Holiday season is here and this year the unemployment rate continues to remain in a reasonable range. Some would even claim our current rate represents full employment.

We at Berman Larson Kane (www.jobsbl.com) continue to see a demand for talent, however we still are witness to many professionals experiencing underemployment especially in the information technology skill set.

When I have discussions with the underemployed they really are not in a holiday spirit of thanks. Many have a bitter streak that they have been short change by their past employer. My heart bleeds for this underemployed group because most are really hard working, honest, reliable and conscientious people. So is there a common theme to becoming underemployed? Is it possible for one to make underemployment, preventable?

As I try to look at this from a logical non-emotional perspective the answer is that the underemployed person’s wage level becomes unique to the employer. And when this person attempts because of layoff to transfer their skills, the true wage value is too closely tied to their current employer. Sometime changes in the market place like off shoring or out-sourcing will change the dollar value of the skill set. But for the most part a person with a long history with one employer is rewarded with higher pay during their tenure and these higher wages are not always portable.

If I look closely at these natural economic forces this employment selective process is a free market force that ultimately helps make our economy stronger. But for those that must retool, re learn and start anew it is a very challenging often hearth wrenching experience.

With 2007 on the horizon and NJ employers looking to selectively add to staff. I am afraid that wage wrenching will continue in many disciplines with a select few areas experiencing a war for talent. The $64,000 dollar question is “how do I position my skill set to be involved in this competitive war.

I am about to leave for the National Association of Personnel Services (http://www.recruitinglife.com/) annual convention. Attendance is almost sold-out and will be at least 650 plus leaders representing the recruiting and staffing industry.

The staffing industry in my opinion is one of the leading indicators of job creation in this country along the help wanted index. When employment of recruiters rises the general market is usually directly following. From these announced large attendance numbers it appears that the immediate future for employment prospecting will continue to improve. So those of you who are jobbing these numbers would suggest a goodtime ahead. As for employers it appears the competition for talent will only be getting more competitive.

As for the Berman Larson Kane (https://www.jobsbl.com/) micro barometer employment index we are seeing a shifting job growth towards the contractor/ temporary segments. I am not sure of the reasons? Depleted headcount budgets, lack of confidence, project work staffing, budget restrictions, capitalization or just flexible staffing strategies. But the bottom line is that we’ve experienced a dramatic upswing in temporary/contract hiring across several disciplines in September.

As for direct hire clients’ staffing requirements continue at a consistent rate. However; increasing growth of opportunities in niches with an increasing talent shortage include junior accountants, all junior – midlevel financial personnel, midlevel and senior JSP, NET, C#, database developers, technical sales and compensation analysts. This personnel shortage is creating a inflated sense of job openings since our experience here at BLK is at least 3 advertised openings for each available job candidate.

So my ramblings bring again to a prediction of flat unemployment with positive job growth numbers for the near future with increasing talent wars in the above competitive niches. As for the increase in temporary opportunities Q1 07 will determine if this is a year end patch or a new employment trend. So, I guess I am still guessing and after 30 years and I still know nothing.

We are Berman Larson Kane https://www.jobsbl.com experienced a decrease in new search assignments over the past two weeks. As these hot days of summer slow everything down the pace of job creation appears to be joining the weather, slowing down with the heat.

The Labor Department said US employers added just 113,000 jobs to nonfarm payrolls during July, in the fourth straight month of weak gains in hiring. Job creation in prior months was revised upward but remained tepid. Payrolls grew by just 124,000 jobs in June and 100,000 in May; earlier estimates pegged the increases at 121,000 and 92,000, respectively. Other jobs indicators showed weakness, too. The unemployment rate, which the Labor Department tabulates from a poll of households separate from the sampling of large employers used to calculate payrolls, jumped to 4.8% from 4.6%. While a 4.8% jobless rate is low in historical terms, the rise was jarring all the same, as it was the largest upward move in the rate since October 2001.

However we at Berman Larson Kane remain optimistic for job creation for the remainder of the year. Several of our clients are experiencing double digit order growth and plan to add additional staff during the 4th quarter. We are also looking at an increase in contract and temp assignments which usually points to a raise in direct hires on the horizon.

So if you are looking for employment our prediction is that road ahead will continue to ease the journey. Careers in Accounting and Finance remain hot, Information Technologies continues to improve, Human Resource remains steady and the need for additional and better sales professional is a constant.

With the announcement on Friday that the US economy has created about 121,000 jobs during the month of June and that unemployment rate has remained unmoved.

We here at Berman Larson Kane (https://www.jobsbl.com) are experiencing a rate of new orders, search assignments and contractor assignments that would confirm that this rate is close to reality. This is unusual since as you can see from prior postings we are usually either experiencing a more rapid rate of growth or slower than the government reports. However, I must say I was freaked by the ADP prediction of 345,000 new jobs…. since a high number like this would of put us here at Berman Larson Kane way behind the curve in our sales forecasts.

As for the mix of jobs and skills hiring our human resource staffing has increased both on the contract and direct hire sides, information technology continues to increase off the lows of prior years…with a return to all types of hiring including developers in the web arena…..a skill shortage remains in the accounting and finance area with competition for 1-5 year talent continuing to heat up…..other areas such as office support remain steady.

As for the remainder of the year…..we at Berman Larson Kane continue to be optimistic about job prospects as our clients continue to add back to staffing levels not seen for several years. May the placement gods be with you….

Well the DOL has confirmed our reading here at Berman Larson Kane https://www.jobsbl.com. The economy continues to create new opportunities across many sectors.

With over 200,000 new jobs created in March we remain optimistic, as we approach full employment. Although I know of many individuals that remain under-employed. Job prospects continue to improve each month.

We are finding an increasing percentage of job seekers with multiply offers with upward moving wages.

However, as we approach April 15th we here at Berman Larson Kane have seen a slight decease in job requisitions from 1st quarter highs. But are still experiencing a good percentage increase over April 2005.

Predicting the future trend? We continue to remain positive that the market will continue to increase at least through the remainder of Q2. The one wild card in all of this continues to be the price of oil.

And for those considering a career choice, junior accounting and finance jobs are very very competitive. This is one vertical that is experiencing a real talent war. Let the games begin!

March is the season for College basketball playoffs and this year it is another month of job madness. We here at Berman Larson Kane (https://www.jobsbl.com/) continue to see a dramatic increase in the number of our clients that are hiring at a March Madness pace. This fast pace hiring was supported recently by the Department of Labors job creation numbers.

Hot areas include technology/finance/sales and a leading indicator that always suggests future hires is the increased need for recruiters. Competition for these skill sets is creating a war for talent with many job seekers having multi job offers from numerous employers. Another interesting trend is that the technology survivors of the dot.com era have seen a recent business surge creating a need to hire rapidly to increase/maintain their market share. The recent stigma of working for a dot.com has reverse itself back to being an employer of choice amongst some young technology professionals. We are all so lucky that our memories are so short!

As a staffing company we at Berman Larson Kane predict a continuing competition for talent. If these needs continue to accelerate we might even see employers willing to train US job seekers in needed skills. One word of caution, the wild card in this March Hiring Madness is the price of oil/bird flu and the always impending treat of terrorism. As for now job seekers should enjoy the competition on and off the court.

P.S. We are in day two and I am already out of the Basketball Pool because of putting my faith in our New Jersey/New York Colleges. Well we still have the best employment pool in the world…..Enjoy the bouncing ball and may your hoop dreams all come true.

And who will write tomorrows programs and administer tomorrow’s computer needs? Today’s NY Times reported that 1 in 75 students planned to major in computer science today, compared with 1 in 30 in the year 2000.

Why such a drop off in a career that the department of labor defines as one of the most rapidly growing fields during the next decade. How are we going to staff our corporate data centers if such a reduced number are planning to enter the profession. We at Berman Larson Kane (https://www.jobsbl.com) have been staffing data centers and software developers for 25 plus years. The field has experience some severe recent declines after Y2K (non-event), the dot.com (bubble burst) & 911 (effects on employment). But the outlook today is that more IT professionals are employed in the field then during the height of the dot.com explosion. So what is going on? Why are so few entering the field?
I am very interested in hearing from any students or future students why they are passing on this wonderful fulfilling profession. Is it the dollars? Job prospects? Quality of Work? Software Developers type-casting? Looking forward to your responses. If you would like to respond in confidence my email address is larson@jobsbl.com

Ford, General Motors and Kraft have announced massive layoffs. Will this be the trend for 2006? We at Berman Larson Kane https://www.jobsbl.com are still predicting strong job growth for the reminder of the year. But this certainly puts a damper on our most optimistic projections.

In my attempt not to over react to these announcements. Although 10 –25% reductions are big numbers of layoffs since these firms all employ a 100,0000 plus. I am comforted by the fact that most of the job creation in this country over the past decade has come from small to mid-size employers.

My concern is will the economy be able to absorb these laid-off workers in a timely matter? I assume many of the autoworkers will need to be re-trained to secure wages at current rates. And the psychological stress that these workers will undergo has not one redeeming quality.

So where are my rambles leading me? 2006 should remain good for job creation. But the real growth will come from the small business that will continue to discover specialty niches in this changing economic climate.

Well the DOL has revised their November job creation numbers up. What a surprise. I knew that they were undercounting in November and I will predict that the December numbers will also be revised up in the not too distance future.

As for January we here at Berman Larson Kane (https://www.jobsbl.com) are experiencing a steady flow of new orders but to-date are not experiencing a percentage increase over January 2005. This is not a disappointment because if the economy continues to produce new jobs at the same rate as 2005 all will be well in Mudsville and the unemployment rate will decrease rapidly as the supply of available talent is consumed by year over year job growth.

As for now, 2006 has a long way to go before we can all cheer. As for the state of Maryland and Walmart today’s news is another puzzle? Can’t we have health care, jobs and at least some sort of retirement program in the future? Life must of been simpler in a previous life time.

The New York City Transit Strike will put a damper on job hunting for all through out the day and night. As an outsider looking in; these labor negotiations puzzle me as I watch both sides put their opinion and logic forward. (https://www.jobsbl.com/)

#1 Don’t the Transit Strikers Realize that most of them have limited skills in the private employment market? One of my favorite indicators of employment security is not which company or union a person works for, but how transferable a worker’s skills are in the overall market. Although the Transit Workers perform valuable tasks for us commuters, they help keep the NYC economy flowing and they deserve a raise. They should really evaluate their skills and benefits with other private sector non-union workers. I know they will see how coveted and fairly paid they are compared to other laborers.

#2 Reduced Benefits for New Workers are Fair Negotiations In my opinion with the Transit Management offering to maintain benefit levels for current worker is a very fair proposal. Current workers signed on with the knowledge of great benefits as part of their decision process. As for new and future workers benefits. They can determine if it is a job they want based on the package being offered? And have the freedom to seek other employment and competitive wages and benefits.

#3 Taylor Law Fairness: As these unions go on strike the implications thought the region are very severe. For instance we at Berman Larson Kane have several contractors that work for our NY clients. These temporary workers will unfairly suffer during this holiday season because they are only compensated for the days they work. And even if they are able to arrive at work the strong possibility exists that limited to no work will be available if their supervisor is stranded do to the strike. So I am very much behind the two-day fines for each day on strike since this strike effects us all in the tri-state area and beyond.

#4 Percentage Raises Offered are Fair With our current high rate of unemployment and talent pool availablity to fill these jobs. The transit worker should accept the 9% offered by management and count their blessing since this will keep pace with the rate of inflation.

#5 Don’t Wipe Out the Good You’ve Done As a 30 plus year user of the subway system I have witnessed tremendous improvement in service over the years. Transit management and workers have done a wonderful job improving subway crime, sanitation & efficiencies. Don’t destroy the good will of the people by letting the greed, ego and power struggle of the unions get in the way of a fair settlement.

Transit workers for the moment look around at the unemployment lines and realize how many New Yorker’s would love to trade places with you. But the bottom line is NYC will survive this strike. We at Berman Larson Kane opened our business on April 1, 1980. What a April Fools joke was played on us “Day One of an 11 Day Transit Strike” the prime rate was around 20% and we all survived. To survival of all New Yorkers….”If we can make it here we can make it anywhere”.