Construction employment numbers

The Associate General Contractors of America (AGC) announced yesterday that construction employment is at a 14-year low.

Association officials noted, “The construction industry continues to suffer from declining investments in construction and broad uncertainty about the future of many federal infrastructure programs and tax rates.”

The unemployment rate for the construction industry stands at 17.2%, while the overall U.S. unemployment rate was 9.6%.

Many economists believe that looking at planned construction projects and the employment rate of construction jobs is a way to see where the economy is headed. This would mean, our recovery at this point is still slow.

Does cutting unemployment really equal savings?

As I read this part in USA Today - (link):

The number of people collecting benefits will fall from 10.5 million to 7 million at the end of July if Congress doesn't extend the payments.

About 400,000 Americans are exhausting their benefits every week, saving the government $2 billion since June and an estimated $34 billion through November.

The government is not really saving that much money. Those who couldn't find jobs, will likely still not be able to find jobs and if they do opt for part time employment will still qualify for food stamps and other assistance programs. Those cost money...

Demand on food banks is increasing, some receive tax support, demand on social service agencies in general is increasing, some receive tax support.

All the Republicans are doing is creating a scenario where perceived savings from one area create increased expenses in another...

Google and your employment future...

There's been a lot of attention recently as to Facebooks changes in their privacy controls and some people who have been with Facebook since the beginning when they felt they had more privacy feel betrayed. Yet the reality is even years ago when Facebook was only accessible to college students, colleges were checking Facebook for information on prospective students and interns. Now, it's really not uncommon at all for Google to be used as part of the employment screening process where what is out there about you (or someone with the same name as you) can be a factor in your future career moves.

Deleting something does not always make it go away, which is the most important less on people seem to never learn. One thing in particular people should be paying more attention to is the Facebook groups that they "like" (yes, that used to be "fan"). Joining controversial groups if you are job hunting is not smart as that group you "liked" in fun could give potential employers the wrong idea about you...

Hearing hopeful signs but not yet seeing them...

The part of Northwestern Ohio that I live in has been pretty hard hit with the downturn in the economy. Unemployment has been in the doubledigits for some time and some with jobs have either taken pay cuts or had their health insurance costs increase. Or in the case of my family, both.

I know more people know who are on unemployment and have been nearing their last extension more than once. That's never happened before that I can remember, typically most of my circle of acquaintances may end up temporarily between jobs, but one extension was all that was needed and at times not even that.

Happy Thanksgiving!

A Happy Thanksgiving to those of you out there in blog land. Ours was a bit lower key than normal with the work schedules of some of my bunch and the fact that my oldest daughter was not able to come home for Thanksgiving. While many are focusing on stuffing their turkeys, she's been getting ready to stuff shipping boxes since she's moving from the San Jose area to the Phoenix area because of her job.

I didn't even make turkey this year since there were fewer of us, I made stuffed Cornish game hens, though I had to convince one of my daughters that they were not baby turkeys...They turned out great though, and the upside? A much shorter baking time than what I normally spend on Thanksgiving...

Inbound verus outbound call centers...

Telemarketing has gotten a bad rap, but the reality is most of those who work in a call center environment deal with inbound calls versus outbound calls. While many of these jobs have moved over seas, there still are quite a few companies that use call center operations from here in the United States. With many companies trying to cut back on staff actually employed by them, subcontracting the customer service portion of the business has continued to be a regular business practice. This enables the business to not have to worry about staffing or training, that is contracted out.

I worked in a call center environment for almost two years, it was one of the more enjoyable jobs I had, we took inbound calls for level one tech support for a cable internet provider but the same company I worked for also handled a variety of products, from cell phones to food products. Unfortunately that company closed our location with those jobs going out of the country, but many areas now are finding that hundreds will turn out to apply for call center jobs.