Where are the jobs? Fix the economy!

According to a recent online article The Best Cities for Jobs 2011 by Joel Kotkin and Michael Shires:

“…no place displayed more vibrancy than Texas. The Lone Star State dominated the three size categories, with the No. 1 mid-sized city, El Paso (No. 3 overall, up 22 places from last year) and No.1 large metropolitan area Austin (No. 6 overall), joining Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood (the No. 1 small city) atop their respective lists.

Texas also produced three other of the top 10 smallest regions, including energy-dominated No. 4 Midland, which gained 41 places overall, and No. 10 Odessa, whose economy jumped a remarkable 57 places. It also added two other mid-size cities to its belt: No. 2 Corpus Christi and No. 4 McAllen-Edinburgh-Mission.”

More new jobs exist in Dallas than many other places, but the long term unemployed need their voices heard. Fortunately job seekers in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area can avail themselves of membership in a number of faith based groups which are free and non-denominational. The groups provide career resources at the various churches through excellent speakers, panels, networking, leads and emotional support. Jeff Morris, leader of the group at Christ United Methodist Church in Plano developed an amazing website for the entire area, listing the calendar of events, addresses of the groups, the leadership and other resources.

Watermark Church, a non-denominational Christ centered church in Dallas, is an example of one of the groups with large membership and many different activities to assist job seekers. Dewitte Ray is a facilitator with a cadre of 30 other volunteers. The Tuesday morning main meeting often attracts 70+ in attendance..

When I visited their group last week, I asked the participants if they would share how they would fix the economy, which, if Congress doesn’t stop squabbling soon, will ruin our economy, not just in Texas, but world wide. I promised not to share the names of those who responded to my question. Here are pertinent responses:

From Will Balanz

“I think that credit cards are the root to “most evils”. Therefore, I feel that credit cards should be restricted in that there should be a monthly spending limit imposed for each individual and that nobody should be allowed to carry a balance over from one month to the next – you have to pay your balance in full before you can use it the following month.

This would force people to spend only what they have instead of going beyond their means. I feel this was the beginning of the bank bailouts that occurred in recent years, too. I know many people think they can handle their own money, but statistics prove them wrong. This would also lead to many financial challenges and changes for individuals as well as the credit card companies. In the long run, though, it would provide for a stable economy where people can trust one another.”

From Ima Inarush

“I am in real estate and don’t know why banks are holding back on lending money right now. Something is keeping them overly conservative and ‘scared’ to lend out.

Donna Givhup

“I would encourage employers to keep their employees as long as possible. They could institute 15% pay cuts across the board, rather than lay off a percentage of their talent base.

In both the public and private sectors, there is a lot of waste, fraud and abuse. If there was a greater crackdown on wasteful spending, companies and governmental agencies would have larger amounts of funds to put to good use.

Consumers should continue to spend in accordance with their means, but not hold on to their money too tightly. It takes some spending in the economy to keep everything going.

The tax rates should be adjusted so that small businesses, in particular, are comfortable with hiring additional staff.”

Ann Gree

I am a baby boomer. My group has had it particularly tough time finding work in this recession. Usually we get labeled over qualified. However, just a few short years ago employers were focusing on “top grading” or hiring only the best. Today most employers aren’t hiring the most qualified. Apparently hiring people who are safe and “fit” a certain mold by looking like the hiring manager are preferred over experience and credentials.

Of course, in theory companies should feel pressure from the EEOC not to discriminate based on age or anything else. However, it seems company culture and the need to fit that culture takes priority. Companies claim to want diversity but that doesn’t include seasoned professionals. Minority groups are fine as long as they are under forty.

Why can’t the EEOC enforce TRUE diversity which would include hiring a quota of older workers? And pressure companies to hire those individuals who have been out of work for the longest amount of time first?  This would be good for the economy including the housing market. After all, do companies hire people based on what they bring to the table or how they fit in?”

Bill Fold

“As one of the leaders for this group, I see the membership as more sophisticated in approach in looking for work than they were several years ago. But we need to find a way to fix the economy as it won’t improve unless employers start hiring the unemployed.”

Why can’t Congress compromise? The polls show the people and the President all agree that they want compromise but the our elected officials seem to have forgotten that they were elected by the people, FOR the people. And the people will certainly suffer more than ever, not just in the United States, but globally. Please urge your elected officials in Washington to show that they are  working for all of us, not just for their political parties. Let’s get people back to work, not create havoc!

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Plot

Larry Crowne, happily employed at a pseudo-Walmart, thinks he’s going to receive Employee of the Month at the beginning of the story.  Instead, he’s laid off as he lacks a college degree which thrusts him into the new box on the organizational chart called “no longer fit for the job.”  The HR lady is cold and the employee with the SMU degree leers pompously since he’s staying while Larry is left out in the cold.

Larry needs money.  He sells his house and many of his possessions, moves to a small apartment and goes back to college to further his education and position in life.  Along the way a sweet, young, pretty co-ed helps him dress a little less geeky. He returns the favor by helping her start a retail boutique.  He decides to ride a motor scooter and tries to sell his expensive SUV.  He lands a job as a cook through a friend to help support himself.  He falls for his professor in college.

What’s Right?

Anyone who has heard my presentations for job seekers knows I would approve of Larry’s march towards success.  He down sizes quickly, selling almost all his possessions.  Larry improves his appearance and upgrades his skills through classes to help him advance professionally.  By helping his friend he meets others and has some fun.  Although the scene where he provides his records to the bank to declare bankruptcy might have been sad, the blond actress played her role with the right amount of surprise and disdain, demonstrating the irony of our current, erratic economy.  Larry didn’t hesitate to use his prior cooking skills to support himself, let go of his home and try something new, when he couldn’t find retail management.  He listened and grew from the experience.

What’s Wrong?

The romance in the movie added some humor and a little love in what could have been a very bleak story.  Most of us know that Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts are friends and they probably are making a mountain of money by inserting a bit of fluff which in another movie was called Fatal Attraction.  But the truth is, finding a new partner to play with during job search is not a good idea.  Larry needed to stay focused on the future JOB, not a girlfriend.  Unemployed people need friends but developing a new relationship while grieving for the loss of your business family is not a great idea, as too much change at once can lead a person down a very rocky road.

Larry didn’t seem to have any children, step-children, aged parents or siblings.  So many people today have financial AND family obligations that make returning to school very difficult.  Having to sell your kids’ possessions and move to a homeless shelter was not a part of this fluffy film.  The fear, angst, roller coaster of unemployment was superficial, at best.

Should you see it?

If you love Julia Roberts or Tom Hanks (as I do), you may want to see Larry Crowne.  Laugh a little, commiserate if you’re in transition, but don’t expect this to win any Oscars.

What can we learn?

If you are in Human Resources, you might want to see it as a reminder that if you must lay off people, do so with as much grace as you can muster.  If you appear uncaring and cold, it may haunt you when it happens to you. And it’s rarely easy for anyone concerned.

If you are a job seeker, you may take notice of Larry’s very positive outlook and action, despite the reality of the market place and the need to realize you may be obliged to find a different type of job.

If you are a hiring manager, I urge you to consider hiring the unemployed.  If you only hire employed people, our economy cannot improve.  If you’ve never experienced unemployment, you may not understand how difficult it is not to ever hear a response after an interview or know the extreme effort in preparing the perfect resume.  You are missing a tremendous opportunity if you discriminate against people in transition.  It happens to good people every day.  You could be next.  Let’s get more people back to work!

I’m glad I saw the show.  It was not whiny, tear jerker, but carries a sincere message of encouragement.  And it’s a reminder that we need to do more to help those in transition find new opportunities.

Note: I’ll be speaking at Watermark Church on Tuesday at 8:00 a.m. on July 19, which is located at 7540 Lyndon B Johnson Freeway, Dallas, TX 75251.  Title of the interactive presentation is Driving Your Job Search to Work.

In a quick call to Barbara Hale, Employment Law Attorney with Blanscet Sutherland Hooper & Hale, L.L.P., I asked about her thoughts on the Walmart case.  In essence she indicated the lawyers filed under a law which simply didn’t work for the EEOC, as the experience of each woman would have been different.  “The case was too massive and should not have been brought originally,” she said.  The women who filed can each bring suit and tell her story, but after waiting ten years for this suit to come to trial,  energy may have waned.

Only time will tell what will happen.  The article re-posted in full below is from Workforce Management Magazine.

Employment Law Landscape Changes With Wal-Mart Ruling

By Rita Pyrillis
The Supreme Court’s dismissal on June 20 of a huge sexual discrimination class-action lawsuit against Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is a major victory for the retail giant and employers across the country, say employment lawyers, and sets guidelines for the way similar lawsuits can be structured and litigated.

“It’s a big win for employers because it sets new ground rules for the way in which class actions are constructed and defended,” said Gerald Maatman, a Chicago-based lawyer with Seyfarth Shaw, an employment and labor law firm. “The bar has been raised and tightened making it harder for plaintiffs to marshal the evidence needed for a class-action suit. In this case, the plaintiffs failed to establish a pattern or practice of unwritten discrimination.”

In a 5-4 ruling in the case of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. v. Betty Dukes, et al., the high court reversed a lower court decision that would have allowed as many as 1.5 million female workers to sue the nation’s biggest private employer for back pay and punitive damages that could have totaled billions of dollars.

The decision makes it more difficult for employees to file such lawsuits unless they are able to clearly identify a common injury, such as a companywide discriminatory policy, Maatman said.

The plaintiff’s key evidence was Wal-Mart’s policy of allowing local supervisors discretion over pay and promotion decisions, “which in and of itself was not evidence sufficient to raise an inference of discrimination,” Maatman said. The justices also deemed anecdotal evidence in the form of 120 affidavits as insufficient proof.

“The Supreme Court says there’s nothing sinister about subjective decision-making,” Maatman said. “It doesn’t lend itself to discrimination, which is what the plaintiffs asserted.”

Katherine Kimpel, a partner at the Washington, D.C.-based law firm Sanford Wittels and Heisler, which filed a friend of the court brief on behalf of the plaintiffs, said that the ruling marks “a significant departure from previous cases in terms of what the Supreme Court will and will not countenance as actionable claims. It significantly limits the way individuals can stand up to Goliath corporations and effect change in policies and procedures. This decision takes away the possibility that through a lawsuit you can actually bring down Goliath.”

Wal-Mart’s executive vice president of people Gisel Ruiz said in a written statement: “Clearly today’s ruling in the Dukes case has important legal implications, but just as important, it pulls the rug out from under the accusations made against Walmart over the last 10 years. Every female associate and every customer can feel even better about the company as a result of today’s decision.”

Alison Davis, CEO of employee communications consulting firm Davis & Co., said companies’ initial reaction to the ruling may be to breathe easier. But, she said, “It doesn’t mean that they can relax.”

To avoid a lawsuit in the first place, business leaders she has spoken with have been trying to do a better job of communicating their policies, sharing job opportunities and listening to employee concerns.

An active, thorough approach to good employee relations is all the more important in today’s climate of workers who use Facebook and Twitter, Davis said. Complaints voiced by an employee in one location can grow into a groundswell quickly, she said.

“Social media has meant that these things go viral very fast,” she said.

Workforce Management Senior Editor Ed Frauenheim contributed to this story.

More articles for you:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304070104576399673899870098.html

http://blogs.forbes.com/danielfisher/2011/06/21/wal-mart-case-wounds-but-doesnt-kill-the-class-action/

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OMG! I forgot to mark that private!

Anthony Weiner, a formerly esteemed member of Congress, knows about Twitter. But he failed to realize how to stay relevant and not ruin his reputation.  Today you must vigilantly guard your profiles and messages as you never know when you may flip a message to a friend, thinking it is private, but it lands with 1700 of your connections.  Everyone makes mistakes periodically. Whether you are 25 or 55, employed or unemployed, you need to grasp the power and perils of social media practices with extreme care.  Whether it’s an email or a profile, checking it twice or more before post  is imperative.

Social media will continue to evolve. If you don’t have a Linkedin profile, you are missing an excellent opportunity to show the world you are relevant and professional.  If you are a hiring manager, your profile is extremely helpful for candidates.  Knowing where you went to college could engage your candidate quickly.  Your profile needs to be up to date, showing more than just your title and number of years’ experience, along with education.  It is not your resume but a short, concise statement, showing your professional expertise.

What good is a profile if it’s marked “private?”  What good does it do, if you say you are an engineering manager with no details regarding what kind and what products you develop?  Look at someone’s profile you admire or with similar background to find an example to assist you.

Some people are fearful that details will increase internet traffic and phone calls which will interfere with responsibilities.  If that happens, you simply mark the profile, “Not currently accepting InMail.”  I’ve been using Linkedin successfully for approximately four years with no unfortunate incidents.  Some refuse to connect with people they don’t know, which was the original intent, but the tool evolved to assist with electronic communication.  I rarely hear of inappropriate use.

For several years I resisted putting my photo on Linkedin as I didn’t think it added value.  I had a picture of my dog posted briefly before I realized that was a huge mistake: it made me look less than professional.  Facebook is ok for less formal communication with friends and family (and a picture of my dog).  Linkedin is for professional business associates.  Having your picture on Linkedin is almost like putting the fork on the left side of a dinner plate.

Probably before long another business network will become the new “ultimate source.” But for now, using social media effectively is a wonderful way to show you understand the power of technology.  Eventually, lawsuits may cause companies to create a policy to keep you from using it but it is currently the “tool of the day.”

Many older workers are refusing to learn about new methods using social media.  Many younger workers spend hours on end texting and using language which, when they start looking for a new job, may haunt them.  Too many people are wasting time on Farmville and other games, which can be seen by recruiters when they look for work.  “Hmmm!  Maybe that person will continue to play Farmville if I hire her.”  If you are a professional, act like one!

Whether you are 24, 44 or 64, using technology is important.  You may only want SKYPE for to see your grandchildren in Poughkeepsie, New York or you may need it for an interview with your Sales VP in Paris, France.  Keeping up with technology is like keeping your grass cut.  You want to be relevant, not old-fashioned or crass.  Social networking is here to stay in various formats.  You don’t want to act inappropriately or be known as a dinosaur.

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Ruth and Lane Play Soccer

Last week I visited my family in Portland, Oregon.  I attended Charlotte’s eighth birthday party and had great fun with the five year old at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI).  Although many high points occurred while I was there, the soccer game with the little guy demonstrated to me how much we resist change when it can yield fabulous rewards.

Lane played his last soccer game of the season indoors, thank goodness, as Portland is well known for rainy and chilly weather.  His mom had to leave early to meet Charlotte after school, so a neighbor would drive us home.  Since it was the last game, the moms and dads played against the team briefly at the end and then the kids had ice cream and took pictures.  I knew I was supposed to play but thought I’d just wiggle out of it somehow.

You see, I’ve never been good at sports. I give the term “klutz” a new meaning.  I never, ever played soccer in my life, although I was an avid soccer mom during my sons early years. I’m aware players kick the ball to one end of the field or the other.  That’s about it.  As the moms and dads started flooding onto the soccer floor, my little guy came to me, “Grandma, I want you to play, too!”  Oh, dear!  So I turned off my fears of failure from my childhood and joined the group.  And amazingly, I kicked the ball…not once, but THREE times.  I was the proudest Grandma on the field (and quite possibly the only Grandma).  The Mamas and the Papas and Grandma lost the game but it proved the importance of exuding confidence in the face of adversity!

Points to Ponder

1)                  We resist change from the time we are children. Change is harder than the status quo.

2)                  The tapes from our childhood remain in our subconscious forever.  Be careful what you say to your kids.

3)                  When faced with a new challenge, you need to try your best.  You may be pleasantly surprised what you can accomplish.

4)                  Thoughts are things! Clearly visualize your desired goal and think positive!

In my recruiting work I often hear hiring managers and HR professionals say, “That’s the way we’ve always done it.”

The truth is trying a new approach may be better for the team.  Trying new processes can actually improve productivity.  A hiring manager may not have tried team interviewing, preferring to have each team member interview candidates sequentially. However, group interviews could improve productivity.

I hear people say, “I’m too old to get a job offer.”

Attitude is paramount.  If you think you’re too old, that attitude will show unless you exhibit confidence and demonstrate ability to exceed expectations.  Negative thoughts from the past can interfere with the present.  “You’ll never amount to anything” better not surface when you are looking for a new job or career change.

If we are open to change, wonderful opportunities may arise.  Not always, but in the case of my amazing soccer debut, I received a Mother’s Day card from Lane with a big stick person and a little stick person with a circle between the two.  His explanation was, “That’s us playing soccer, Grandma.”  I will use that card as a bookmark for the rest of my life! It clearly illustrates that leaving your comfort zone and taking risks can ultimately bring new confidence and hefty rewards!

(The picture attached to this article is a copy of my valuable new bookmark!)

A special thanks to David Schaer for his editing.