RSSIssue 8:12, Saturday, December 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 (www.vfw.org). VetJobs is the only job board endorsed by: The Vietnam Veterans of America (www.vva.org), The Naval Reserve Association (www.navy-reserve.org) and The Veterans of Modern Warfare (www.modernveterans.com).
This issue sponsored by: WEDDLE’s and TECHEXPO Top Secret
Contents:
1. Message from the Top
2. US Alters List of Documents for Verifying Work Eligibility
3. Layoffs Dip, Good Sign for Labor Market
4. Study Results: Hiring and compensation trends
5. VA Falls Further Behind Processing Claims
6. Battles on the Home Front
7. National Guard and Reserve mobilized as of November 28, 2007
8. Significant events this month in military history
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1. Message from the Top
VetJobs is now in its ninth year of service to employers seeking to reach transitioning military, veterans and their family members! VetJobs has grown considerably in the last nine years and I am proud to announce that VetJobs is now averaging over 24,500 jobs a day representing over 1,000 employers who are active daily on the site! Our traffic remains strong at 60,000 plus visitors a month. The site is averaging 1,600,000 plus page views a month, with the average visitor viewing 26 plus pages. There are now nearly 100,000 resumes in the database. VetJobs was one of the first sites to implement an on-demand, real time OFCCP support system. With America’s Job Bank being closed by DOL, VetJobs has become a clear alternative site that is an appropriate employment service delivery system to meet EEOC, JVA and OFCCP requirements. This performance is exceptional for a niche site!
Over the last nine years VetJobs has been able to assist tens of thousands of veterans and their family members find a job with thousands of employers like you who have used VetJobs! The renewal rate by employers remains well above the industry average and more employers are joining the site every month. So tell your HR and recruiter friends who are hiring that if they want to find outstanding candidates, VetJobs is the place to advertise!
Importantly, you have regularly voted VetJobs to the WEDDLE’s User’s Choice Award. VetJobs is the only military related job board to be voted to this pinnacle of success for four years in a row! The WEDDLE’s award marks VetJobs as one of the top job sites on the Internet! Additionally, VetJobs is the only military related job board on Workforce Management Magazine’s Hot List of recruiting sites. Workforce has selected VetJobs for three years in a row! These recognitions confirm that VetJobs is the leading military job board on the Internet!
We appreciate your using VetJobs to find quality employees and support our veterans!
December 7 is National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day. Let us never forget that 66 years ago Japanese planes attacked the United States Naval Base at Pearl Harbor and Hickim Air Field, killing more than 2,300 Americans. The following day President Franklin Roosevelt, addressing a joint session of Congress, called December 7, 1941, “a date which will live in infamy.” Declaring war against Japan, Congress ushered the United States into World War II and the United States abandoned isolationism. Our parents and grandparents became the “greatest generation” for liberating the world from the threat of fascist and military domination which at that time was dominant in Germany, Italy and Japan. Today our youth defend us from a new threat of tyranny from religious Islamic zealots whose sole goal is world domination and the murder of anyone who disagrees with their fanatical interpretation of religious beliefs. Keep our military that fight for our freedoms in your prayers this holiday season. This will be a long war fraught with political and religious problems.
On December 13 we celebrate the 371st birthday of the National Guard! The National Guard traces its origin to an event in 1636 when the first muster of three militia regiments took place in Salem, MA. The National Guard is an integral part of today’s military and is active in nearly 100 countries around the world. The National Guard has been called up for combat more times in the last decade than in its entire history. So if you meet a member of the National Guard, say Happy Birthday and THANK YOU for defending our freedoms!
And of course, December is when people celebrate Hanukkah (December 5), Christmas (December 25) and Kwanzaa (December 26).
On the economic front, a lot of callers have been asking me if I think the country will go into a recession. Contrary to what some politically motivated people are saying, I maintain that the United States is NOT going into a recession. Due to the housing sector there will be a slight decline, especially in those companies in the financial arena, but no recession. Here are some basic facts for you to consider:
a. The unemployment rate in October dropped from 4.7% to 4.4% (not seasonally adjusted). With normal unemployment being 5%, the United States is in a serious labor shortage. As discussed in previous newsletters, the Manpower survey reported that only 9% of companies intend to decrease their workforce, 27% expect to significantly increase their workforce, and 64% intend to maintain their current level of hiring! These types of numbers do not portend a recession! As I travel the country, the number one problem I hear from employers is finding enough qualified candidates to fill their open positions.
b. While some are hyping the subprime mortgage problem as a driver that will put us in a recession, it helps to put things into perspective. The subprime mortgage issue is barely 2% of the gross domestic product (GDP). The savings and loan debacle of 1991 was over 9% of the GDP! The real issue with the subprime mortgage problem is lenders want the government to pay for their greedy and bad (and I mean really bad) business decisions with our tax dollars!
c. International trade for the US is now at historic levels. This trade is more than off setting any losses in jobs from the subprime mortgage debacle and is continuing to create new jobs nationally.
d. Businesses are poised to withstand an economic contraction. Businesses in a wide range of industries outside of the housing sector have nimbly adjusted their production processes and inventories are very lean. As demand picks up, more hiring will be required.
e. The Federal Reserve monetary policy points toward sustained growth in nominal spending. Despite the housing financial turmoil, credit remains available.
So the bottom line is we will have a mild economic slow down as has happened many times in the past, but NOT a recession.
As Mickey D. Levy, chief economist at Bank of America opined in the Wall Street Journal on October 9: “Once again, turmoil on Wall Street doesn’t necessarily translate to contraction on Main Street. Remember, following both the stock market crash of 1987 (which involved a cumulative 35% decline in equity valuations) and the 1998 financial crisis, the economy continued to expand. In both cases the Fed eased, financial markets absorbed the shock, and the economy proved resilient. The same will unfold this time; recession is not in the cards.”
The staff at VetJobs wishes you a Happy Holiday season. We look forward to working with you more next year!
And remember, Freedom Is Never Free – Support Our Armed Forces and Veterans!
Best regards,
Ted Daywalt
President
/—December Early Eagle sponsor is WEDDLE’s—-\
WEDDLE’s publications are the references of choice for recruiters seeking to maximize their return on the Internet and win the War for the Best Talent. They include:
-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; and
-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.
-Postcards from Space: Being the Best in Online Recruitment & HR Management. A compilation of Peter Weddle’s columns for The Wall Street Journal, it provides a complete introduction to the Best Practices for sourcing, recruiting and retaining talent online.
-Generalship: HR Leadership in a Time of War. The only primer on leadership that focuses on the unique challenges of the HR professional waging both a War for Relevancy in the modern corporation and a War for Talent in the 21st Century labor market.
To make sure you’re at the top of your game, get your WEDDLE’s books today. Call WEDDLE’s at 317-598-9768.
\—–Please visit your December Early Eagle sponsor WEDDLE’s—-/
2. US Alters List of Documents for Verifying Work Eligibility
A new document has been added to the list of acceptable Form I-9 credentials that companies can use to verify the employment eligibility of new hires, says the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), which issued the revised document list Nov. 8, 2007. Employers may now use the new Form I-9 and begin collecting the documents listed although use of the new form will not be required until a notice is published in the Federal Register. Once the notice has been published, employers who do not use the new Form I-9 could face fines or other penalties.
The revised Form I-9 removes five documents from “List A” of the form that employers may accept from new hires. The revised “List A” which is to “Establish Both Identity and Employment Eligibility” has one additional document. The documents employers can now accept under List A are:
• U.S. passport.
• Permanent Resident Card or Alien Registration Receipt Card (Form I-551).
• An unexpired foreign passport with a temporary I-551 stamp.
• An unexpired Employment Authorization Document that contains a photograph (Form I-766, I-688, I-688A or I-688B).
• An unexpired foreign passport with an unexpired “Arrival-Departure Record,” Form I-94, bearing the same name as the passport and containing an endorsement of the alien’s nonimmigrant status, if that status authorizes the alien to work for the employer.
The documents removed from “List A” that will no longer be acceptable are:
• Certificate of U.S. Citizenship (Form N-560 or N-561).
• Certificate of Naturalization (Form N-550 or N-570).
• Alien Registration Receipt Card (I-151).
• Unexpired Reentry Permit (Form I-327).
• Unexpired Refugee Travel Document (Form I-571).
The revised list of acceptable documents applies to verifying initial hires and to re-verifying existing employees, USCIS says. However, employers are not required to complete new Form I-9s for existing workers, the agency says.
/—December Early Eagle sponsor is TECHEXPO Top Secret—-\
TECHEXPO Top Secret job fairs bring you face to face with security-cleared professionals January 8 in McLean, VA; January 10 in Baltimore, MD; and January 30 in Colorado Springs, CO. For 2008 event schedule, contact Erika Koster 212-655-4505 x255 or EKoster@TechExpoUSA.com. http://www.TechExpoUSA.com
\—–Please visit your December Early Eagle sponsor TECHEXPO Top Secret—-/
3. Layoffs Dip, Good Sign for Labor Market
The Associated Press reports fewer people signed up for jobless benefits mid-November, an encouraging sign that most companies aren’t resorting to large-scale layoffs as the country copes with continuing problems in the housing and credit markets. The Labor Department reported that new applications filed for unemployment insurance dropped by a seasonally adjusted 11,000 to 330,000 for the week ending November 17. The 330,000 level of claims was in line with economists’ forecasts. So far, decent job creation and wage growth have helped to offset some of the negative forces hitting some people, problems ranging from weaker home values to hard-to-get credit. The economy grew at a brisk 3.9 percent pace in the third quarter.
4. Study Results: Hiring and compensation trends
Robert Half International reports job candidates are more apt to ask for higher starting salaries this coming year, and companies may have to up the ante to attract them. 57% of hiring managers polled for the EDGE Report project said it was difficult to find qualified candidates 12 months ago; 91% said recruiting is equally or more challenging today. More than half (52%) of hiring managers who are having trouble recruiting cited a shortage of qualified professionals. As the competition for skilled labor has become more pronounced, 58% of workers polled said they are more likely to negotiate a better compensation package today than 12 months ago – double the number from last year’s poll.
5. VA Falls Further Behind Processing Claims
The Department of Veterans Affairs fell farther behind this year in its attempts to give veterans timely decisions on their disability claims, new records show. The agency said it took an average of 183 days to process a claim in fiscal 2007, longer than in any of the five years tracked in the report. Processing exceeded its 2007 goal of 160 days and its long-term goal of eventually reducing processing time to 125 days.
6. Battles on the Home Front
A Pentagon study reports that about four in ten returning civilian soldiers filing complaints against their employers are dissatisfied with the DOL’s response to their requests for help. And even though the number of actual employee complaints is going down slightly, companies still lack sufficient knowledge of the reemployment rules. The study found that 44% of the returning Reservists and National Guard members who filed a complaint under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act were dissatisfied with the government’s handling of their cases in 2006, compared with 27% in 2004. Roughly one-third said the Department of Labor’s response was not prompt. In addition, about one in four (23%) said they could not find a job because their previous employers did not promptly rehire them as required by law.
Other findings in the Pentagon report include:
-Nearly 15,000 of the returning Reservists and National Guard members didn’t receive the training they needed to return to their former jobs;
-Nearly 11,000 didn’t get their health insurance back.
-About one-third experienced difficulty getting reemployment assistance from government agencies.
7. National Guard and Reserve mobilized as of November 28, 2007
The total number currently on active duty in support of the partial mobilization of the Army National Guard and Army Reserve is 70,859; Navy Reserve, 5,467; Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve, 7,243; Marine Corps Reserve, 7,310; and the Coast Guard Reserve, 361. This brings the total National Guard and Reserve personnel who have been mobilized to 91,240, 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/Nov2007/d20071128ngr.pdf.
8. Significant events this month in military history
1775 – The first official American flag (not the Stars and Stripes) was raised for the first time over the Navy flagship Alfred.
1778 – British troops under COL Archibald Campbell occupied Savannah, GA (American Revolution).
1812 – The US frigate Constitution defeats the British frigate Java (War of 1812).
1814 – Treaty of Ghent (Belgium) signed, ending the War of 1812 between the United States and England.
1846 – American troops occupied Ciudad Victoria in northeastern Mexico (Mexican War).
1860 – South Carolina secedes from the Union and South Carolina troops seize the Federal arsenal in Charleston (Civil War).
1898 – The Treaty of Paris was signed by American and Spanish representatives, ending the Spanish-American War.
1921 – The first helium-filled balloon, a U.S. Navy dirigible, flew from Hampton Roads, VA to Washington, D.C.
1941 – Japanese attack Pearl Harbor. The United States declared war on Germany, Japan and Italy (World War II).
1944 – Battle of the Bulge began (World War II).
1946 – The official end of World War II.
1972 – The Paris Peace talks temporarily fail and President Nixon orders a resumption of full-scale bombing of targets in North Vietnam (Vietnam War).
1989 – Operation Just Cause, the invasion of Panama, begins.
1991 – The USSR went out of existence after 74 years.
1992 – Operation Restore Hope – America’s intervention in Somalia began.
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Veterans make the best employees!
Freedom Is Never Free – Support Our Armed Forces and Veterans!
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Three year listing on Workforce Management’s Hot List of Job Boards
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