More Vexing “Hopenchange”: Troubling New Trend in Employment Ads… “Unemployed Will Not Be Considered”
Posted By Vicki McClure Davidson on June 6, 2010
Let me pour some salt into that gaping wound you have there…
As our nation’s economy continues to flounder and flail, and as the unemployment numbers continue to be dismal, a troubling, disheartening new trend has been noticed with some employers seeking candidates for job openings.
They only want to interview employed people.
The unemployed need not apply.
How’s that hopenchange workin’ for ya?
From Huffington Post, Disturbing Job Ads: ‘The Unemployed Will Not Be Considered’:
Still waiting for a response to the 300 resumés you sent out last month? Bad news: Some companies are ignoring all unemployed applicants.
In a current job posting on The People Place, a job recruiting website for the telecommunications, aerospace/defense and engineering industries, an anonymous electronics company in Angleton, Texas, advertises for a “Quality Engineer.” Qualifications for the job are the usual: computer skills, oral and written communication skills, light to moderate lifting. But red print at the bottom of the ad says, “Client will not consider/review anyone NOT currently employed regardless of the reason.”
In a nearly identical job posting for the same position on the Benchmark Electronics website, the red print is missing. But a human resources representative for the company confirmed to HuffPost that the The People Place ad accurately reflects the company’s recruitment policies.
“It’s our preference that they currently be employed,” he said. “We typically go after people that are happy where they are and then tell them about the opportunities here. We do get a lot of applications blindly from people who are currently unemployed — with the economy being what it is, we’ve had a lot of people contact us that don’t have the skill sets we want, so we try to minimize the amount of time we spent on that and try to rifle-shoot the folks we’re interested in.”
There are about 5.5 people looking for work for every job available, according to the latest data from the Labor Department.
Sony Ericsson, a global phone manufacturer that recently announced that it would be bringing 180 new jobs to the Buckhead, Ga. area, also recently posted an ad for a marketing position on The People Place. The add specified: “NO UNEMPLOYED CANDIDATES WILL BE CONSIDERED AT ALL.” When asked about the ad, a spokeswoman said, “This was a mistake, and once it was noticed it was removed.”
Ads asking the unemployed not to apply are easy to find. A Craigslist ad for assistant restaurant managers in Edgewater, N.J. specifies, “Must be currently employed.” Another job posting for a tax manager at an unnamed “top 25 CPA firm” in New York City contains the same line in all caps.
A company’s choice to ignore unemployed applicants and recycle the current workforce ignores the effect of the recession on millions of highly-qualified workers and could prolong the unemployment crisis, said Judy Conti, federal advocacy coordinator for the National Employment Law Project.
“In the current economy, where millions of people have lost their jobs through absolutely no fault of their own, I find it beyond unconscionable that any employer would not consider unemployed workers for current job openings,” she said. “Not only are these employers short-sighted in their search for the best qualified workers, but they are clearly not good corporate citizens of the communities in which they work. Increasingly, politicians and policy makers are trying to blame the unemployed for their condition, and to see this shameful propaganda trickle down to hiring decisions is truly sad and despicable.”
There is no law prohibiting discrimination against the unemployed, though advocates said the practice could be illegal if it had a “disparate impact” on minority groups.
From Wall Street Journal, Hiring Recovery Sputters:
Private employers did little hiring last month, undermining hopes that the economic recovery was gathering pace and helping send U.S. stocks down more than 3% on the day.
The Labor Department said Friday that 431,000 jobs were added in May. But the vast majority were temporary workers hired by the government to conduct the 2010 Census. Private-sector employment rose by only 41,000, the smallest monthly increase since January. Without faster private-sector job growth, the U.S. faces a bumpy recovery restrained by households with little income to spend.
[...]
The jump in Census jobs will quickly reverse. Historically, May is the peak month for hiring people to canvass homes for the decennial census. In May 2000, Census hiring hit 348,000. The next month, it fell by 225,000 and showed significant declines for three more months. The loss of Census jobs could be even quicker this time. High unemployment has given the Census Bureau a strong pool of workers to hire from, and many door-to-door operations are ahead of schedule as a result.
Concerned about the economy, or pressed to find people with the right skills, many companies are giving their existing workers more overtime.
The Washington Post certainly expected better:
The headlines right now are ominous — from the European debt crisis to a gargantuan gulf oil spill to renewed political tensions in several corners of the world. Financial markets have faltered as a result.
But the U.S. economic recovery is still plugging along.
That is the message from the latest wave of economic data, including several reports Thursday. And Friday morning, the Labor Department plans to release what is expected to be the best report on job growth in years, though the numbers will be boosted by temporary hiring by the Census Bureau.
It points back to a spectacularly bad attempt at expectations management by the White House. Either they didn’t know what was coming, or thought that they could spin it into sunshine. The stumble on private-sector growth negates the “we’re gaining strength” claim coming from the Obama administration, and it fits into a narrative of stagnation and incompetence. No one will look at a +41K month as a big step in the right direction, not after the administration’s bragging about the four-times-stronger number in April.
More hopenchange… the clueless Team Obama is fighting to overturn the Arizona law from a few years back that punishes employers who hire illegal aliens — Obama and his statist cronies are seeking that employers again be permitted to hire illegals. Because we have SO many jobs available for all citizens, including legal immigrants, right?
All hail the Chief…
Obama and Calderon just prior to lavish White House dinner in honor of the oppressive Mexican president | Credit: White House archives
Additional:
Frugal Café Blog Zone: We’re Falling into Double-Dip Recession, 95% of New Jobs Are Government Jobs, Mostly Temp Census Work – THANK YOU, MR. PRESIDENT (video) and America Frustrated: Only 13% Believe Obama’s Economic Policies Have Helped Them, American Families Cut Summer Vacations Because of Dismal Economy (video) and The Foundry: Barack “I Won’t Take Any Blame” Obama’s Buck-Passing to Unelected Commissions Is Part of the Progressive Movement and Gallup: All-Time Low for Americans’ Satisfaction of Gov’t in Three Decades, Democrats “Clearly Vulnerable” in November Elections and Seneca Indians Once Again Betrayed by the US Government, More Native American Jobs Lost Because of Obama… THANK YOU, Mr. President and Obama’s Debt Crisis: Moody’s Anticipates US Debt Shock Could Hit in 2013 Under Obama’s Budget and Who Will Be America’s “Sugar Daddy”? Mark Stein Discusses His Alarming New Book, “America Alone: The End of the World as We Know It” (video)
Legal Insurrection: Teachers Need A Teachable Moment About Their Unions
Motor City Times: Castro’s Revenge: Obama Bans New Drilling While Cuba Becomes Regional Player In Oil and The Long Shadow Of The Progressives: FDR and Obama’s Internationalist Views
Robert Higgs, Big Government: Economic Troubles and the Growth of Government
Freedom Is Just Another Word: This is Hope and Change
Gateway Pundit: Obama and FDR on Proposed American Paper Money Re-Design? and THE TRUTH: Bush Tax Cuts Created More Jobs Than the Obama-Pelosi Spend Your Way to Hell Plan and G20 Drops Obama’s Keynesian “Spend Your Way Out of a Recession” Economics and Lib Economist Robert Reich: We’re in a Double-Dip Recession and Thanks Barack… Despite 411,000 Census Jobs US Unemployment Back at 9.7% and Broken Record Obama Lashes Out at GOP on Economy – Pushes for Tax Increase and Louisiana Official to Obama: Your Oil Drilling Suspension “Will Kill Us” and Redistributor in Chief… Private Pay Shrinks to Historic Lows – Government Handouts Soar and China Lectures Obama Administration Again About Rampant Borrowing & Debt and Gov. Jan Brewer on Obama: “I Keep Questioning His Misrepresentation of the Facts” (Video) and Pelosi: “There Are More Than 200 Democrats Who Will Be Reelected Easily” and Unreal. Obama Lectures Spanish Prime Minister Zapatero on Reining in Debt
Diary of a Mad Conservative: Quote of the Day: Steve Wynn and Will we ever know who this guy is?
Los Angeles Times: Job growth weakens in May despite surge in census hiring
About the author
Its gonna get worse. This is only the beginning.
Well talk about missing out on some possibly good talent…