Here are the latest job market statistics:
– The economy lost 44,000 full-time jobs in December 2008.
– The unemployment rate rose to 4.5% from 4.4% in November 2008.
– Full-time employment dropped by 44,000 to 7,640,200 while part-time positions soared 42,800 to 3,102,200, bringing the net loss of jobs to 1200.
– Economists fear the massive decline in full-time employment even offsetting for the rise in part-time employment
– A prominent Senior Economist predicts that job losses will accelerate and predicts the unemployment rate to hit 6% by the end of the year.
– JPMorgan is predicting forecasts a deep labour market adjustment that will result in employment falling 1% during the current recession.
Okay, it sounds bad doesn’t it? You’ve heard the cons, now here are the pros…
– The latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show the overall jobless rate rose slightly at 4.5%. Economists actually predicted a more substantial rise.
– Leaders in the HR and Recruitment industry remain optimistic (although still cautious) due Australia’s ongoing skills shortage. I’ll be devoting a Blog on this area shortly.
– This is now a time for employers to use the downturn in the economy as an opportunity to get hold of talent which would not normally be on the market, or would be too expensive in more buoyant times.
– A leading industry veteran is predicting a solid recovery in the second quarter of this year.
– A long-time recruiter and commentator said hiring will start to pick up rapidly from April 2009, warning employers to be wary of retrenching their valuable internal recruitment talent.
– This is a good opportunity for employers to replace to analyse and restructure the state of their human resources, specifically, replace underperformers with more quality candidates who are now back on the market due to employment cut backs.
On a final note, we’ve all heard of the term ‘what goes up must come down’, well it also applies in the opposite direction ‘ what goes down can come up’. This is ultimately what will happen with the economy. This downturn will not last forever. My motto has always been ‘there is a positive to every negative, you just have to find it and apply it’. No doubt a lot of you have been affected by the downturn in the job market, but this could be a perfect opportunity for those of you to reassess what it is you really want to do; essentially ask yourself is it time for change. This could be an opportunity to reskill in an area that may interest you more. The fact that there is an increase in part time employment could prompt you to look for part time work while studying. Of course, finances play a big factor in this. However, what is one of the key reasons for this downturn on a global level? The fact that the majority of us have been existing living well beyond our means! This needs to change. Make some adjustments at home, strip everything back to the basics – why do so many of us make our lives more complicated than what they are? Remember, we need to control what is around us, not the other way round!
Stay tuned for next week’s blog on the job skills shortage.
Cheers,
Annie Cerone
