Employment and Unemployment in the 209

Did you know that in San Joaquin County…

• The county unemployment rate is 15.9% while Alameda County is 9.3%?

And..

The top 3 fastest growing jobs are:

• Personal and Home Care Aides ($9.86/hour),
• Information Security Analysts, Web Developers, and Computer Network Architect – ($36.11/hour)
• And other personal care and Service Workers such as beauticians, barbers, disability care workers, and food service workers – (pay rate varies)

Looking at the unemployment rates and taking into account the dramatic difference between the rate of pay for the 3 top fastest growing jobs, you must notice that unless you’re interested in spending the time and money needed to gain very technical skills, the quickest route into the workforce appears to be some sort of personal care.  Personal care jobs are often viewed as “low-skill” jobs; and as you can see from the rate of pay that these type jobs generally are low paying jobs as well.  While you many not want to make a life-long career in such low-skill/low-pay jobs, I encourage you to go ahead and enter (or re-enter) the workforce through the door that is open.

Getting in the workforce will help you:

1. Develop even more skills (particularly soft-skills which employers say are 87.5% of almost every job).
2. Build your confidence level and your general feelings of usefulness.
3. Send a message to your family and friends that you are still workforce-minded, thereby minimizing the amount of time available to do random activities that really are  low priority time-busters.

I have found, particularly in the 209 area code, the conditions of the job market have many people so despondent they’ve found solace in doing “random activities“.  What I say to you is this:  make those activities count for something.  Use them to give you an edge into a new world or work. Unemployment benefits will not last forever. Just take a look at South Carolina’s new unemployment rules coming in 2012.  Under these  new rules, after a month of collecting benefits, the unemployed must now accept any offer for a job that pays at least 90 percent of what they used to earn. After 5 months, workers must accept a job that pays minimum wage, or $7.25 an hour. South Carolina’s unemployment rate has hovered around 9% for a few years (like California).

It won’t be long before other states plagued with high unemployment rates (like California) may look at similar alternatives.  I can take a hint; can you?

Survey: U.S. Workers Feeling Overwrought and Unproductive – Latest News – Workforce

Read the complete article by clicking the link, or just checkout my highlights below.

Article: Survey: U.S. Workers Feeling Overwrought and Unproductive – Latest News – Workforce. By Garry Kranz

HOT POINTS OF THE ARTICLE

Nearly 30 percent of employees readily concede being “too stressed to be effective” at work for at least five days in 2011.

Two-thirds of U.S. workers reported feeling fatigued and that they have no control over what happens in their workplace.

Due to current economic crisis, employees are being asked to do more work, work longer hours than they have in the past, and under more stress than they did in the past.

Such stress creates a domino effect:

• Increased conflicts with co-workers
• Increased difficulties balancing work and personal obligations
• Increased worries about job security
• Increased absenteeism,turnover, and productivity losses

So, what’s the good news?  24 percent say the increased stress does not have a negative impact on their job effectiveness.

MY OUTLOOK

Those of us who have a job in times like these should consider ourselves blessed (or lucky – however you see it).  I’d rather be on this side of the stress than to live with the instability of joblessness and unemployment benefits. I’m relieved that our government finally agreed to some sort of extension of unemployment benefits for the 13.9 million people in the country who are currently out of work, many of whom receive a combination of federal and state unemployment benefits. But don’t get too comfy with this extension; the devil is in the details.