It's going to be a rough year for workers and job-seekers, but there's also plenty
of hope for an economic turnaround and a slowly returning job market.
There's no question that the QuintCareers.com team is full of optimists who believe that
some of the changes already made by the government and the massive incentive and stimulus
package that President-Elect Obama wants to implement will start having a positive impact
on the U.S. economy -- somewhere toward the middle to end of 2009.
That said, we still face a minimum of six months of many more job losses -- job losses in the
millions by the time it's over.
A recent Business Week gathered the forecasts of several leading organizations. The
best forecasts show a total of 2.7 million jobs lost since we peaked in December 2007 -- with
the low point of employment in late spring 2009. The worst forecasts show a total of about
4 million lost jobs -- with the low point of employment at the very end of 2009 or perhaps
early 2010.
As always, economists are split on when we might see the end of the recession. But, again,
taking into account that the folks in Washington seem to be on the right track, we support
the idea that we'll start seeing a recovery -- a slow recovery -- beginning in the second
half of this year.
Regardless of who we are to believe, the reality is that this year starts the way last year
ended -- with many companies struggling to survive and others making continued cuts to
operations and workforce. As a worker, you'll need to do everything you can to show your
value to the organization -- building your brand internally as well as externally. As a
job-seeker, you'll need to push yourself harder than ever before to uncover job leads
while struggling for the patience to wait out employers who stretch out the hiring cycle.
Whether you are a worker looking to protect your job, a job-seeker struggling to find work,
or a student about to graduate, we have the advice you seek in a special section of
Quintessential Careers: Job-Hunting
During a Recession Articles for Job-Seekers and Workers.
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Other topical resources for job-seekers:
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