It’s the Economy: Little or No Job Creation

My accountant told me recently that, to her knowledge, not a single one of her clients offered employee raises in 2009. The economic outlook is too foggy and employers are uncertain about where and how political decisions at both the state level and the federal level will impact their companies.

At the same time, the engine of job creation is sputtering. In the IT industry, near and dear to my heart, and provided as an example, some older companies are expanding their employment ranks, while others such as Microsoft are shedding jobs. But the real story is that startup companies that can generally be counted on to create new jobs, are not starting up. Not good news for jobs and I recognize I am using just one industry as an example – but it’s a powerful one.

Hiring new employees is also relatively at a stand-still for this reason, too. Although employers are replacing critical positions, many have stopped expanding because of increased uncertainty. Employers are waiting for the next decision that will affect business taxes; employee healthcare; employer requirements such as paid sick time, paid vacation time, and workplace regulations; the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA); taxes on carbon emissions, and so forth. This list highlights just the tip of employer concerns.

In this environment of employer unease, the national unemployment rate rose to 9.8% (with some states and segments higher) in September, 2009, according to the figures available from the the Department of Labor (DOL). My understanding is that these numbers exclude the 400,000 or so people who have given up on job searching this summer, so my speculation is that unemployment is much higher than announced.

Edited (11-6) to add: In breaking news, the Washington Post reports that unemployment in October jumped to 10.2%. When you add in the people who have given up looking, the national unemployment rate is actually closer to 17%.

While the legislature passed an unemployment extension on November 5, the overall news on the employment front is not good.

The Federal Reserve, in a little remarked upon announcement in July, projected that unemployment would rise to over 10% in the next few months and that no net new jobs would be created for five years. News this week from the Conference Board indicates that, while 3,280,000 jobs were advertised online in October, 2009, this is a decrease from September, 2009 of 83,200 openings.

Much of this is sobering news if you are employed or an employer, and disheartening news if you are currently unemployed. My point, in making this post, is not to spread economic gloom, but to take a realistic look at what this means for employers and their employees. Alison Doyle, my colleague at About.com Job Searching, offers advice for the unemployed and job searchers.

Today, I’ll focus on advice for employees and in a subsequent post, I’ll feature thoughts for employers.

Advice for Employees in This Economy

Hold on to the Job You Have

• How to Make Your Current Job Work.
• How to Keep Your Job.
• In Danger of Getting Fired or Laid Off?
• How to Get Along With Your Boss.
• How to Get Along With Coworkers.
• How to Cope When Coworkers Lose Their Job.
• Job Offer.

  If you do leave your current employer, do not resign until you have a written job offer in hand, signed, and accepted.

_{Image Copyright Paul Conrath / Getty Images}

It’s the Economy: Little or No Job Creation originally appeared on About.com Human Resources on Thursday, November 5th, 2009 at 13:42:37.

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