Phokus
Lifer
http://money.cnn.com/2010/06/16/news/economy/unemployed_need_not_apply/index.htm
The article doesn't mention it but part of the problem is that companies are getting so many resumes that one of the easiest things to do is focus on the currently employed applicants first because the logic goes, 'if they're currently employed, there must be a good reason for it'. Also, the longer you stay unemployed, the harder it is to find a job with a bigger gap in employment history, literally every HR person/job expert will tell you that.
From my own observations, the few job openings i've seen at my place, the the people who fill those positions were employed at the time of application. I think there were maybe one or two unemployed people but they were unemployed for a MAXIMUM of two months and took to job hunting as a full time job with overtime. It's ridiculous that there are people out there who think they can sit on their unemployment benefits without any repercussions. The longer you've been out of work, the harder it's going to be to find work and these people are just shooting themselves in the foot, especially because the likelyhood of another extension to unemployment is very very low.
Another observation i've seen with this phenomenon is that in some instances, if someone jumps ship to another job, companies won't hire another person to replace them and just give that work to someone else. I've seen that a couple of times (and i've had some extra work handed to me as a result) and i'm wondering how much that's contributing to the slow recovery. Every time that happens, that's one less job available in the economy.
There's no need to repost old articles, particularly when your purpose is a personal attack/callout of another forum member. -Admin DrPizza
(If you disagree, then you don't know what the first 4 words of post #3 in this thread mean. They're your own words.)
I wouldn't even wait until the layoff comes. I would start looking if there's even a hint that you could lose your job. It's much easier to gain employment while you're employed than unemployed. I've seen it first hand.NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The last thing someone who is unemployed needs to be told is that they shouldn't even apply for the limited number of job openings that are available. But some companies and recruiters are doing just that.
Employment experts say they believe companies are increasingly interested only in applicants who already have a job.
"I think it is more prevalent than it used to be," said Rich Thompson, vice president of learning and performance for Adecco Group North America, the world's largest staffing firm. "I don't have hard numbers, but three out of the last four conversations I've had about openings, this requirement was brought up."
Some job postings include restrictions such as "unemployed candidates will not be considered" or "must be currently employed." Those explicit limitations have occasionally been removed from listings when an employer or recruiter is questioned by the media though.
That's what happened with numerous listings for grocery store managers throughout the Southeast posted by a South Carolina recruiter, Latro Consulting.
After CNNMoney called seeking comments on the listings last week, the restriction against unemployed candidates being considered came down. Latro Consulting refused to comment when contacted.
Sony Ericsson, a global phone manufacturer that was hiring for a new Georgia facility, also removed a similar restriction after local reporters wrote about it. According to reports, a Sony Ericsson spokesperson said that a mistake had been made.
But even if companies don't spell out in a job listing that they won't consider someone who currently doesn't have a job, experts said that unemployed applicants are typically ruled out right off the bat.
"Most executive recruiters won't look at a candidate unless they have a job, even if they don't like to admit to it," said Lisa Chenofsky Singer, a human resources consultant from Millburn, NJ, specializing in media and publishing jobs.
She said when she proposes candidates for openings, the first question she is often asked by a recruiter is if they currently have a job. If the answer is no, she's typically told the unemployed candidate won't be interviewed.
"They think you must have been laid off for performance issues," she said, adding that this is a "myth" in a time of high unemployment.
It is not against the law for companies to exclude the unemployed when trying to fill positions, but Judy Conti, a lobbyist for the National Employment Law Project, said the practice is a bad one.
"Making that kind of automatic cut is senseless; you could be missing out on the best person of all," she said. "There are millions of people who are unemployed through no fault of their own. If an employer feels that the best qualified are the ones already working, they have no appreciation of the crisis we're in right now."
Conti added that firms that hire unemployed job seekers could also benefit from a recently-passed tax break that essentially exempts them from paying the 6.2% of the new hire's wages in Social Security taxes for the rest of this year.
Thompson said he also thinks ruling out the unemployed is a bad idea. But he said that part of the problem is that recruiters and human resource departments are being overwhelmed with applications for any job opening that is posted. So they're looking for any short-cuts to get the list of applicants to consider down to a more manageable size.
"It's a tough process to determine which unemployed applicants were laid off even though they brought value to their company and which ones had performance issues," he said. "I understand the notion. But there's the top x percent of unemployed candidates who are very viable and very valuable. You just have to do the work to find them."
The article doesn't mention it but part of the problem is that companies are getting so many resumes that one of the easiest things to do is focus on the currently employed applicants first because the logic goes, 'if they're currently employed, there must be a good reason for it'. Also, the longer you stay unemployed, the harder it is to find a job with a bigger gap in employment history, literally every HR person/job expert will tell you that.
From my own observations, the few job openings i've seen at my place, the the people who fill those positions were employed at the time of application. I think there were maybe one or two unemployed people but they were unemployed for a MAXIMUM of two months and took to job hunting as a full time job with overtime. It's ridiculous that there are people out there who think they can sit on their unemployment benefits without any repercussions. The longer you've been out of work, the harder it's going to be to find work and these people are just shooting themselves in the foot, especially because the likelyhood of another extension to unemployment is very very low.
Another observation i've seen with this phenomenon is that in some instances, if someone jumps ship to another job, companies won't hire another person to replace them and just give that work to someone else. I've seen that a couple of times (and i've had some extra work handed to me as a result) and i'm wondering how much that's contributing to the slow recovery. Every time that happens, that's one less job available in the economy.
There's no need to repost old articles, particularly when your purpose is a personal attack/callout of another forum member. -Admin DrPizza
(If you disagree, then you don't know what the first 4 words of post #3 in this thread mean. They're your own words.)
Last edited by a moderator: