Economy is Improving but at Slow Pace

The Staffing View

On business, the workplace and employee relations

_April, 2011

 

Micro Tech’s Featured Job Openings for April

Senior Staff Accountant, Raleigh, NC

Salary: $25 per hour

Applicants should have experience working with non-profits, including understanding, writing and financial validation for state and federal grants Experience with North Carolina state tax laws and regulations, the ability to do cash forecasting and budgeting, maintain fixed asset records and depreciation, and ability to manage a bankroll for up to 40 employees also desired A bachelors degree in accounting or finance is required, while and MBA or CPA is preferred

Network Security Engineer, Providence, RI

This position will support external clients in a Network Engineer capacity Candidate needs include Sonicwall, Cisco, FrameRelay Cisco certification is a big plus but not required Applicants should also have experience connecting to a large network

Switch - LAN/WAN Any server experience is ideal but not necessary

Scientific Associate I, Cambridge, MA

This is a 6-month contract Duties include performing in vivo experiments according to protocols with limited input from supervisor Desired candidate will have strong scientific and technical knowledge of preparing formulations (solutions, suspensions) and should be hard working, energetic and a collaborative team player May present results within the lab Required skills also include handling of laboratory animals (mice, rats, rabbits) and familiarity with the policies of lab animal facilities Also hands on experience of dosing animals and collecting blood and ocular tissues (Ophthalmic experience is plus) Applicants should also be able to understand and effectively conduct laboratory experiments, contribute to written presentations, participate in experimental design and conduct defined work assignments

Ruby on Rails Developer, Boston, MA

Salary: $80,000

Boston area university is seeking a Ruby on Rails developer with expert knowledge of client side technologies including familiarity with the latest HTML/CSS/JavaScript practices Experience designing, deploying and tuning mission critical websites in an agile development environment required Applicants should also have strong UNIX command line skills and expertise with open source technologies and version control tools such as git

NET/DBA/General IT, Boston, MA

Salary: $72,000 to $80,000

Our client in Boston has a unique need at this time for a 'jack of all trades'Hybrid - NET/DBA/General IT positionNET Developer and SQL Database experience required, along with the ability to perform server back-up and general IT help

 

Despite Recovery, Long Term Unemployed Still Waiting

Though April’s job numbers were encouraging with growth in private sector jobs and a slight drop in the unemployment rate, there is still a dark lining to that silver cloud – long term unemployment About 6 million people, or 45 percent, of the nation’s 135 million unemployed workers have been out of a job for six months or more That percentage was actually up from 439 percent in February and just below the peak of 46 percent last May

The fact that private employers are hiring more, and we have witnessed that for some time at Microtech Staffing Group, is encouraging It should also spur those workers who have been displaced for an extended period and others who have become too discouraged to look for work, to keep at it When opportunity finally presents itself, will you be ready? Make sure you are presenting yourself correctly, that hiring managers won’t find any holes in your resume and that you’re thinking creatively about the work you might do next

The economy is slowly gathering momentum after a deep recession Here are a few tips on how you can get in on the expansion

Sign up with a staffing firm April’s 216,000 new jobs were good, but employers are still moving cautiously with their hiring Coming out of a recession they’d rather maintain a flexible workforce than immediately start hiring permanent employees Employee staffing firms such as Microtech provide those temporary employees for clients By connecting with a staffing firm, job seekers raise their chances to be introduced to new employers, try out a job, make connections and hopefully find full time work Sure you’d love to land a full-time job immediately But in a tight economy, a staffing firm is a good first step

Erase the down time You’ve been unemployed for months How have you spent the time? You’ll be a more attractive candidate if you can show that, while you haven’t had a full-time job, you have been working and improving your skills If you’ve been freelancing, make sure you describe that on you resume and how it has kept you current with the demands of your profession If you’ve been volunteering with an organization that allowed you to use your skills, talk about the results you’ve generated

 

Transferrable skills?The recession wiped out hundreds of thousands of jobs that won’t be coming back, according to many economists Rather, new jobs are being created requiring new skill sets or old skill sets being used in new ways Surveys have shown that about 50 percent of the people who were laid off during the recession, were reemployed in a different area from where they previously worked Think creatively Look at the job descriptions for openings in industries that are hiring Those companies have an employment need How can your skills meet that need?

Immigration Reform Gets Bumped

Aside from controversy around a state law in Arizona, the issue of immigration reform isn’t grabbing headlines these days as it was about five years ago when Congress was debating some sweeping measures Two wars, a national recession and a budget battle are enough to bump any story from the front page But the problem is still pressing Earlier this month a New York dairy producer was arrested for allegedly employing undocumented workers after one of them died from injuries sustained while working at the dairy facility That worker and eight others were citizens of Guatemala illegally in the US Absent action in Washington state governments have been working on immigration reform

The federal government estimates there are about seven million undocumented workers in the country, many working dangerous jobs Thousands are injured where they work each year and are not covered by workers’ compensation insurance As a result, they end up going without health care or visiting hospital emergency rooms for treatment provided by taxpayer dollars But many have families in the US with children who were born here and are natural citizens They don’t want to leave either

Many industries, such as agriculture, rely on seasonal or migrant workers to function Less scrupulous employers pay desperate people low wages Either way they’re violating federal law Meanwhile union groups argue that illegal aliens are taking jobs away from legal US citizens

Absent action in Washington state governments have been working on immigration reform Alabamarecently passed a measure that has been compared to Arizona’s, which orders police officers to check the immigration status of anyone they suspect of being here illegally Utah is seeking a waiver to create a guest-worker program that would issue permits to immigrants, including those who are undocumented, which would allow them to work in the state after they pass a background check and pay a fine

The accompanying chart shows the estimated percentage of legal and illegal foreign-born residents in the US and in states of interest to us, according to the US Census Bureau as of 2009 Microtech does not hire undocumented workers, but some staffing firms do That leaves us at a disadvantage We strictly follow the federal Form I-9 employment verification process when hiring new workers, which means we ask for and review documents presented by prospective employees to confirm their identity and work eligibility

Talent Retention

With the pool of available talent still deep in many industries following the recession, employers are upgrading their staffs by hiring highly qualified professionals for temporary or permanent employment But smart managers are also making sure their best employees don’t jump to another company as the economic recovery gains momentum Retention programs are as important as recruitment efforts when it comes to keeping your most valuable workers happy Here are a few thoughts on how you can keep your top performers on your team

• Create a “growth-opportunity” Sure everyone wants to get paid, but high-level achievers prefer a workplace where they are constantly improving their skills In-house programs, outside consultant seminars, brown-bag lunch meetings, all go to foster an atmosphere where employees feel as though they’re growing professionally


• Be a coach Managers who take the time to work one-on-one help their employees develop faster, build confidence in that individual and learn more about that person’s strengths and weaknesses That helps to place the worker in the best position to succeed


• Constructive comments A formal meeting once or twice a year to discuss performance can mean months go by without providing any feedback to your employees How are they doing? Offer guidance more frequently and encourage the staff to informally discuss each other’s work in a positive manner


• Encourage goal setting Not just sales goals, but career and personal goals Create in-house programs that help employees develop more broadly than what is included in their job description The happier they are in other areas of their life, the easier it will be to perform well on the job

 

MoneyBall

The average salary for the 844 players on Major League Baseball opening day rosters this year and the disabled list was $33 million, according to the Associated Press If that seems excessive, remember that Ted Williams once said hitting a baseball is the hardest thing in sports Clearly four of the top five highest paid players hit it pretty well and one, CC Sabathia, throws it hard too

Alex Rodriguez, Yankees - $32 million

Vernon Wells, Angels - $262 million

CC Sabathia, Yankees - $243 million

Mark Teixeira, Yankees - $231 million

Joe Mauer, Twins - $23 million

And what of Boston’s Carl Crawford, winner of the free-agent jackpot this past winter when he left the Tampa Bay Rays for a $142 million deal with the Red Sox? He’s already living by the old baseball saying “wait ‘til next year” His salary, a mere $149 million in 2011, will jump to $195 million in 2012 and then $21 million after that until it expires in 2017