As President Obama meets his promise for troop draw-down in Afghanistan and the Middle East, more and more veterans will be re-entering civilian life. These individuals will need to earn a living and live productive lives…some with permanent disabilities. It’s critical that diversity hiring is part of all business’ hiring strategy, and specifically, ensuring the men and women who sacrificed their lives for U.S. causes, be given any and all opportunities to fulfill their working potential. To help ease the transition from military to civilian life, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs launched VetSuccess.gov. Continue reading
Monthly Archives: July 2011
Effective Affirmative Action Plans – What you need to know
When it comes to meeting OFCCP compliance, there are some very critical elements all federal contractors must consider. First contractors must invest time and energy into creating affirmative action plans (AAPs) that are concise, actionable and result in measurable outcomes. Second, because creating an effective AAP and ensuring its execution is on target can be challenging, there are firms specialized in their development. Continue reading
For College Grads, a Tough Labor Market Means Doing Your Job Search Homework
While the national unemployment rate hovers at 9.2 percent, college graduates embarking on that first coveted job search have some good news – unemployment for this sector is much lower (4.2%). The bad news – this is double to where it stood just before the recession. College grads, like the majority of the unemployed labor force, need to develop a targeted job search strategy. And that means doing your homework. Continue reading
Re-examining Diversity Hiring
This summer has the entire AJE team focused on diversity hiring. With two leading industry events happening this summer, this month’s Industry Liaison Group 2011 Conference (the premier employer association focused on Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action (EE/AA) hiring issues), and last month’s SHRM Conference (Society for Human Resource Management), and the recent jobs report showing higher than average unemployment rates for ethnic sectors, such as blacks (16.2 percent) and Hispanics (11.6 percent), diversity hiring has been at the forefront of our conversations. Continue reading
Unemployment Rate Stagnates at 9.2%; With Only 18,000 Jobs Added in June
For the second month, the unemployment rate remained at a standstill, rising by a .1 percentage point to 9.2 percent in June and adding only 18,000 jobs in June, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Lackluster job gains continues to contribute to concerns for an economic recovery, with gains well below the gains made from February through April of 215,000 per month. Continue reading
