Even in a metropolis like New York, you can always find vacant positions
It is known that the employment of the country's working-age population is a "lagging indicator" among other indicators of the state of the economy. Many industries and service sectors are already showing stabilization or even a slight increase in production. However, the economic recovery has not yet led to an increase in new jobs.
This discrepancy is explained by two reasons. First, employers show understandable caution and are in no hurry to hire workers for permanent positions. Instead, they purchase workwear and open temporary positions for hire or hire employees part-time. A similar picture is observed in all regions of the country, as confirmed by an 18% increase in the number of temporary jobs nationwide since the beginning of the year.
Second, with the first signs of recovery in the labor market, those who had already lost all hope and adapted to a new lifestyle with reduced expectations return to active job searching. This category of potential workers has exhausted their unemployment benefits and is no longer counted in national statistics as unemployed. But some of them eventually manage to find jobs, which artificially inflates the unemployment rate, which remains stable around 10%.
By the way, many of the "uncounted" workers return to the very companies that once showed them the door. This phenomenon, new to corporate America, is now observed not only in large companies like DELL or Phillips, but also in local small-scale production facilities. "The thing is that two years ago, as a result of the sharp downturn, companies were forced to lay off a large number of good workers," explains Adam Sorensen from the US Business Association. "When the need for skilled workers arose again, it turned out that it was faster and easier to fill vacancies with people already familiar with the work." As a recent survey showed, 9 out of 10 employers are not averse to rehiring employees laid off due to downsizing.
True, many of the rehired "former" workers must initially agree to be hired temporarily or part-time. Many small companies and firms contract with new-old employees only to fulfill a specific order (say, developing one architectural project) – so that while waiting for the next order, the company management is not obligated to continue paying wages. It is quite possible that if production grows, well-performing temporary workers can expect a smooth transition to permanent positions.
If you are comfortable with this path back to work, HR specialists advise all laid-off workers to try to stay informed about the situation at their former company, maintain friendly relations with working colleagues, regularly check the company's website, and be ready to prove to management that during your temporary absence you have not lost your qualities as a skilled and knowledgeable worker.
Among industries, the largest reduction in jobs continues to be observed in construction. The federal real estate stimulus program has stopped the prolonged decline in prices for houses and apartments, but construction companies are in no hurry to begin mass construction of housing and industrial premises and do not yet need to hire new workers. At the same time, mass layoffs at existing American plants and factories have stopped in the past month, and the healthcare sector is even seeing some job growth.
In New York and its suburbs, employment growth is also mainly driven by medical and technology specialties, as well as service positions. For example, Telephonics Corp., a plant assembling electronic equipment for military purposes located in the Greater New York area, continues to hire engineers and technicians, and the Brookhaven National Laboratory technical laboratory on Long Island has unfilled vacancies for programmers and administrators. Many Wall Street financial companies are beginning to hire information technology specialists, but for now only highly qualified programmers with extensive experience are needed.
Unfortunately, the largest employer – the city municipality – is not yet planning to hire new workers. On the contrary, due to a lack of budget funds, New York's mayor has ordered city agencies to cut costs across the board, and Governor Paterson of the state is behind the scenes seeking union agreement to freeze workers' wages and increase the required length of service for retirement based on years of service. Nevertheless, due to the large number of vacancies, some agencies continue to accept applications for exams in the following specialties: Police Officer, Correctional Officer, Traffic Enforcement Agent.
The most common advice these days from experts for job seekers is: do not isolate yourself! In addition to painstaking work at a personal computer, it is necessary to establish personal contacts both with people who are working and with those still looking for work – to exchange information and find useful connections. One of the most suitable places for preparing a resume and searching for needed information is some city libraries.
In Manhattan, free assistance is available at the specialized Science, Industry and Business Library at 188 Madison Avenue, at the Queens Central Library at 89-11 Merrick Boulevard, and at the Brooklyn Central Library at 10 Grand Army Plaza. The city authorities have also set up permanent centers in all five boroughs of New York City, where they provide help with job searches, resume writing, and interview preparation. The locations of these centers can be found on the Internet.
This year, due to the start of the nationwide census, hundreds of thousands of temporary jobs have been created across the United States with pay ranging from $14.50 to $20 per hour. In the Greater New York area alone, 40,000 census taker positions are to be filled. The Census Bureau assured that in many regions, hiring and training of workers is still ongoing, and they will even be provided with transportation for this painstaking work. And finally, it should be remembered that the U.S. and New York State tax agencies are not only engaged in tax collection and income verification, but also hire economists, programmers, clerks, and administrators for permanent and temporary positions near their place of residence. All this information can be found on the agencies' official web pages.