May is the month of college graduations and the “long long” ceremony that accompanies the awarding of the diplomas.  Students, parents and family are filled with pride before, during and after these events.

 

I was honored with being a commencement speaker and addressing the 1650 graduates of  New Jersey City University (NJCU)  and their families at the Izod Center on May 11, 2011.  What a great event excitement everywhere, parents beaming and the electricity flying around the arena. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeJUaQkFpjI

 

Having earned my living in the employment field for over 35 years and interviewing prospective hires, my assessment was that the majority of the students were of exceptional talent and ambition.  Any employer would be proud to add these talented students to their staff.

 

However, as I walk around and introduced myself to several students most seem to be lacking in work within their chosen field of study.  This economy has challenged even some of the brightest students and many will continue with their part-time or full time current employment.  The jobs that help pay their tuition while they studied to upgrade to a better career at least most will still have some source of income.

 

What is going on?  I know college recruiting was better this year than last.  But why are private and public corporations not capitalizing our young talent.  Why as a county are we not creating the jobs that these students so deserve?

 As the economy continues to improve and the job creation numbers continue to accelerate these talent young individuals will hopefully land meaningful jobs in the not too distant future.  If we want to move forward in this competitive global economy we must begin to create meaningful and productive work for all

Our first year in business 1980 a major monthly expense “bicycle messenger services” . Yes, in 1980 fax machine were cost prohibitive, email was non-existent (unless you had a mainframe computer at your personal disposal) and always sitting at our receptionist desk was a ready “bike messenger” on call to deliver resumes between downtown and midtown Manhattan.”

Today, 31 years later, the staffing business moves at the speed of light. Resumes reside in clouds for instant access. Subscribers and the recruiters reviewing resumes are scattered around the globe. Work chores migrate to the “perceived” most cost effective and efficient markets. And we at Berman Larson Kane (www.jobsbl.com) struggle to remain on the bleeding edge to best service our clients’ staffing challenges.

Adopting to these changing challenges remain the core of our business keeping us focused on supplying the “Best Staffing Options” for job-seekers and job-creators. This core value continues unchanged as the foundation of our 31 years’ staffing mission?

Looking on the horizon, the competition for the best talent will remain extremely competitive and probably heat up over the next 4-5 years. Finding, isolating, compensating and recruiting this talent will continue to increase in complexity over widening global markets. In addition, retaining your current top talent will also become more competitive as information access brings all into the public domains allowing for aggressive recruiting efforts by competitors.

As president of Berman Larson Kane, I am very energized by these challenges and changes. Promising that our organization will continue to learn and adapt to the most efficient operation model. Offering the best and most cost effective service is our mission. The only guarantee is that “change is a constant” and today’s business practices will become tomorrow’s “bike messengers”.

Thank you to all for your support and business. We look forward to continuing this staffing journey for the next 31 plus years. “Beam me up Scotty” to my future interviews.

Snowbound continues and February will be only one day old greeting us with the next snow / ice dump.  How do you keep up your spirits, as the weather continues to chill us all? 

 

Well in a few days pitchers and catchers report to spring training in the warmth of Florida and Arizona.  Spring is on the horizon for all of us and hopefully so is the job recovery.  And I believe that even before the warm weather arrives that job growth will increase into positive territory.

 

Those who have been unemployed are very anxious to see a thaw in the employment chill.  We at Berman Larson Kane (www.jobsbl.com) continue to be optimistic about job creation during 2011.  Although I must admit the January job launch has been slower than I predicted.  We are seeing the hiring process stretched over additional weeks because of cancellation due to the weather here on the east coast.  This hopefully will snowball (bad pun) into amazing job creation numbers for February / March.  I am positive by April hiring will reach a panic as certain skill sets become scarce.

 

As for now those of us who are lucky enough to be employed might consider seeing the movie “Company Men”. This film is a reality check of how thin the line is from employed to unemployed and how effects every aspect of your life.

 

For the 17 million who continue to seek meaningful employment I wish you all the best and hopefully better times are ahead. 

During this Thanksgiving Holiday let us remember the 17 – 20 million good folks who continue to be adversely affected by our high unemployment numbers.

 

Over the past several years the personal painful histories that I have witnessed, due to no job or meaningful work, continues to be heart wrenching for all of us in the employment profession.

 

As president of our organization I assure you that we will continue our free community out-reach programs to assist all “job-seekers” with their efforts to gain solid employment. Since beginning this program 24 months ago over 35,000 individuals have participated. My wish is by Thanksgiving 2011 our webinar attendance will decrease to zero.

 

During this week of thanks, I encourage each of you as professionals to lend a hand, take a phone call, review a resume, coach an interview or pass on some advice to a challenged “job-seeker”. 

 

We at Berman Larson Kane continue to thank each of you for your business support during our thirty-one year history.  Have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday and take a moment to please be thankful for your job and remember those who continue to seek employment.

 

Sincerely,

 

Bob Larson, CPC

The 4^th Quarter of 2010 is upon us and the unemployment rate remains at or near all time highs.  Economists tell us the recession is over, corporate earnings continue to rise and the political mood of the country is uncertain.  Even with all of this mixed negativity I continue to see signs of major employment improvements on the horizon.

 

Some positive signs:

 

1 – Employment jobs wanted advertisements continue to increase. Pointing to the fact that companies are aware that they are approaching stress levels and will need to add staff if they want to continue to service their client base and continue to grow.

 

2 – The temporary employment index continues to add additional payroll numbers pointing to a resumption of direct hiring.  I am surprised this has not already happen…but I am optimistic for the immediate future.

 

3 – Hiring companies are beginning to realize that a person who has the skills of at least 2-3 former employees is a dream and not a reality.

 

4 – At BLK (www.jobsbl.com) we continue to see the number of jobseekers landing multiple interviews and some fortunate ones multiple job offers.

 

5 – We are witnessing a small growth in new business development from new clients who are having challenges servicing their openings from the job boards.

 

6 – Established long-term clients are slowly increasing the number of requirements in comparison to 09.  We are seeing this increase across different specialties with a special concentrated growth in Information Technologies.

 

7 – Once the Federal releases QE2 money will flow and companies will need to expand rapidly.

 

However although this movement appears positive for some; we have a long hard road to restore the employment opportunities to the 17 million that are counted amongst the unemployed, underemployed and the new workers that enter the job marker every month.

We at Berman Larson Kane continue to do our best attempting to assist all of the job seekers in need.  But this employment challenge is larger then any one person, firm, specialty, and political party can handle.  Beside these small improvements I remain confident in the belief that this too shall pass.  I have been in this field for over 35 years and it always comes back to a labor shortage!

Labor Day is only a few days away.  Will the economy celebrate this important holiday by creating work for the millions who seek it?  All the economic reports predict flat to slight growth during the remainder of 2010 with concerns for a double dip recession.  We at Berman Larson Kane (www.jobsbl.com) have fair amount optimism for job creation in our small universe.

 

Some signs that growth might not be as dismal as the economist are forecasting:

           

-Many of our long established clients are planning to add to staff after the Labor Day holiday.

            -We are experiencing an increase in our temporary and contract employee’s conversions to direct hire status.

            -Our new client’s numbers continue to grow during the summer months.

            -New job orders held steady during July & August.  Our usual experience is a decrease of hiring during summer months.

            -We are finding many job candidates are being offered several positions during their job-hunting cycle. The cycle however continues to be exceptionally long.

            -A recent staffing industry meeting that I attended the consensus seem to have a few hints of optimism for the remainder of the year and beyond.

            -Our job-seeker webinar series (https://jobsbl.com/jobs/coaching/webinars.php)

Attendance has decrease in recent months.  This is a good thing for nothing would make us happier here at BLK than for the need for this service to cease.

 

So as the summer comes to a close and the vacation cycle spins down.  We are looking forward to hiring increasing and job opportunities being more plentiful.  However we still have a long way to go before all those that want a job can land one.

 

I continue to thank our loyal clients and job seekers for their support and we at Berman Larson Kane will continue to offer the “Best Staffing Options”.