HireCentrix - ViewPoint

As you probably know, the U.S. government operates with a staggering fiscal deficit. It’s projected that we will fall short by about $1.5 trillion this year. That amount of money is hard to imagine, and is largely ignored as we go about our daily lives.

But there’s one deficit that is starting to take its toll: the talent deficit. This is the number of jobs that go unfilled over a period of time due to a company’s inability to source and recruit the talent that it needs.

Your current bank account balance, home, education, possessions, health, and lifestyle are the result of the decisions you have made throughout your life. Decisions are at the heart of your level of success. Making wise decisions at critical moments will determine your future and can be difficult, confusing and even nerve-racking.

‘Unemployment’ is an emotional ‘trigger’ word.  It conjures up negative thoughts.  But it is important to realize that, while we want everyone who wants a job to have the opportunity to work, unemployment can never be zero and, in fact, can be disruptive to an economy if it gets too close to zero.  Very low unemployment can actually hurt the economy by creating an upward pressure on wages which invariably leads to higher production costs and prices.  This can lead to inflation.  A healthy economy will always include some percentage of unemployment.  The debate is waged on what is the optimum, acceptable unemployment rate.

On July 26, 2011, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the Government agency that enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination,held a meeting that examined the use of arrest and conviction records of jobseekers by employers and how criminal background checks could be a discriminatory hiring barrier.

Public invited to comment during early stage of development

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs is considering the development of a new data tool to collect information on salaries, wages and other benefits paid to employees of federal contractors and subcontractors.

On June 20 and 21, 2011, the Federal government (through the U.S Department of Labor (“DOL”) and  the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Board”) respectively) announced proposed rules that seek to strip away any significant means employers have to mount an effective defense to unionization drives.  Given how tough it is for employers to win union elections under the current system, one can only wonder what problem the government seeks to fix with these proposed rule changes.