As someone who works with client helping them to find qualified talent through appropriate venues, I see certain positions like engineering, IT and sales difficult positions for my client to fill. Part of the reason is that there are not enough trained individuals in these job categories and another reason is that the client demand for finding these people is so great, that demand is outrunning the supply. I can’t speak to this on an international scope, but as a country we need to better align academia with business, whereas both are working together to project and plan what occupational needs should be in place based on our advancements in technology and research. I don’t profess this to be “the solution” but IMHO, I believe this to be one of the problems that got us here and more so what continues to be a hindrance in the high number of unemployed people.

As someone who is a volunteer in a job seeker group, I can tell you that I have spoken to people who have been unemployed for over two and three years. This is, in itself disturbing, however I can tell you that a few of them had jobs that are just not in demand any longer or companies have learned to function without, leaving these people with very few to no options.

As someone who works in talent acquisition, I believe these numbers and the answers to these questions can have significant impact on markets- both positive and negative. The underlying question for me is this- Should we expect to see employment rates and economic growth mirror the pre-recession era, an era defined by uncontrolled risk in the markets and an era, in retrospect, that experts widely agree was unsustainable?

IF the answer to that question is YES, then how do we generate that growth in a sustainable way? If the answer to that question is no- then how do we move forward within this new economic reality?

Big questions!

The only number that has increased is the number of people that the BLS keeps stashing away in the Not in the Labor Force category. Almost 7.5 million additional people have been classified as Not in the Labor Force since Jan 2009 and they are not counted in the unemployment rate. These are people who have lost their jobs and given up, retired, gone back to school or stayed at home with the kids because there is no work. If the BLS calculated the unemployment rate the way it was years ago it would be much higher and more realistic.

BLS Numbers

Population
Jan 2009: 234,739
Jun 2012: 243,155

Civilian Labor Force
Jan 2009: 154,140
Jun 2012: 155,163

Employed:
Jan 2009: 142,221
Jun 2012: 142,415

Unemployed:
Jan 2009: 11,919
Jun 2012: 12,749

Not in Labor Force:
Jan 2009: 80,599
Jun 2012: 87,992

Participation Rate:
Jan 2009: 65.7
Jun 2012: 63.8

Employment Ratio:
Jan 2009: 60.6
Jun 2012: 58.6

I don’t buy that.. if only it were so easy.. I believe that the job market is based upon Greed. Companies continue to Push our jobs overseas, for the wonderful and amazing Tax Rebate and cheap labor… they get rewarded for sending our employment overseas; lowering government oversight, so they can use cheaper material for unsafe and shoddy products..

Think about this, even when America was facing one of the worst long term unemployment in history between 2003 – 2008 – we were led to believe that Employment was only 4.5% and that the job situation fantastic, that there was a huge war for talent, and pending doom.. Even though the Job situation in reality was already starting to be one of the worse in recorded history.. as we lost more jobs, and has little job gains during that time frame.. (bush didn’t count the long term employed or underemployed, and unemployment expired much sooner than it does today.) – Long term unemployment in 2003 was already at Pre Word War 2 Levels.. and many were not aware how dire it was..

So, The consumers were spending like crazy, but we losing jobs at record numbers. they were being sent overseas, or we were bringing in more foreigners at a lower cost to do the job! Ultimately we have cheapened our labor so badly that companies are unable to have American’s purchase their products, because they can’t afford it.

China and India fatigue, as more companies are insourcing their jobs back home..Yahoo and SBC are two that have started to do this.. but, they are also still now looking closer to home.. Mexico, South America. Closer time zone, and more western customs and business ideologies make it easier to work there..

But, eventually, like we did in India, we will create the wages to be more competitive to America.. so eventually, (in our lifetime) we will see more jobs return home..

We want it faster.. well, get rid of the Billion dollar tax write offs that profitable companies continue to have to source our jobs overseas, and we will see the jobs come home..

Great post. Thanks for sharing. My condolences on your lost.

I have been fortunate enough to have been under the wing of quite a few mentors in my career, as well as had the privilege of having the opportunity to provide for a mentee on two occasions. I couldn’t agree more that having these types of relationships is one of the single best ways to grow ones skills, knowledge and ability as they relate not only to the world of work, but life in general.

One thing I have begun to question, however, is the effectiveness of “implementing” a mentoring program. In my experience, those relationships that have proved most valuable for me have blossomed in an “organic” way, as opposed to what is typically a company’s “systemic” approach. Not to say that they just occur naturally, as mentoring relationships require a great degree of proactive effort for both parties, and it is always best to formally recognize the relationship as such, but rather to say that not every manager is capable of being a mentor, and not every employee sees the value in being a mentee (although an organization could certainly hire with an eye towards those qualities).

Unfortunately, as the world of work has changed over the past decade, so has the capacity for these relationships to grow to their full potential. Employee tenure is down nearly across the board- particularly for younger employees- and management has been tasked with “doing more with less”, which leaves precious little time outside the day-to-day business of doing their actual jobs. Unless you are lucky enough- and work hard enough- to have a relationship with an individual outside of your day-to-day business operations, then you’re on the right path, but more and more that is proving to be more difficult. And while there is always the option for “digital relationships”, mentor relationships typically are focused not only on professional development, but also personal development, which really does require more consistent interaction.

As with most things of value, the mentor/mentee relationship requires a lot of hard work and dedication on both sides… but as with all great challenges, those met the right way will lead to the greatest reward.