Magic Pot of Jobs

Would-be workers hoping to find IT jobs in Connecticut might have a harder time securing employment for the remainder of the year than they usually would. According to the September 2008 Connecticut IT Job Trend Report released by SkillProof Inc, demand for these is professionals is down throughout the state.

The report found that the job market in the state now has the fewest number of openings in the sector that it has had since April of 2004. To make matters worse, SkillProof said that historic job market cycles and the current economy show that it is highly unlikely that employers will increase the number of IT jobs in Connecticut before January of 2009.

Between August and September of this year open IT jobs in Connecticut fell from 2,040 to 1,080. Nationally, the average number of job announcements in this sector dropped 1.3 percent, when compared to figures from July 2008.

The largest decline was found to be for IT architects/consultants. Overall, there has been a 21.1 percent decrease in the demand for these professionals.

One of the few areas of employment in this sector that saw signs of increased need are professionals who are skilled with the Linux operating system. Nationally, the demand for these workers rose by 6.3 percent. At the same time, employers have decreased their requirements in this field by 5.3 percent.

Between August and September the number of jobs in Connecticut dropped by 2,300 positions. Approximately 1.7 million people were employed in the state, taking the jobless rate from 6.5 percent in August to 6.1 percent last month.

The jobs lost in Connecticut were spread throughout many industries, including IT, manufacturing and construction. According to the state Department of Labor, last month was the sharpest month-to-month job declines experienced in Connecticut this year.

A background check can be an easy way for an employer to distinguish who the right candidates are.

Background checks can reveal everything from harmless past-job experiences to more serious secrets like being fired from a previous job. An employer’s job is to find out their potential employee’s history and decide whether or not that candidate is right for the open position.

Performing a background check doesn’t mean the employer has to know all the intimate details of an applicant’s life. But, according to Times of the Internet, the checks do serve as a way to delve into items employees write on their resumes and things they say in interviews. A thorough background check determines whether or not a candidate’s credentials are true. It also will inform the employer as to what the previous companies the applicant worked with have to say in terms of the applicant’s character as a person and performance as an employee.

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While many industries are trimming jobs in preparation for an economic slowdown or possible recession, there are several Nevada healthcare jobs that need to be filled.

Nevada’s economy overall is losing jobs. The state had a total non-farm employment of 1,280,200 during September 2008, down from 1,284,400 during August and a decrease of .5 percent from last year. However, Nevada’s education and health services industry employed 96,200 workers during September, up from 95,700 during August. This is an increase of 3.6 percent from last year, according to the United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics.

While healthcare jobs in the country have increased, the availability of medical professionals has not been able to keep up with Nevada’s growth, according to an article by the Nevada Business Journal. Currently, the state faces shortages of primary care physicians, specialty physicians, nurses, pharmacists, social workers, respiratory therapists, psychologists, technicians and other healthcare workers.

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Finding seasonal jobs in Chicago will likely be more difficult this year. Prior to Thanksgiving many retailers begin bulking up their staff in hopes of meeting the needs of a large shopping crowds, but this year few employers are expecting to have customers beating down their doors in search of the right gift.

Throughout Illinois unemployment is up in comparison to last year. In the Chicago metropolitan area the jobless rate was 6.4 percent this September, whereas only 4.8 percent of residents without work during the same time last year, according to the Illinois Department of Employment Security. Despite showing a year-over-year rise, joblessness fell from 7.1 percent in August, which is due in part to school year related hiring.

With a larger portion of residents without work, there will be more competition for seasonal jobs in Chicago. Where as many individuals usually search for such employment as a means of paying for their Christmas shopping list, this year more people are looking for any kind of work they can get. Low level seasonal jobs will likely be filled quickly by individuals who are trying to pay rent, not buy a tickle-me-Elmo.

Since the portion of the population that can afford to be extravagant in their purchases this Christmas is down, employers will probably be offering fewer seasonal jobs in Chicago. There simply won’t be as many customers to help out this year to justify hiring a large number workers for holiday help.

Because of this, those that hope to find such employment should probably start looking now. Bigger retailers such as Wal-Mart and Target are good places to start because they have large budgets and have many loyal shoppers.

Even though employers may not have put on notice that they are looking for seasonal help, many will take application. Applying for any open shifts may get you on the list to be interviewed when positions become available.

Those who expect to look for seasonal jobs in Chicago should also consider asking their acquaintances who work in retail to put in a good word for them. Many employers enjoy hiring individuals who someone already on the staff can be a reference for.

Turmoil in the economy and weakening labor market could cause difficulties for college seniors looking for entry level jobs. The troubling news comes as more students are graduating from college than ever before. The National Center for Education Statistics reports that over 1.5 million bachelor’s degrees will be granted in 2009.

According to a survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, the rate of hire is expected to only increase 1.9% in 2009 – the weakest outlook in past six years. By contrast, in 2007 employers told the NACE that they projected to increase hiring by 16%.

“Things are changing very rapidly, and we are reassessing everything right now,” noted Mari Pumarejo, who works for Progressive Corporation. Last year, Progressive expected to hire 4,000 college graduates, but that number ended up closer to 1,000.

Other companies that are cutting back include Target Corporation, Walgreen Company, and General Electric. Walgreen plans to open fewer stores in the coming year, while General Electric continues to hire overseas workers. The U.S. Department of Labor notes that the number of unemployed people has risen dramatically – by over 2 million – in the past year.

An obvious decline in hiring will primarily be among the financial-service sectors, which is troubling for those students who had planned to head to Wall Street after graduation.

Campus career counselors are stepping up their efforts in order to help students. At New York University, an information session called “Alternatives to Wall Street” helps explore more out-of-the-box possibilities. Most of the cutbacks of late have been in finance, manufacturing, retail, and construction. However, positions in health care, technology and education remain in high demand.

More people had trouble finding jobs in Maryland during September than in previous months. The state’s unemployment rate rose 0.1 percent to 4.6 percent last month, according to the state’s Labor Department. Maryland is now ranked among 20 other states that have reported experiencing month-to-month increases in joblessness.

Last month state officials reported that 138,000 residents were without jobs in Maryland. This is a 33 percent increase in comparison with the beginning of this year.

“It’s pretty much the same story all over the country,” said Mark Vitner, who is a senior economist at Wachovia Corp. “Everything points in the direction of more job losses, because it looks like the economy is going to continue to deteriorate well into 2009.”

According to Vitner, issues with the housing market have caused the loss of many construction jobs in Maryland. With fewer people purchasing new homes, there is less of a need for new construction projects, which means fewer jobs.

He went on to say that the struggling stock market has made the economic situation even worse for the ordinary American. This has in turn caused a decrease in consumer spending, which has seriously affected the retail industry.

Maryland’s unemployment rate has been rising since July of this year. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, it first reached 4 percent in May of this year, which means that the state’s increasing joblessness is happening at a slower rate than many other states’ are experiencing.

Despite rising unemployment, Maryland is still fairing better than the national average. The country’s joblessness rate in September was once again 6.1 percent. During the same month last year the U.S. jobless rate was only 4.7 percent.

“Maryland and Baltimore, we do expect to outperform the U.S. average, as the U.S. falls into recession,” said Robert Dye, who is a senior economist with Pittsburgh’s PNC Financial Service Group. “Baltimore will enjoy a degree from the recession with its concentration of government and service sector employees.”

According to Vitner, the most recent stock market issues were not reflected in September’s data. Because of this, he expects to the state’s jobless rate to continue to rise in October. Vitner expects the numbers to soon be between 4.7 and 4.8 percent, while PNC Financial has predicted that the unemployment rate in Maryland will reach 5 percent around the beginning of next year.

For the most part, employers continue to create new jobs in Maryland. Rising unemployment is likely caused by the fact that employment growth can’t keep up with population increases. Despite this, September statistics showed that the state had 1,000 fewer jobs than in August. For the year, Maryland employers have create somewhere around 28,000 new jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

One very important public safety component is having trouble recruiting qualified candidates.

While the normal trend in a slowing economy is for unemployment rates to increase and people to be out of a job, police departments across the country are finding just the opposite as they are having trouble finding enough qualified staff to fill open positions. In particular, the Hannibal Police Department, located in Hannibal, Mo., is not finding the right candidates, according to an article by KHQA.

“It’s not a problem of a lack of applicants, but a lack of credible applicants,” police chief Lyndell Davis said in the article.

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Many Chicago government jobs could soon be cut.

Chicago Mayor Richard Daley proposed laying off 929 city employees, eliminating 1,346 vacancies and raising fees, parking and amusement taxes to solve Chicago’s worst budget crisis in a generation.

“Believe me, I don’t want to lay off employees and cause pain and suffering in their families,” Daley said. “I don’t want to reduce services or make cuts in programs.”

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It was recently announced that $2.6 million in Transportation Economic Development Funds could help create up to 1,411 new jobs in Michigan, while retaining other positions.

Cities in Allegan, Clinton, Kalamazoo, Livingston and Montcalm counties will receive grant funding, according to an article by NBC25. The state grants will include more than $338 million in private investment at a private and public investment ratio of 132 to 1.

“We are committed to doing all that we can to bring jobs to Michigan and that includes strengthening the infrastructure that companies need to be successful,” Governor Jennifer Granholm said in the article. “These small investments have a huge impact on our communities by supporting companies as they grow and create jobs.”

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The City of Atlanta is facing a $140 million budget deficit, and is cutting Atlanta jobs to cope.

The city recently laid off 24 employees, and previously fired 372 workers and eliminated 1,116 positions, some of which were vacant. According to an article by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, most of the job cuts took place in the finance department.

Among those to lose their jobs were senior accountants, a budget and policy manager, a treasurer, a financial forecaster and several others lost their jobs. It is estimated that nearly half of the jobs cut were office support staff. Some of the positions to be eliminated altogether were for accountants, a senior financial manager and a revenue auditor.

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