008 to 2016, according to the BLS. 

I?m still wondering when ?Professional Recruiter? or ?Recruitment Consultant? will make the list...

There has been a lot of research done over the years on what truly motivates an individual to change jobs.  As you can imagine, this is a moving target since we are motivated differently at various stages of age and life.  But it generally always seems to boil down to 3 basic human needs:

1 - The need for economic rewards and flexibility is essential to lead ?Comfortable/Good Lives?

2 ? The opportunity to do meaningful work and the opportunity to learn and develop as a person. 

3 ? The need for supportive relationships.

A ?Good Job? satisfies all 3 fundamental human ...

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According to a recent study by Leadership IQ, the biggest statistical driver of workplace satisfaction for workers between the ages of 21-30 is whether their supervisor recognizes and praises their accomplishments. 

Only 30% of workers ages 21-30 would strongly recommend their organization as a good place to work.  Interesting contrast is that 47% of workers ages 61-70 would strongly recommend their organization as a good place to work, making them the most satisfied age group.

This study also found that younger workers do not feel they are getting nearly enough praise and recognition.  Only 39% of these younger workers agreed ...

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In a major revision of recent data, the U.S. labor market now appears considerably different than was previously reported, according to today?s report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Payrolls expanded by 110,000 in September, the strongest monthly gain since May.

Just as important, last month?s reported loss of 4,000 jobs was revised upward to a gain of 89,000. Together, revisions for July and August added 118,000 jobs to the nation?s payrolls. 

Last month?s employment report showed job growth at an average of about 45,000 over the prior three months ...

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In the interest of creating a more standardized, fair, and meaningful naturalization process, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently completed a multi-year redesign of the naturalization applicant test. The newly-restructured exam (administered beginning 2008), challenges applicants to a list of tough questions, covering history, politics, geography, language and culture, before citizenship is legally earned.

The major aim of the redesign process is to ensure that naturalization applicants have uniform, consistent testing experiences nationwide, and that the civics test can effectively assess whether applicants have a meaningful understanding of U.S. government and history.

USCIS examiners will select ten ...

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It seems that in some countries long commutes are becoming more of a health hazard.  British workers say that commuting makes them stressed and has a negative impact on their health, according to a study released today by Telewest Business, part of the Virgin Media Group.

The environmental impact of more people working from home is also gaining recognition around the world.  According to the study, more than half (52 per cent) of UK adults who could or do work from home believed that reducing their commuting made, or would make, them a ?greener? person.

Interestingly, flexible work schedules were ...

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