This Week's Herman Trend Alert Green Banks Thrive

The Herman Trend Alert June 11, 2008 Unemployment--the Numbers Behind the Numbers The latest jump in the United States unemployment statistics has finally prompted us to speak out about what is really happening in the US labor marketplace and what effects these changes will have on our trading partners around the globe. Last Friday, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) announced that the unemployment rate is the highest since October 2004; this 10 percent boost was the biggest percentage point gain in 33 years. The Payroll Survey of employers is the basis for this increase. To its credit, the BLS does include in its notes: "in the establishment (payroll) survey, estimates for the most recent 2 months are based on substantially incomplete returns". This increase in unemployment continues to mask the real situation. Looking at the BLS' Household Survey, in the month of May, the national unemployment percentages among adult men and women were 4.9 and 4.8. At the same time, the rate for teenagers, ages 16 to 19 jumped from 15.4 in April to 18.7 in May, an increase of 21.4 percent. While part of this increase is due to high school and community college graduations, these new job seekers do not account for this huge increase. Rather, we believe that something else is happening. We believe that employers are holding on to their skilled, experienced workers and those with lower skill levels are considered more expendable and easier to hire back---as employees or contractors---when conditions improve. What these data reflect is that the US has a real problem with its under-resourced schools---schools that are either not engaging students enough to keep them there or preparing them for the job market. As a nation, we need to wake up to our workforce development challenges, including the lack of connection between employers and the community and technical colleges. For our friends abroad, these data also mask our critical skilled labor shortages that present real opportunities for them. Lacking the trained, skilled labor here will mean location of future facilities in places like Brasil and Southeast Asia, where there are pools of skilled workers, capable of handling work that US employees can not. © Copyright 1998- by The Herman Group, Inc. -- reproduction for publication is encouraged, with the following attribution: From "The Herman Trend Alert," by Roger Herman and Joyce Gioia, Strategic Business Futurists. (800) 227-3566 or http://www.hermangroup.com. The Herman Trend Alert is a trademark of The Herman Group, Inc." ANNOUNCING: EMPLOYER OF CHOICE® WORKSHOPS Have you wanted to be recognized as an Employer of Choice®? The first step is to send your champion to The Employer of Choice® Workshop. In Ho Chi Min City, Vietnam (17 and 18 March), Singapore (23 and 24 March), and Accra, Ghana (Week of 29 March), we will hold these two-day learning experiences. We will also hold a workshop in the United States in April. For more information, contact Joyce at 336-210-3548 or email, her: joyce@hermangroup.com. She will refer you to the local sponsor. LOOKING FOR A DYNAMIC KEYNOTE SPEAKER WITH A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE? You need look no farther. Joyce Gioia (joy-yah) is a sought-after speaker in Asia as well as Europe, and of course the United States. Joyce shares her knowledge and expertise about talent engagement and retention with business executives around the globe. Her understandings and insights will inform and fascinate you. For more information on Joyce's topics, call Carol McKinney at 336-282-9370 or visit the web site at http://www.hermangroup.com/joyce.html. GOOD SELECTION = BETTER RETENTION If you are not using pre-employment assessments, you are flying without radar---not very smart in today's highly competitive environment. Let us help you better understand your candidates and your employees. In less than 30 minutes, you will know if they can do the job (abilities); their work behaviors, even their personality and attitudes (like integrity & ethics), and those can't be trained. It's very cost effective, too! For more information, contact Joyce at 336-210-3548 or e-mail assessments@hermangroup.com. Validated for many countries and cultures. We offer in-depth help with job descriptions, too! http://www.hermangroup.com/assessments.html Herman Trend Alerts are produced by the Herman Group, strategic business futurists, Certified Management Consultants, authors, and professional speakers. New subscribers are welcome. There is no charge for this public service. The Herman Trend Alert is received by over 30,000 subscribers in 78 countries, in addition to other websites and printed magazines. Do you enjoy receiving this weekly e-mail update? Contact us about our co-branded Trend Alert service. Click here to sign up for the Herman Trend Alert. Subscribe or Unsubscribe to weekly Herman Trend Alert View this week's Herman Trend Alert Archived Weekly Herman Trend Alerts

[ Home · About · Products · Resources · Media ]

Web site design by WebEditor Design Services, Inc.