Archive for the ‘Employment’ Category

Finding and Creating Jobs in a Weak Economy

Wednesday, June 10th, 2009

Michigan used to be the home of the American Icon: the automobile.  But its glory days ended a long time ago and the recent bankruptcy of General Motors is a further reminder of its fall from grace.  Michigan has been hit worse than almost any other state in the US.  For years it has sufferred through a higher unemployment rate than most other states.  Its unemployment rate is currently the highest in the nation, 12.7%, compared to a national average around 9%.  Manufacturing jobs have been disappearing for years, and the economic crisis could have been the nail in the coffin for the auto industry.  For residents of the state of Michigan, moving forward and finding jobs among the wreckage will be tricky, though not impossible.

Michigan has a plethora of workers skilled in manufacturing and harnessing that skill for new industries will be the key.  As auto plants close, those skills can be used elsewhere.  The semi-nationalization of General Motors allows them to live another day, and many hope that Michigan can move on to be an important part of building the energy-efficient cars of the future.  To build such cars, mass quantities of batteries will need to be made, and Michigan is trying to position itself as the leader.  GM just recently opened a battery factory, with the help of state tax credits.  There are several other proposals on the docket for similar battery factories.  Though these new jobs will only replace a tiny fraction of the job losses in Michigan, many hope they are planting the seeds for many new jobs in the future. 

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The Governor is also trying to attract other green energy projects through tax credits.  Solar, wind, and railroad companies are expressing interest because of the manufacturing capability in Michigan.  And to augment this pool of manufacturing skill, the state authorized a “No Worker Left Behind” Program that will retrain unemployed workers in other fields for up to two years, all for free.  Around 60,000 people have signed up for this program, hoping to make the transition from the auto industry to another field.  

For the hundreds of thousands and even millions of newly unemployed, this will be a painful, but necessary transition.  As auto, banking, finance, and even law see jobs disappearing forever, other jobs will be created (though slowly).  Retraining and education will be an intricate part of our new economy. 

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Green collar jobs are on the rise as well.  The solar and wind industries are expanding.  Not only in manufacturing, but also installation, managerial, and sales positions.  Alternative Energy, a green energy new website, has a section that lists green collar jobs across the United States.  A quick look at the list sees a wide variety: “Solar Regional Sales Manager,” “Energy Auditor,” “Construction Project Engineer,” “Wind Site Manager,” just to name a few.  As I said before, these jobs will in no way completely replace the millions of jobs that have vanished since last year, but it’s a promising option for job seekers in an otherwise inhospitable job market.

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Creating Green Jobs

Monday, May 11th, 2009

The economic crisis is having lasting effects on the lives of everyone across the world.  Each month, job reports are released showing the latest casualties of the job market.  Hundreds of thousands each month…a half a million jobs for April alone.  Many economists think that the worst may be over, pointing to the fact that things are getting worse more slowly these days.  A sign of the times for sure, that half a million people lose their jobs in one month alone and people are relieved because it could have been worse.  In fact, many other economists think we may be in a recession for years to come. 

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The exact amount of time remaining until the US economy recovers may be disputed, but many more people recently believe we are headed in the right direction compared to 6 months ago.  And I would say most believe that a recovery is inevitable at some point.  So, what will our economy look like in one year’s time?  Two year’s time?  Do a lot of people believe that we will go back to where we were before the crisis?  Probably not.  There will be fundamental changes in the way our economy functions, the way our society works.  For example, a recent New York Times article states that one of the lasting impacts of the economic crisis is a higher savings rate for the average person.  That has mixed effects on our economy over the long-run.  While it’s a great virtue for the individual to save money, it has negative effects on businesses who rely on consumer spending, and therefore, many jobs rely on consumer spending.  But, it does mark a change in culture.  Many people feel that the days of living beyond our means are over.  The economy was bound to falter when people had a negative savings rate, i.e. spend more than they actually have.  Moving forward, we will have to build our economy on more solid ground, rather than making money from money.

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One possible way to create a more solid foundation for the future of our economy is to build a “green” economy.  Too much money has gone to importing oil from unfriendly petro-dictatorships.  Too much coal is being burned, putting our planet in peril.  By shifting our economy away from these non-renewable resources towards greener sources of energy, we can build an economy that creates green jobs, keeps our planet clean, and the US can be the leader on this technology.  Renewable energy continues to grow, despite serious setbacks from the economic crisis and the credit crunch.  As car factories shutter their windows, manufacturing jobs begin to disappear.  But, all the solar panels and windmills that need to be built will require skilled workers to do so. 

Of course it’s not as easy as it sounds.  Green energy needs to be as competitive with fossil fuels, economically speaking.  Solar panels and windmills can’t just be installed quickly and easily.  You need transmission lines to carry the electricity from the windmill (often in the middle of nowhere) to the city that needs the electricity.  The transmission lines need to be constructed across multiple states, and there are disagreements over who pays and who gets paid for such things.  Wind and solar energy still only amount to a couple percent of our total energy usage.

BUT, encouraging news is coming in.  The American Wind Energy Association recently published interesting results for the first quarter of 2009.  “The wind energy industry installed over 2,800 megawatts (MW) of new generating capacity in the first quarter of 2009, with new projects completed in 15 states and powering the equivalent of 816,000 homes, the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) announced today in its first quarter market report.”

The following states experience rapid growth in wind energy in the first quarter of 2009 (% growth)

  • Indiana 75%
  • Maine 55%
  • Nebraska 53%
  • Idaho 49%
  • New York 34%

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    We are making progress.  But, there are tons of things you can do on your own too.  Enchanting Challenge catalogs different undertakings by socially conscious people to try to make small improvements to our world.  No matter how big or how small, you can contribute to the environment, your community, and the people around you.  Sign on at www.enchantingchallenge.com and add your personal challenges!

    wind-power

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    Changing Career Choices

    Wednesday, April 15th, 2009
     
    The Future
    The Future

    I´ve written a series of posts about how the economic crisis has changed the way we live our lives. Unemployment, debt, foreclosures, vanishing retirements….but also a rise in volunteering, creative business ideas, a shuffling of top talent, and so on. I found another article in The New York Times (there seem to be endless articles in NYT about such things) about how the economic crisis has caused a huge shift in the careers people seek.

     

    Finance, for years, has been an almost guaranteed ticket to big salaries. Thousands of young adults entering college opt to study finance, with dollar signs in their eyes. A degree in finance or economics, and a nice internship at some of the big companies, and you are almost guaranteed a good job with a high salary, fresh out of college. Lots even receive signing bonuses while still in college – the top companies want to lock up their talent before they even graduate.

    But with these financial institutions sinking, the jobs simply aren´t there anymore. Not only are there layoffs at banks, but as I wrote in my previous post, the top talent at these banks are choosing to leave. The current state of affairs in the financial world doesn´t exactly promise a good working environment. So, with all this in mind, imagine you are in college choosing a major, or even a new graduate looking for a job. Does investment banking sound like a good career path right now? Probably not.  These people will probably choose a different direction.

    As the NYT reports, there has been a huge surge in other sectors.  Public service, government, sciences, teaching, social work.  Kedamai Fisseha, a finance major, had always believed he would be working on Wall Street after graduation, but with the economic crisis, he has applied for Teach For America, which places promising young teachers at struggling schools.  Enrollment in finance degree programs has decreased with an increase in computer science, public policy,  technology.  Graduate school applications in these fields are on the rise as well.

    Furthermore, as I noted in a previous post, volunteering is on the rise.  A recent headline of an article in The Economist tells all: ¨A Service Nation¨.  Forcing people from their jobs that they may have had for years has also forced them to look at their lives in a different way.  Now that they are no longer working for a job they  may not have loved, they are pursuing their dreams, often thinking they have nothing else to lose. 

    Law firms that are trying to cut costs are asking their career lawyers to accept one third of their salaray – to not come to work.   That´s right, get paid 33% of your salary, and do whatever you want.  Then come back in a year, and pickup where you left off.  An article  in NYT talks about Heather Eisenlord, who will be getting paid $80,000 (one third of her previous salary), and she will try to go to east Asia to install solar panels in remote parts of the Himalayas.  It has nothing to do with her job, but having the opportunity to cast off the shackles of her job, she is pursuing something totally different.

    Heather Eisenlord Planning Her Year Off

    Heather Eisenlord Planning Her Year Off

     

    And this brings me to my point, which is the same point I´ve made in some previous posts.  This economic crisis is awful, painful, and wrecking havoc across the world.  But it´s also changing the way we think; changing the way we live our lives.  No longer are teenagers entering college looking for a degree that will make them fast money.  With problems across the world, people are trying to help and serve.  A rise in volunteering, and now a rise in service-based degrees.  Teaching, social work, public policy, and sciences – I believe we are witnessing a shift in culture, a shift in the way people want to live their lives.

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    Senior Shuffle

    Monday, April 13th, 2009

    12wall02-190The economic crisis tends to hit certain groups in disproportionate ways.  Among the millions of recently unemployed, some of the hardest hit are workers over the age of 50.  For companies looking to shrink thier budgets and payrolls, cutting the expensive elderly is a quick way to do it.  They become expendable.  The first to get laid off and some of the last to get hired elsewhere.  Why hire a man who is approaching retirement and commands a high salary?  Why not hire a recent college grad to do a similar task for a fraction of the salary? 

    According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, workers over the age of 45 remain unemployed for up to 22.2 weeks before finding a new job, as opposed to 16.2 weeks for younger workers.  And they are forced to take huge pay cuts from their previous jobs.  The unemployment rate for workers over the age of 45 is at its highest rate since 1948.   Problems beseting the over 45 unemployed are much worse than that of the younger unemployed.  They have mortgages to pay, kids to put through college, medical bills to pay, debt to pay, and retirements to plan for.  The younger unemployed are much more flexible to change jobs, change locations for a job, or shack up with their parents until they find a job. 

    These problems are made all the worse now that millions of people have to push back their timetables for retirement, because their 401ks have vanished in the wake of the economic crisis.  They will now need to work for 10 more years in order to survive through their golden years…but they struggle to find work. 

    There are a few signs of hope though.  People over 50 have the knowledge and expertise that younger workers do not.  They have years of management experience under their belt, and if they are willing to take a pay cut, there are opportunities to find high positions that were vacated by others.  The crisis has also had another very interesting side effect.  All of the layoffs have created an abundance of talent looking for new opportunities.  There are all these highly intelligent people out their looking for either new jobs or new ventures.

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    An article on the front page of The New York Times yesterday touched on this subject.  At all of the crumbling mega banks there is a toxic environment for maintaining talent.  The senior executives can take their much-valued talent elsewhere.  Many of the best want to jump ship as they see their banks sinking quickly.  This may seem like an ominous problem, but it can be spun a different way.  With these huge multinational corporations dominating the industry for so long, they have prevented dynamic new startups from getting into the game.  This has prevented creativity and innovation from flourishing.  Now, with these huge banks floundering, their top talent is fleeing to new opportunities.  They are joining startup companies with fresh ideas and new ways of doing things.  It could contribute to a whole new way of doing business in the future. 

    This is where the elder workers come in.  They can offer their expertise to all the new entrepreneurs that will inevitably try to fill the void left by the failed companies.  They can try their luck at new positions in new fields.  Senior Job Bank is a website that connects job opportunities for the over 50 and job seekers that are over 50.  It covers all types of jobs and even part-time employment. 

    The current job climate may not be ideal for the over 50 job seekers, and at times it can be downright scary, there are opportunities out there.

    sjblogopeople

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