As an American who due to piggy-back financial reversals which have occurred during this U.S. economic tsunami (and even really before due to progressive legislation that has occurred at both the federal and state levels in the past 10-20 years), has been attempting for literally months to re-enter the job market to put my life back together in later middle age, the changes which have occurred in even the job search process have been an eye opening experience for this boomer.
I had been a semi-retired single mom who had started a small business with my savings mostly from a lifetime of working in the legal profession, and then travel and hospitality fields. I have been involved in at least three "start-ups" of small or family owned businesses personally (in the corporate law field, my ex-spouses new professional practice, and my own website-based retail business) during my working career.
But even having worked in the employment and corporate law fields, and I guess especially so, I have been literally taken aback by the process that is now utilized by most of the major employers and industries in all sectors of commerce at this point.
It isn't a jungle out there anymore and you really aren't competing with the user at the computer station next to you for that open position.
It's a network.
Hour long (and longer) internet employment applications, follow-up questionnaires, disclosure forms for drug, credit and background checks, "big brother" affirmative action forms requesting information on race, ethnicity, veterans status - yada, yada, yada.
No matter what is represented, HAL from 2000: A Space Odyssey is doing the hiring, that much is clear.
From checking your credit scores, investigating your personal history for those background checks through unregulated Internet security firms for infractions and the like, to crunching your resume into "key words" for filtering before it ever even gets to a human being, HAL is at the helm.
And some of the questions!
Here are a few, for those who have not gone through the "New Age" application process:
1. What percentage of politicians do you think are dishonest? (multiple choice: retailer)
2. If you were offered a position by another company at a greater salary, would you accept? (multiple choice: retailer)
3. How often do you use the Internet? (Survey after application and questionnaire, voluntary but would be appreciated)
4. How many rings before answering do you feel are a demonstration of good customer service ( multiple choice: secretarial position)
5. Have you EVER pled guilty or even no contest to a misdemeanor or felony offense (not even been convicted anymore?) (All applications)
6. Have you ever had a bad day (multiple choice: all)
You most likely will never know why you weren't hired, but it just might be that traffic ticket from three or four years ago or unpaid parking fine. Or an identity theft that has messed with your credit score, or losing a home, being unemployed itself and thus late with your bills just might prevent you from being able to secure employment to even attempt to rectify that situation in any respect at all.
Forget work experience. Only the past ten years or so matter in this "science based" hiring process. Even for those fast food restaurant jobs, or seasonal work positions.
As one who was employed for many years in the employment law field, experiencing this first hand at this stage of my life has truly been mindblowing.
It just may not be that there aren't enough jobs out there at all for the available workforce.
Maybe, there just aren't enough HALs that match HALs formula.
Seems maybe our discrimination laws have missed the mark in 21st Century America and may need updating.
Showing posts with label work. Show all posts
Showing posts with label work. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Saturday, March 6, 2010
U.S. Department of Labor Reports Unemployment Figures Unchanged?
In a report today carried by the AP wire service, it was announced that the U.S. Department of Labor figures are in, and appears that for the last month the rate of unemployment is unchanged, with less jobs lost than anticipated.
I wonder where the USDL is getting its figures?
It would appear that the only barometer they would have for such a report is the number of Americans now collecting unemployment.
And since unemployment benefits have stopped for most since this recession began, it truthfully could be that the number of new Americans applying for unemployment has stabilized, but those that are still not working or have had to take jobs beneath their former salaries or in lower paying work has increased.
Also not included in this report is the number of offsetting jobs that have been created which are those most "created" by this Administration as with the last.
Taxpayer paid government jobs.
Although it is the average middle class Americans that are now paying a heftier burden in order to provide those taxpayer paid jobs to begin with, which is placing more and more of them on the unemployment lines, or in the bankruptcy courts.
Even with as difficult as it is today after the revisions in the bankruptcy code of several years ago, at the behest of the financial sector and those Wall Street bankers, bankruptcies throughout the nation are up.
And those figures were left out of the USDL's report.
The number of new small businesses, or those that have been in business for literally decades now bankrupt and those losses also were not included, since unemployment is not available to those that are self-employed.
Foreclosures are up once again for last month, which means that the American economy is not rallying, and is in fact continuing to sink into a full out depression, at this point, throughout a good many states in the country.
Especially the West and Southwest, due to the questionable loans which were sold to many during the boom, many of which were not even based on the U.S. currency, but the LIBOR or London Interest Bearing Origination Rates.
The home buying market has not significantly improved but is continuing to worsen in those states and many others, since of course the terms of most of those loans have not changed, and the Obama Administration has concentrated most of all on encouraging Americans to refinance instead.
Under the terms of those same loans that were sold which created this tsunmai.
It was announced also that Congress has passed a measure giving companies that hire new workers a tax incentive in the form of a payroll tax deduction.
I have been unable to find much further information on this particular legislation, however, I wonder what kind of payroll tax deduction would be afforded, since the only sums which employers contribute over and above that which they deduct from employee payroll checks for federal income taxes withheld would be Social Security matching sums.
Does this mean Congress, in its infinite wisdom, is now not requiring these large global corporations to match Social Security payments, and thus reducing then those benefits for those employees at retirement?
Or are these credits for all the assundry state required taxes paid, such as unemployment, workmen's comp and the like?
It doesn't appear that it isn't that American companies are not hiring, they are just not hiring Americans but prefer foreign cheaper untaxed labor, I believe that has been the prevailing public opinion.
Simply rewinding and placing the tax back on foreign labor rather than the domestic variety would be the best job stimulus for Americans yet.
The spins off the Hill continue, obviously.
http://enews.earthlink.net/article/top?guid=20100305/848a9193-efa3-43e7-8edc-2d33097dfeb5
I wonder where the USDL is getting its figures?
It would appear that the only barometer they would have for such a report is the number of Americans now collecting unemployment.
And since unemployment benefits have stopped for most since this recession began, it truthfully could be that the number of new Americans applying for unemployment has stabilized, but those that are still not working or have had to take jobs beneath their former salaries or in lower paying work has increased.
Also not included in this report is the number of offsetting jobs that have been created which are those most "created" by this Administration as with the last.
Taxpayer paid government jobs.
Although it is the average middle class Americans that are now paying a heftier burden in order to provide those taxpayer paid jobs to begin with, which is placing more and more of them on the unemployment lines, or in the bankruptcy courts.
Even with as difficult as it is today after the revisions in the bankruptcy code of several years ago, at the behest of the financial sector and those Wall Street bankers, bankruptcies throughout the nation are up.
And those figures were left out of the USDL's report.
The number of new small businesses, or those that have been in business for literally decades now bankrupt and those losses also were not included, since unemployment is not available to those that are self-employed.
Foreclosures are up once again for last month, which means that the American economy is not rallying, and is in fact continuing to sink into a full out depression, at this point, throughout a good many states in the country.
Especially the West and Southwest, due to the questionable loans which were sold to many during the boom, many of which were not even based on the U.S. currency, but the LIBOR or London Interest Bearing Origination Rates.
The home buying market has not significantly improved but is continuing to worsen in those states and many others, since of course the terms of most of those loans have not changed, and the Obama Administration has concentrated most of all on encouraging Americans to refinance instead.
Under the terms of those same loans that were sold which created this tsunmai.
It was announced also that Congress has passed a measure giving companies that hire new workers a tax incentive in the form of a payroll tax deduction.
I have been unable to find much further information on this particular legislation, however, I wonder what kind of payroll tax deduction would be afforded, since the only sums which employers contribute over and above that which they deduct from employee payroll checks for federal income taxes withheld would be Social Security matching sums.
Does this mean Congress, in its infinite wisdom, is now not requiring these large global corporations to match Social Security payments, and thus reducing then those benefits for those employees at retirement?
Or are these credits for all the assundry state required taxes paid, such as unemployment, workmen's comp and the like?
It doesn't appear that it isn't that American companies are not hiring, they are just not hiring Americans but prefer foreign cheaper untaxed labor, I believe that has been the prevailing public opinion.
Simply rewinding and placing the tax back on foreign labor rather than the domestic variety would be the best job stimulus for Americans yet.
The spins off the Hill continue, obviously.
http://enews.earthlink.net/article/top?guid=20100305/848a9193-efa3-43e7-8edc-2d33097dfeb5
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