Blog Archives
Recession is causing competition in the Job Market
The economic recession has been causing stress for everyone with layoffs, company closures, and cutbacks occurring throughout America. With unemployment sitting at 9.7 percent and even with layoffs slowing, there has been quite a pinch on the job searching front.
According to the New York Times, job seekers are exceeding new job openings in record numbers. Job seekers are outnumbering job openings, causing more competition and added stress. “According to the Labor Department’s latest numbers, from July, only 2.4 million full-time permanent jobs were open, with 14.5 million people officially unemployed.”
Adding to the stress, many employers are reluctant to hire due to the uncertainty of whether or not the economy will improve in the near future. If things look bleak now, predictions are that the current economic situation could become more gloomier, thus resulting in more layoffs, business closures, etc. The competition will only continue to grow.
Kaine Proposes Furloughs for Virginia Employees
Could Virginia Governor Tim Kaine be following in the steps of his neighbor to the north, Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley by forcing state employees (all non-essentials) to take a unpaid furlough day? According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the state budget projections are so bad that Kaine is considering forcing non-essential state employees to take a day off work unpaid (around Memorial Day 2010), in addition to, laying off close to 600 employees, along with cuts to higher education.
Now, one could look back on Kaine’s term as Governor and try to figure out why Virginia would even be facing this situation. After all, the Commonwealth is noted for being one of the best managed states, so we should have a balanced budget in a down economy, right? Well, it is kind of difficult, when the Secretary of Finance, who was appointed by the Governor, missed budget projections and went over these projections. Kaine’s Secretary of Finance, Jody Wagner, went over the budget projections, thus placing Virginia in our current situation. In fact, Jeff Schapiro of the Richmond Times-Dispatch pointed out that,
“As Virginia’s top numbers-cruncher for more than two years — years marked by muff-ups and miscalculations — Wagner, to Republicans, is a poster child for a budget gone bad.
She was routinely roughed up by the ruffian Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee. It was sport for them, the prerogative of a shrill majority party that delights in drawing black-and-white distinctions.
But even Senate Republicans, usually more decorous than those in the House, got in on the fun after slipping back to the minority last year. After all, it was the only way for them to seem relevant.
There are legitimate reasons for taking a hammer to Wagner, and Bolling — a potential firewall for a GOP doing a better job of losing than winning — may be able to wield it in 2009.
The Kaine administration’s fiscal sins, perceived and actual, are numerous.
Among them: pushing for higher transportation taxes even as the economy began its decline, and missing revenue projections by a mile — or two or three.
Perhaps, we should look at it from this perspective. If our budget situation is in dire straits, shouldn’t the furlough day be enacted sooner rather than later? A furlough is much better than laying off state employees, but this could have been avoided had there been accurate budget projections.
New Energy, New Jobs
Today, Bob McDonnell released another ad touting his initiative to bring new jobs to Virginia. Throughout the campaign, McDonnell has been bringing several initiatives that will create new jobs and bring new businesses to the Commonwealth. Meanwhile, Creigh Deeds has remained silent on what he will do to improve Virginia’s economy and how he will boost employment in the Commonwealth.
Green Jobs Initiatives: Are they really necessary?
Lately, there appears to be a green jobs movement across the country. After all, Barack Obama’s stimulus plan included a provision that was specifically geared to creating more green collar jobs. However, this raises a huge question: are green jobs really needed?
In an economy where there are massive spikes in unemployment, this has caused many to re-evaluate their career paths in new fields, like environmental firms, etc. These positions do not require college, but several years of training, as well as the offers of advancement and competitive salary. Green jobs are great, but the problem is that many of these positions might not have longevity in the future. As more technology continues to evolve, these positions might have a shorter shelf life.
However, these jobs are not the solution to the current unemployment crisis, as it takes a long time to establish these openings and due to the constantly changing environment at large. The fact that the Commonwealth of Virginia is also trying to place a premium focus on creating green jobs, as they believe it will provide more employment options. Right now, the Virginia State Senate is considering Governor Kaine’s plan. This plan would create the following:
- Creating a fund that would extend grants to manufacturers of wind and nuclear power equipment
- Provide an income tax credit for homeowners to install solar power
- Exempting the sales tax for those who buy green energy home systems
- Providing incentives to power companies
- Making sure that all state buildings are built for green energy
I am all for protecting the environment, but we can do this in an economically sensible way. This plan is not allowing options for those who decide not to follow this plan. As for home improvements, making the switch to green energy can cause more green to fall out of your pockets. Many of these green products are quite costly and not proven as effective as the regular energy products.
The green jobs are not created overnight. Meanwhile, many of those unemployed are left wondering where the next pay check will come from and trying to locate jobs in their fields of expertise. Virginia would be wise not to place such a focus on this program, especially since we are in a budget crisis. The Commonwealth can not afford to waste money on this program.
