Job Market

SCORE offers workshop for entrepreneurs May 12Service Corps of Retired Executives Chapter 390 will conduct a workshop on "How to Start and Manage Your Own Business" from 8: 45 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 12 at the lower level of the Conte building, 116 Defense Highway, Annapolis.The six key steps toward starting a business will be presented by six speakers.The fee is $35. Information: 410-266-9553.Annual AALU golf event to be held on May 10The Main Ingredient, an Annapolis dining and catering facility, will be the primary sponsor of this year's golf tournament for the Anne Arundel Association of Life Underwriters, a group of insurance and financial professionals.

Two years ago, at an age when many people are considering retirement, Richard Holmes needed to re-enter the job market.The 64-year-old had rich and varied work experience in acting, education and radio and television production. But Holmes knew some of his skills were outdated. The Elkridge resident was unsure how to put together a modern-looking resume.Green Thumb, a federally funded employment and training program for low-income seniors, came to his rescue.Holmes is one of about 40 Howard County seniors helped annually by Green Thumb, which is coordinated in Howard and all of the Western Maryland counties by Ellicott City resident Karen Curran Fields.

Experience isn't a dirty word in the job market anymore.Seasoned mid-managers and professionals are in demand again, say recruiters and job-hunters alike. In an expanding economy, large companies that have shed layers of managerial talent are hiring again. Start-ups and mid-size firms also are looking for expertise."It's a marketplace that's finally come to its senses," says John Challenger, executive vice president of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, a Chicago-based outplacement firm. "Some of these larger, more bureaucratic organizations cut a lot of people, and they're beginning to realize they made a mistake."

First, "E.R." bumped "L.A. Law" from the TV lineup.Now, life is mimicking art.Faced with a glut of lawyers in the job market, undergraduates in record numbers are forgoing jurisprudence for a dose of medicine and business acumen.Applications to medical schools nationwide have been steadily rising while they dropped off dramatically at law schools this year.At the same time, the bust in business school enrollments, forecast since the stock market crash of 1987, is now a boom. Some master's of business administration programs are seeing increases of as much as 39 percent in applicants this year.

They flip burgers and watch over swimmers at local pools. But the wave of teen-agers seeking to join Howard County's work force this summer faces a mixed employment picture, with clouds already looming for next summer."

Maryland's job market improved to its strongest level in more than 3 1/2 years in April, squeezing the supply of workers so tight in some areas that employers are starting to complain that they ** can't find people to hire.The unemployment rate fell two-thirds of a percentage point to 5.2 percent, its lowest level since October 1990, the state reported. Overall, 2,496,227 Marylanders were working in April, a gain of 1,621 jobs.The steady drop in the unemployment rate from February's 6.5 percent is "a definite sign of economic recovery," said Mark L. Wasserman, secretary of Maryland's Department of Economic and Employment Development.

The last three springs have brought with them new crops of college graduates who struggled to find jobs amid a sluggish economy.This year the economy finally seems to be picking up speed. Does that mean the job market will be better for this year's group? Are some industries or types of businesses in better position to hire than others?Benjamin Scott PsillasConsultant and author on job marketsIt's looking really good for students now that a majority of companies have finished their downsizing.

Marylanders' job prospects are blooming this summer, as nearly a third of the state's employers plan to add staff in the next three months, according to a survey released today.Manpower Inc.'s quarterly survey of businesses showed employers were planning expansions in St. Mary's County, Salisbury and even long-troubled Baltimore.The statewide hiring picture, while positive, was about the same as last year, as 29 percent of Maryland employers told Manpower they planned to add staff, and only 5 percent said they planned to lay off workers.

New York -- Attention, aspiring fashion hounds!If you think a career on Seventh Avenue is all glamour, you've been watching too many Audrey Hepburn movies. Unlike the stylized images of long-necked creatures and finery that grace the pages of Vogue, jobs in the fashion industry often translate into long hours and low starting pay. Just ask recent college graduates employed by Manhattan designers, retailers and manufacturers.In New York City, fashion is big business. The industry provides 180,000 jobs and generates $14 billion for the local economy, according to Manhattan's Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT)

Mahlon Straszheim, the economist who annoyed Gov. William Donald Schaefer by predicting a recession for Maryland in 1990 -- accurately, as it turned out -- yesterday said the state has finally hit economic bottom.Dr. Straszheim, who has since been hired by the governor to provide economic analysis for the state government, said he foresees "slow, sustainable growth over the next 18 months, with the recovery gaining momentum" probably by 1995.Dr. Straszheim told a group gathered for a University of Maryland showcase of its business partnership programs that improvement in sales tax collections and other statistics indicate "this year will be the year the economy turned around in this state."

Maryland's unemployment rate returned to 7.2 percent last month after dipping to 7.1 percent in August, the federal government said Wednesday. The state's unemployment rate was also 7.2 percent in May, June and July, according to the U.S. Department of Labor's revised estimates. It's a plateau of sorts after a rapid worsening in the job market that began a year ago, pushing Maryland's rate from a relatively low 4.6 percent the previous September to the current 26-year high. But job losses have continued.

Matt Bivons knew he had to do something extraordinary to stand out as a job candidate in a tough job market. So he built a Web site. But it wasn't just any ol' resume site under his own name. Instead, in early June, he launched BSFShouldHire.me, an interactive online campaign targeted at Baltimore-based e-mail marketing firm Blue Sky Factory that showed off more than just his resume and connected visitors to him via Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. His efforts earned him a second interview at Blue Sky recently, among a field of more than a dozen applicants.

WASHINGTON - -The nation's breathtaking pace of job loss slowed significantly in May, bolstering hopes that the worst of the current recession is over, but millions of Americans and their families face continued economic pain with the unemployment rate jumping to 9.4 percent. And wages remained essentially flat, the government reported. The contrasting trends underscore a painful economic reality: Even as the recession winds down, hundreds of thousands of workers may continue to lose their jobs - and the unemployed might be among the last to reap the benefits of recovery.

Cynthia Bashore, 64, a longtime homemaker, discovered she was "techno-deficient" just when she really needed a job. Patrice Scott tried unsuccessfully to re-enter the job market at 58 after a several-year hiatus. Dolly Higley, 63, had been searching for work after losing her job at a dry cleaner last year. All three women have found temporary employment, counseling and on-the-job training working at the Baltimore County Department of Aging through an expanded federal initiative that is drawing seniors back into the job market and providing reliable workers to charities and local governments at no cost to shrinking budgets.

Under normal circumstances, switching jobs should not be a problem. But we're in abnormal times. With unemployment creeping up each month, workers are choosing job security over the possible greener pastures of another employer, according to a new survey by global consulting firm Accenture. Almost half of the 322 U.S. middle managers surveyed said taking a new job during the current economy is risky. The survey polled managers from several industries, including health and life sciences, public service, retail and financial services.

Most workers say they have little to celebrate this Labor Day. Several recent surveys depict a general malaise among workers and depression about the job market and the economy. A survey of 1,000 Americans released yesterday concluded worker confidence about the economy is lower than during the recession of 2001 - even though the unemployment rate now is below 2001 levels. The nation's unemployment rate is 5.7 percent, higher than Maryland's 4.4 percent. The researchers also point out concern over declining home values and rising gas prices.

WASHINGTON - The economy is likely to keep stumbling at least through the rest of the year, analysts agreed yesterday, after a disappointing government report showed that payroll jobs fell by 62,000 in June, the sixth straight month of job losses. "More job losses are coming through the remainder of the year. The economy has lost just over 400,000 jobs since the start of the year and will lose another 400,000 by year's end," said Mark Zandi, chief economist for forecaster Moody's Economy.

What are recent college graduates looking for most in a job? A flexible schedule? Opportunities for creativity and personal growth? High salary? None of the above. Instead, these 20-something workers are most interested in advancement opportunities and job security, at least according to research by the National Association of Colleges and Employers. The group surveyed 19,000 people from 370 schools nationwide. It asked them to rate 15 job attributes in terms of importance and then asked them to rank one attribute against another.

They got their education during good economic times, but the nation's graduating college seniors are about to enter the job market just as conditions have rapidly taken a turn for the worse. The federal government said yesterday that U.S. employers have cut jobs for three months straight, a total of 232,000 positions gone. The number of jobs lost in March - 80,000 - was the most in five years, when the country was struggling to throw off the lingering effects of the last recession. Economists are once again bandying about the "R" word on a daily basis.

The slowing economy could affect the summer job market for teenagers and college students, according to a new survey. Of 1,101 hiring managers surveyed by online job site Snag AJob.com, which specializes in hourly positions, almost half said they do not intend to hire additional help during the summer. Many of these managers recruit for retailers and restaurants. The survey has a margin of error of 3 percent. Employers who are forgoing summer hiring said they don't have the budget this year to add seasonal employees (31 percent)