Well the economy continues on its tailspin.  Rumors of General Motors shaky financial position with high losses and stock price hitting a 42 year low is very upsetting, since I grew up on the saying “As G.M. goes so goes the U.S.” or “What is good for G.M. is good for the U.S.”  I hope that as another icon of that era Bob Dylan said “the Times they are a Changing” and our economy can survive and hopefully thrive on other business then the auto business.

 

Well the job creation numbers released today continue to be dismal.  A decrease of 62,000 jobs makes me wonder which of the quotes above are correct.

 

Our tiny universe here at Berman Larson Kane (www.jobsbl.com) has seen new job order listings decrease by about 20% in both our temporary and direct hire divisions during the month of June.  However we are lucky enough to have this set off by increases in other consulting business lines so this funk that the rest of the country is in by passed us another month.

 

On the proactive side as of July 1, 2008 BLK has acquired the staffing firm Global Search (www.gsearch.com) that specializes in Pharmaceutical, Biotechnology, Clinical Research Organizations, Healthcare, Insurance and Research.  We are confident that these new additions and the synergies of BLK & G Search will allow us to better serve our current clients and add additional services to all.

 

On the flip side of $4 dollar gas and milk, an article at the website Bruce Steinberg http://www.brucesteinberg.net/Newsletter_web_page.htm sees a possible upside to high gas for staffing.  I hope that Mr. Steinberg is right and Bob Dylan & G.M are wrong.  Half Full or Half Empty I remain concern that the US is half empty at the moment.

 

For the present moment I am so grateful that our wonderful clients and BLK staff continue to beat the odds of this “slow SLOW growth recession”.

Gas at 135 dollar per barrel….pump gas here in NJ @ 4 dollar per gallon…Ford announces layoffs…Avaya announces layoffs…BJ’s sales increase…and American Airlines announces a 15 dollar charge for checking one piece of luggage…and Hillary announces she will fight through August to lead us to ????

 

Well, we here at Berman Larson Kane (www.jobsbl.com) continue to assist our clients in finding the best talent.  Our unique staffing products and services continue to gain market share in a shrinking hiring market.  I remain thankful for being surrounded by a talented wonderful staff that our clients have confidence in giving us the opportunity to identify talent for their staffing needs.

 

During the month of April/May we have seen a steady increase in our clients utilizing our contracting and temp services.  With a double-digit growth rate….not sure why?…but I believe clients are interested in hiring slowly because of the uncertainties in the long-term economy.

 

Our retention programs are experiencing an increase of inquiries and scheduled webinars as our clients look to retain their outstanding talent in these uncertain times. 

 

As for growth segments….the only real or accelerated growth is taken place in the ‘new media’ and “e-marketing” companies…with the pharm, technical services and logistic segments holding steady.  We are also experience some growth in confidential searches as company look to increase weak segments without losing momentum.

 

As for my future predictions for employment ….I am counting on the graying of the work force to continue to generate jobs in these trying times….

 

And as always I thank our loyal clients for continuing to place faith in our services and I smile that we at Berman Larson Kane were selected again as a “Best Place to Work” winner for our second consecutive year.

 

We at Berman Larson Kane www.jobsbl.com continue to monitor the job growth numbers for our clients and continue to express concern across most employment sectors.

 

All employment reports no matter how you attempt to put a positive spin on them continue dismal at best.  We continue to experience negative job creation; rising unemployment and an increase in discourage worker or bluntly those who have just plain given up looking for work.

 

Today’s New York Times business section had an article entitled “Many more are Jobless than Unemployed” by Floyd Norris.  This article really points to the severity of the job numbers and goes on to explain that the number of white men in their prime working/productivity years are approaching 1 in 7 are not working.  This is one of the highest numbers in the past 60 years.  I don’t thing that the number of Mr. Mom’s is accounting for this high percentage of males not working.

 

 He goes on to look at the number of women “But even among women there has been some slippage. The proportion of women ages 25 to 54 without jobs was 27.4 percent in March, a figure that is higher than it was during all but one month of  the 2001 recession.”                                                                                                                                                                                                        As General Electric earnings decrease, financial markets gyrate, consumer purchases decrease and gasoline pump prices increase. What is the future of the job market?  I am not overly optimistic. However, again from our little microcosm here at Berman Larson Kane we thank our clients with continuing faith in our services.  Utilization of our contract and temp services continues to give our clients a viable alternative to long-term commitments.  These contract jobs give many job seekers additional options and always give them an improved chance of direct hire at the completion of the temporary assignment. Additionally our retention programs continue to assist clients with hanging on to their most productive employees’.  

So for the moment, I continue to thank our diligent BLK staff for giving our clients some of the best staffing options in the industry. And thought hard efficient efforts BLK was selected again as one of the “Best Places to Work in New Jersey”.  Now to get back to putting more job seekers to work! We are doing our best from here.

Everywhere I look the economic news is bleak…..the banks are struggling, investment houses are losing money for the first time, retail sales are down and both commercial & residential real estate are in a tail spin.  So where will new jobs be created? (www.jobsbl.com)

 

Well the odds of new jobs being created in constructions is probably not a good bet along with mortgage companies, banks, brokerage houses and pharmaceuticals.

 

I do predict that new jobs will be created in support areas of manufacturing as they become more competitive internationally with the falling dollar.  Hospitality, especially in the major metro regions, will also benefit from the overseas tourists as they to quote one of our international clients “ buy new cloths for the price of buttons in their home countries”.  Software development and technical support companies will also add to staff as new niches for technologies are created.  And of course the hospital/healthcare/patient deliver jobs will continue to increase as our population pyramid continues to increase in the upper age blocks.  Also, the legal profession will continue to add staff as we discover new ways of suing each to recovering some of the financial loses that the sub-prime will continue to create.

 

So our little world here at Berman Larson Kane (www.jobsbl.com) we continue to see new orders from our clients across a wide spectrum of midsize to small companies. A continuing shortage of good information technology and financial professionals will create a growing need for talent.  And competition to retain the best talent will increase our retention programs. 

 

The bottom line is I continue to thank our loyal clients for finding value in our staffing products and look forward to being given the opportunity to demo new potential clients on our solutions.  And even with all this bad economic news I continue to be optimistic for positive job creation numbers for 2008.