It seems the politicos at The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) have teamed up with JobTarget marketeers and are set to publish a 2009 Job Board Savings Book.

Apparently, you can use the coupons at over 1,000 niche, diversity and regional job boards that are slashing up to half the price on their job postings, all to help make the world go round. Think of it as cross between an economic stimulus package and a licked-to-go Green Shield Stamps program.

In times of economic collapse it is only natural that the industry's leadership should bandy together and step up to the plate. Rewarding good behavior [buying postings] and facilitating commerce [direct marketing] is not a bad thing. To the contrary, it is a good thing. And programs like this are quintessentially American, aren't they?

To the cynics who might postulate the alliance between SHRM and JobTarget has more to do with monopolistic price fixing than affinity programming, I say this: Phooey!

And to the preposterous argument that this scheme has more to do with deflationary pricing to offset falling demand and the no-cost alternatives that may be even more effective than traditional job postings -- double phooey!

SHRM-sponsored programs like this one have always been about reducing the cost-per-hire and getting the best return on regular HR folk's advertising dollars. I think its wonderful that the nice people at JobTarget would help out this way.

Every responsible job board owner should be buying into this historic blow-in. And to the blasted cynic who would say that the only thing being cached here are job postings and commission checks -- phooey, phooey, phooey!