Friday, August 01, 2008

The Job Market August, 2008


It was a year ago Sunday that the sub-prime mortgage crisis became part of our vocabulary as sub-prime residential mortgage defaults began to implode upon lenders. It was on that day, that I watched CNBC as the events were unfolding and learned that our financial institutions had no way of valuing their mortgage derivative products when all hell started to break loose.

Since January 1, 2008, approximately 500,000 jobs were lost in the United States (Many of the layoff notices of 100 or more are chronicled at www.thejobmarketblog.com) . Many thousands more occurred in the 4th quarter of last year as financial houses like Merrill Lynch, Citigroup, UBS, CS First Boston and Lehman Brothers started to melt down. If you or friends of yours work or have worked there , you have heard the tales of woe from them.

Although official numbers suggest we are not in recession, unemployment in the US is now at 5% but the more telling statistic is that more than 9% of workers are now either unemployed or working part time, rather than full time as they wish. It is, as I suggested, the beginning of a complicated time in the US as the economy is choked by lack of credit.

It is also the beginning of complicated times for the world economy--China's China National Petroleum Corporation, will layoff 80,000 workers in the next 3 years. Siemens announced cuts of almost 17,000. Ericsson announced 4,000. Alcatel-Lucent is chopping 4,000 of its own.

For older, more expensive workers, in particular, the goal is to find a job and live to another day. In a little while, I will have a product available for you called, "How to Survive a Layoff Like A Pro" to help you avoid layoffs, if possible, and manage yourself and your expectations until you find your next job.

In the mean time, I encourage you not to have unreasonable expectations of salary offers because, frankly, companies have choices again these days and they don't have to pay you big increases or sign on bonuses.

Someone else will accept the job offer for less.

You might also order a copy of my ebooks, Get Yourself Hired NOW! The Big Game Hunter's Guide to Head Hunting Your Next Job and Every Job After That!" and "Get Your Job Search Organized NOW!" Both are available by clicking here

You need every tool you can get your hands on because in this market talented people are going to find themselves out of work for long periods of time.

Don't wait until your family finances are in shambles. Learn what you need to and get help wherever you can so you can get to work as fast as possible.

Jeff Altman
The Big Game Hunter
Concepts in Staffing
thebiggamehunter@cisny.com

© 2008 all rights reserved.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter, is Managing Director with Concepts in Staffing, a New York search firm, He has successfully assisted many corporations identify management leaders and staff in many disciplines since 1971. He is a retired certified leader of the ManKind Project, a not for profit organization that assists men with life issues, and a practicing psychotherapist.
He is the author of “Get Yourself Hired NOW! The Big Game Hunter’s Guide to Head Hunting Your Next Job and Every Job After That” (in ebook and audio formats) and “Get Your Job Search Organized NOW!” (ebook) Both are available at www.getyourselfhiredNOW.com

To receive a daily digest of positions emailed to you, search for openings that The Big Game Hunter is working on, to use Jeff’s free job lead search engine, Job Search Universe, to subscribe to Jeff’s free job hunting ezine, “Head Hunt Your Next Job, or his staffing ezine, “Natural Selection”, or to learn about his VIP program, go to www.jeffaltman.com.
Explore some of The Big Game Hunter's products in "The Universe" series
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