Dept. of Labor - 230,000 less jobs!

My boss this morning was telling me of the new release from the Department of Labor that states that there are over 230,000 less jobs! With all of the fledgling economy news out there, how does this affect the recruiting industry? What are your plans to "stay afloat" during this time? Where is the next "bubble" for recruiters? (at one point it was .com, etc)

Is it something we should really even worry about?

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Permalink Reply by Thorsten zur Jacobsmuehlen on April 4, 2008 at 5:21pm

Here in Germany we are looking expectant about the events the past few weeks in the USA.
Our market reacts a little bit later, but it seems to be that we will lost our economic growth too.
In last month we lost more jobs than we create.

And yes, that seems to be a hard time for recruiters in the next few years. In USA and Europe.
I´am happy with my kind of business, because we are searching only engineers - a rare applicants species. In bad times too.

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Permalink Reply by Amie Ernst on April 7, 2008 at 4:53pm

Wow Karen! What a great post / rant. (Sounds like a good intro to a podcast..hmmm..)

What I have noticed is that I am not fighting a war to find great candidates, but that I have SEVERAL candidates that are desperate to find new employment.

Here in Ohio, things are worse than most of the US. With the NAFTA agreement, Ohio has lost more jobs than any other state in the US. We had 3.7% job loss in Ohio in 2007, WORSE than the great depression where there was only 3.4% loss. Ohio had the largest increase in food stamp enrollment ever last year with 1 out of every 10 families recieving assistance. If anyone wants to see how bleak things are, Ohio is the place to look. I have lived here my entire life, and the amazing thing is that this is not just one area of Ohio that is suffering, it is the whole state. Many are not waiting for things to change, they are moving to where jobs are.

Prices are high, Gas is unbelievable, and I think we are naturally going to see recruitment wane and if people are wise, they will cross train in other modalities to allow job security. I have been very lucky, but I also am very aware that job loss can happen to anyone at anytime. Look at Bear Stearn and other companies who you never imagined would go under. Times are tough, but there will always be a need for HR professionals to recruit talent. Maybe not at the high numbers that are recruiters now, but there will always be a need..

Anyhow, great response!

Amie

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Permalink Reply by Robert Wilson on April 9, 2008 at 10:43am

I love reading yoru comments. They are very thought provoking and interesting. You make me take a different viewpoint on things.

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Permalink Reply by Julie Driscoll on April 9, 2008 at 2:12pm

Howmany turn 21 every day, I wonder? I think we have what can be characterized as The Incredible Shrinking Workforce here in the US. Another good reason to jettison the closed-door policy on immigration.