RSSIssue 8:2 – Monday, Thursday, February 1, 2007
www.vetjobs.com
The VetJobs Early Eagle is for member employers, recruiters, friends and supporters of VetJobs.
VetJobs is exclusively sponsored and partially owned by the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States. VetJobs is the only job board endorsed by the Vietnam Veterans of America.
This month’s Early Eagle is sponsored by: WEDDLE’s and TECHEXPO Top Secret
Contents:
1. Message from the Top
2. Change in Use of Guard and Reserve
3. New WEDDLE’s Research
4. Jobs Outlook Optimistic
5. National Guard and Reserve Mobilized as of January 10, 2007
6. Significant Events this Month in Military History
Thank you for reading the VetJobs Early Eagle employer newsletter. If you like this newsletter and what VetJobs and the VFW do to assist veterans and their family members find employment, please go to www.weddles.com/recruitpoll.cfm and vote VetJobs for the WEDDLE’s User’s Choice Award.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
1. Message from the Top
Thanks to the support of you, our member employers, I am very pleased to announce that VetJobs is a recipient of the 2007 WEDDLE’s User’s Choice Award (www.weddles.com)! This award marks VetJobs as one of the top 30 job boards on the Internet. More importantly, VetJobs is the only military related job board to receive this prestigious award four years in a row! Only 14 of the 40,000 plus career and job board sites on the Internet have received this recognition four years in a row. Your votes have confirmed that VetJobs is the leading military related job board on the Internet. The staff of VetJobs wants to thank all of you who voted. We appreciate your support and will continue to work hard to earn your votes again for the 2008 WEDDLE’s User’s Choice Award.
In February we celebrate Valentine’s Day (14th) and President’s Day (19th). Be sure to get your special person a nice Valentine. And remember the purpose of President’s Day. President’s Day was originally a day for honoring Washington and Lincoln, but is now the day we honor all of the presidents who have served the United States.
January 24 saw a little publicized anniversary, the 35th anniversary of the All Volunteer force. We now have two generations of Americans who have had no contact or experience with the military. In 1970, one in ten working adults had served in the military. Today, only one in 100 have had any military experience and that number is growing rapidly. This is also reflected in the Congress, which has seen a drastic reduction in the number of people who have had any military experience.
Economically, the market is great for anyone looking for employment but tough for employers looking for qualified candidates. The unemployment rate remains very low at 4.5% and there is a lot of job hopping taking place. Historically, unemployment from 1991 to 1996 averaged 6.4%, and averaged 5.4% from 2001 to 2006. So today’s 4.5% rate is making it harder to find the candidates that employers need to fill openings from retirements, new job growth and from resignations. Study after study now show that niche job boards are one of the best advertising mediums to find the candidates employers seek.
In January 110,000 new jobs were created. The Wall Street Journal reported that the 2006 monthly average of new job creation was 187,000 or 2.2 million new jobs for 2006. In the last twelve months, wages have risen at 1.7%, over twice the rate for the early 1990s.
Finally, for those employers who have employees who serve in the Guard and Reserve, you should be aware that there has been another change in the call-up policy (see article 2 below). What the policy means is a National Guard or Reserve employee could be mobilized for a 24-month tour, be demobilized and allowed to return to a civilian working life, only to be mobilized a second time for as much as an additional 24 months.
The Associated Press release of the Pentagon press conference held on January 11 was titled Pentagon Abandons Active-Duty Time Limit. The Associated Press quotes Dr. David Chu, the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, as saying: The fact that some with previous Iraq experience will end up spending more than 24 months on active duty is no “big deal.” With all due respect to Dr. Chu, it is a big deal.
I have heard from many employers confidentially saying that they can not support this policy. On Wednesday, January 31, I testified before the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee about this issue and how it will affect businesses. Those readers who subscribe to the Army Times Publishing Company newspapers (Army Times, Navy Times, Air Force Times and Marine Corps Times) will have seen my rebuttal op-ed to Dr. Chu’s article in the February 5 issue. This new policy is stretching the ability of employers to support members of the Guard and Reserve.
Workforce Management ran two polls of its readers last month regarding the hardships that are being imposed on employers who want to support their Guard and Reserve participating employees. The first question which was posted the week of January 8 asked:
Does your company have employees deployed in Iraq, and is this a hardship for your business? The answers from 335 executive and human resource managers:
Yes – 67%
No – 31%
I don’t know – 2%
Following the results of the January 8 poll and in light of the new Department of Defense (DOD) policy regarding the Guard and Reserve announced on January 11, a second poll ran the week of January 15 asked:
If you, as an employer, knew that a military reservist or National Guard member could be called up and taken away from their job for an indeterminate amount of time, would you still hire a citizen solider? The results from 389 respondents:
Yes – 29%
No – 54%
I don’t know – 17%
Please understand that the DOD is under extreme pressure to meet the needs of having troops on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan. In the short term until DOD can get more people into the military, the Guard and Reserve are one of the few resources upon which DOD can call to get the needed troops. Your support of employees you may have in the Guard and Reserve would be greatly appreciated.
More importantly, please make a special effort to hire returning members of the Guard and Reserve when they rotate back to the United States.
If you need information about the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA), please visit www.esgr.com or www.dol.gov/compliance/laws/comp-userra.htm.
While I have heard from many employers about how the new DOD policy on use of the Guard and Reserve will affect them, I would like to hear from you. Please send your comments to tdaywalt@vetjobs.com or call me at 877-838-5627. Your comments will be kept in confidence.
As always, if there is anything we at VetJobs can do for you, please do not hesitate to call or email.
And remember, Freedom Is Never Free – Support Our Armed Forces and Veterans!
Best regards,
Ted Daywalt
President
/—-February Early Eagle sponsor is WEDDLE’s—-\
WEDDLE’s 2007/8 Guide to Employment Sites on the Internet. Called the “Zagat of the online employment industry” by the American Staffing Association, it provides full-page profiles of 350 of the best job boards in a range of occupations, industries and locations.
WEDDLE’s 2007/8 Directory of Employment Related Internet Sites. The “address book of the online employment industry,” it lists over 9,000 sites and organizes them by the occupational fields, industries and geographies on which they focus.
WEDDLE’s 2007/8 Guide to Association Web Sites. The key to the “hidden talent market” online, it details the recruiting resources and capabilities that are provided at the Web-sites of over 1,900 associations and societies.
These books are a smart investment for the smart professional. They provide a real and important return every time you use them. So, don’t delay! Call WEDDLE’s today. Our telephone number is 317-916-9424.
\—–Please visit your February Early Eagle sponsor WEDDLE’s—–/
2. Change in Use of Guard and Reserve
During a press conference on January 11, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and General Peter Pace, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff announced that the policy on the use of the Guard and Reserve was changing yet again. The Pentagon’s previous policy on the Guard and Reserve was that members’ cumulative time on active duty for the Iraq or Afghan wars could not exceed 24 months. That cumulative limit is now lifted; the remaining limit is on the length of any single mobilization, which may not exceed 24 consecutive months. What this means is a National Guard or Reserve member could be mobilized for a 24-month tour in Iraq or Afghanistan, be demobilized and allowed to return to a civilian working life, only to be mobilized a second time for as much as an additional 24 months for a total of 48 months in any 60 month period.
/—-February Early Eagle sponsor is TECHEXPO Top Secret—-\
Find qualified candidates at TECHEXPO this month! TECHEXPO Top Secret job fairs bring you face to face with security-cleared professionals; Thursday, February 15 in Baltimore, MD; and Wednesday, February 21 in Arlington, VA. For the 2007 event schedule, contact Seth Berk at 212-655-4505 x244 or email at SBerk@TechExpoUSA.com. http://www.TechExpoUSA.com
\—–Please visit your February Early Eagle sponsor TECHEXPO Top Secret—–/
3. New WEDDLE’s Research
WEDDLE’s continuously conducts both primary and secondary research on Best Practices in employment excellence and HR leadership. WEDDLE’s recently asked the visitors to the WEDDLE’s website who are seeking jobs to describe themselves. Almost 1,500 people replied, providing an interesting window on who’s going to employment sites on the Internet today. Here are the percentages of employment site visitors by age:
-20-25 (8.8%)
-26-30 (18.0%)
-31-40 (26.9%)
-41-50 (23.9%)
-51-55 (12.4%)
-56+ (10.0%)
What the Findings Mean
These results present a counter-intuitive portrait of today’s visitors to online employment sites. Most would expect that the preponderance of this population would be younger job seekers who, according to conventional wisdom at least, are heavier users of the Internet. That apparently is not true.
-There are more people over the age of 56 (10%) visiting job boards and corporate career sites than there are people under the age of 25 (8.8%) who do so.
-There are almost as many people over the age of 50 (22.4%) using employment sites as there are people under the age of 30 (26.8%) who use them.
-The usage pattern across the entire population is almost evenly split between those under the age of 40 (53.7%) and those over it (46.3%).
What does all of that mean for those in recruiting?
-Don’t discriminate in your job postings.
-Be age neutral on your corporate Web-site.
-Create age-specific channels on your site.
4. Jobs Outlook Optimistic
Experts offer mostly optimistic views on the job outlook in 2007. 40% of hiring managers say their companies will increase the number of full-time employees in 2007, according to a survey conducted by Harris Interactive. For the first quarter of 2007, a survey of more than 14,000 employers by Milwaukee-based Manpower Inc., anticipated an increase in hiring, but at a lower level. 23% anticipate an increase in hiring activity, while 11% expect a decrease. 60% expect no significant change in hiring levels, while 6% are undecided about the hiring outlook. Manpower reports that U.S. employers have noted steady hiring plans for more than two years.
According to Matt Ferguson, CEO of CareerBuilder, “Employers expect to face greater human capital challenges as a large number of baby boomers retire and productivity growth plateaus. 40% of employers report they currently have job openings for which they can’t find qualified candidates.”
Among the most numerous job openings are those in health care, administrative/clerical, sales, accounting/financial operations, customer service, information technology, management and engineering, according to the survey. Ferguson says U.S. employers are becoming increasingly competitive in recruitment and retention, evidenced by offers of higher salaries, improved training, career-advancement opportunities and more flexible work cultures. 81% of employers report their companies plan to increase salaries for existing employees, according to the survey. 49% expect to increase salaries on offers to new employees.
5. National Guard and Reserve Mobilized as of January 10, 2007
Total number currently on active duty in support of the partial mobilization for the Army National Guard and Army Reserve is 76,486; Navy Reserve, 4,907; Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve, 5,459; Marine Corps Reserve, 5,548; and the Coast Guard Reserve, 358. This brings the total National Guard and Reserve personnel, who have been mobilized, to 92,758, including both units and individual augmentees. A cumulative roster of all National Guard and Reserve personnel, who are currently mobilized, can be found at http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Jan2007/d20070110ngr.pdf .
6. Significant Events this Month in Military History
1763 – Treaty of Paris ended the Seven Years War in Europe
1778 – The American frigate Ranger carried the Stars and Stripes to a foreign port for the first time as it arrived in France
1813 – The American ship USS Hornet sank the British sloop HMS Peacock in an action off the coast of Guiana (north coast of South America) during the war of 1812
1836 – Mexican General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna began his siege of the Alamo Spanish mission in San Antonio, Texas.
1863 – General Joseph Hooker organized the Army of the Potomac
1863 – The Confederate ship Nashville was destroyed by the Union ironclad vessel USS Montauk on the Ogeechee River in Georgia during the Civil War
1865 – The battle of Petersburg (American Civil War)
1898 – The battleship USS Maine was sunk following an explosion in the harbor of Havana, Cuba.
1916 – The German Fleet was given orders to attack armed Allied merchant ships without warning during WWI.
1916 – Beginning of the battle of Verdun, in France, which lasted ten months (WW I)
1917 – British intelligence intercepted the “Zimmerman telegram,” sent to the Mexican government by the German foreign minister, promising Mexico that the lands taken from it by the U.S. during the 1846-1848 war would be returned if Mexico entered World War I on Germany’s side and the Germans won. The message was promptly relayed to the U.S. Government
1942 – A Japanese submarine surfaced off the coast of California, shelling the coastline near the town of Ellwood.
1943 – Women’s Marine Corps Auxiliary established.
1943 – The German Afrika Korps defeated American forces during the battle of Kasserine Pass, in Tunisia (WW II)
1944 – Beginning of the German Army offensive against the Anzio bridgehead in Italy (WW II)
1944 – U.S. Marines seized Parry Island from Japanese forces, completing their takeover of the Marshall Islands in the Central Pacific (WW II)
1945 – U.S. Marines began the invasion of Iwo Jima in the Western Pacific (WW II)
1966 – Operation White Wing, a search and destroy mission during the Vietnam War.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Thank you for reading the VetJobs Early Eagle employer newsletter. If you like this newsletter, please go to www.weddles.com/recruitpoll.cfm and vote VetJobs for the WEDDLE’s User’s Choice Award.
You were opted-in when you became a paid employer member, were referred to VetJobs or were part of an organization which opted-in to VetJobs.
To REMOVE or CHANGE your subscribed address, click here:
http://mh.databack.com/c.php?L=earlyeagle&E=#email#
VetJobs
P. O. Box 71445
Marietta, GA 30007-1445
o 877.Vet.Jobs (877.838.5627)
o 770.993.5117
f 770.993.2875
Veterans make the best employees!
Freedom Is Never Free – Support Our Armed Forces and Veterans!
2004, 2005 & 2006 WEDDLE’s User’s Choice Award