This IS the Worst Depression Since The Dirty Thirties

To say economists are a very conservative bunch doesn’t even scratch the surface. However, their overly cautious descriptions of what most call “an economic slowdown” are so far from the truth, it really does hurt.

We’ve come a long way from the soup kitchens providing meals to the homeless during the Great Depression of the 1930’s, but from an economic perspective, we’ve sunk to new lows never seen – even back those 80-plus-years.

Although recently the Canadian federal government announced unemployment has dropped slightly, the reality of the situation came in their findings that the number of people that just stopped looking for work has risen.

I see the horrid sad stories of people struggling to find their way, as I build the teams in my new business. I’ve put out a handful of postings for specific roles we’re looking to fill as we gear up for our initial round of hiring, and within the time frame it takes to order and receive a pizza, I’ve received literally hundreds of responses.

Many of the replies show the exasperation and desperation of the underemployed and the unemployed – two key groups facing the toughest challenges in this economy.

Such as the person who starts off her cover letter with: “If this is an agency, please do not contact me and if this is a legit position, I am truly interested.” Her desperation and understandable frustration with the sorry state of our contracted out economy sums up her thoughts: “[I’ve been] doing various contract positions and am now looking for a position with stability.”

One of the many reasons our economy is in such tatters is because of the proliferation of recruitment firms hiring people on a project basis, instead of placing people in full-time permanent positions. Sure it’s better for the recruitment firm, as they get a regular take on re-using people as contracts run their course. 

However, as a contract runs out, and the poor person in that role doesn’t know if or when they will ever work again, they don’t purchase the big ticket items which fuel the economy, and it continues to decline.

Worse yet, as they continue to look for stable employment, but are only offered temporary contract gigs, they lose faith in the economy, and become bitter and angry, as is echoed in this person’s cover letter – yes that is an actual quote from a cover letter I received to one of our posted positions.

Economists have to get their heads out of the sand, and wake up to the reality of our dismal depression – yes that’s what it is – and start calling it just that.

We’ve been in this “economic slowdown” more than the required time to define it as a depression, and we haven’t seen this many people out of work and desperate since the Great Depression over 80-years-ago.

I understand the fear that economists are trying to avoid, by NOT using the “D” word – but until they start calling a spade a spade, the world will continue to spiral out of control, because governments and big business will continue to heed their conservative interpretations, and that’s not good for any of us – employed or not.

Why Human Resources Departments Get a Bad Rap

The mere thought of having to deal with a person from the Human Resources – or Talent Management Team as they are now anointing themselves – often sends a cold chill down most spines.

Why?

Originally, those in Human Resources did just that – manage the staffing needs of a company. But back in the day, those staffing needs were simple, there weren't big recruitment firms, online job boards, contractors/consultants, term employees, temps and the constant fear of being sued if ya messed up.

These days, Human Resources (HR) departments have become too tenacious for their own good. They have seeded themselves too deeply in the basic functioning of the workplace to be any good. Their reach has grown, but their knowledge, skill and ability has not.

Today, HR is often responsible for all hiring, firings, lay-offs, employee rules and regulations, and sets the tone for the corporate culture.

Many in HR are so overwhelmed with the enormous tasks they are expected to perform daily, they just don’t take the time to do the things which really matter.

And when HR stops doing the things that matter – or any department, team, or individual stops this – they frustrate, anger and offend those they were working with or for.

That’s why people think so poorly of their HR departments, and why so many potential employees hate dealing with anyone in an HR role.

Human Resources does the bare minimum, because that’s all they have the time and people resources themselves to do.

So, asking hiring managers what they mean by key terms and concepts in their job requirements doesn't happen. This leads to HR constantly short-listing the wrong people for the same position, which angers and frustrates not only the hiring manager and his team that really need a body in that role, but also all those potential employees, that end up thinking the company is so disorganized that they’d never want to work for it.

And that’s the real caveat when HR screws up. Although it may have short-term consequences for the teams and departments looking for people in key roles, in the long-term, HR’s lacking generates negative messaging in professional circles, which can and does cost businesses good, quality employees and contractors.

Every professional association event I've ever been too has had at least one or more “horror stories” from someone that is great at what they do, highly respected by their peers and colleagues, and involves a company’s HR team failing them so much, they feel the need to warn everyone never to work for or do business with that company.

Executives need to real-in their HR departments, cutting off their deep-routed roles to limit them, so they can do the role an HR team does best – recruitment and retention of employees.

That’s it. That’s all. That’s what HR departments do best – and when you let your teams and departments do what they do best, your company does what it does best, and you grow your business.

And ultimately people in and outside of the company won’t have as many –or if done right – any – negative experiences with HR. So the reputation and respect of the HR team increases, instead of decreases.

It Doesn’t Matter Whether Obama or Romney Get In, The World of Work Has Changed for the Worse

Every election, at all levels, and in both Canada and the States, the “j” word crops up as one of the key election issues.

That “j” word is “jobs.”

As Americans gear up for November’s presidential elections, more hype surrounding jobs and job creation creeps into the campaign, as both candidates claim they have a magical method to give the growing unemployed ranks of angry voters a gig.

Every election it’s the same political bullcrap, as global economies continue to falter, amid economic uncertain times.

It doesn't matter if you support President Barack Obama, or his opponent Mitt Romney, neither of their job platforms will work. They both are based on traditional means to stimulating the economy, which in turn usually creates job growth.

Stimulating the economy is important and need be done. But that’s NOT why America – and Canada – isn't working.

It’s because of recruitment firms stealing a piece of the employment pie, as they convince companies large and small that it’s better to hire consultants on a per-project-basis, rather than full-time, salaried, staff employees.

Of course it’s good – for the recruitment firms, which earn their keep by providing these temporary contract consultants. But it’s bad for the consultants, who eventually find themselves out of work and unemployed again when their contracts end.

And all contracts end – that’s the whole nature of contracting. Hiring permanent, salaried, staff employees have no end date to their jobs. However a contractual, temporary, or “term employee” is hired from a specific start date to a specific end date.

Contracts do get renewed, extended, even occasionally renegotiated. But none last forever. And most contractors don’t get complimentary benefits which are granted to salaried staff employees.

That’s part of the sales job which these recruitment firms pull over employer’s eyes to get them to do business with them.

Why pay someone benefits, through the good and the bad times, when you can hire someone hourly, without having to fork out benefits, just for the work that needs to be done?

It’s this lack of job security which has killed the middle class in North America. As the economy sours, and companies terminate or fail to extend or renew their contracted consultants, a mega-huge segment of the population suddenly finds themselves, unemployed, and without any means of providing a roof overhead, food in their tummies, and clothes on their backs.

And because this is such a mega-huge segment of our North American workforce – thanks to greedy recruitment firms more interested in making profits off the backs of hourly contractors than putting people into permanent work situations – as companies axe consultants, they no longer have any money to spend in the economy.

So it doesn't matter how many new products or services are introduced through government incentive programs for business innovation – no one is buying those new products or services. So the economy continues to spiral out of control.

It’s a catch-22 situation which politicians are aware of, but turn a blind eye towards because they don’t want to interfere in the rights of one company to make a buck.

However, they should be concerned, because these recruitment firms have a very negative impact on the economic engines of Canada and the States. Already both countries are less competitive internationally because of the shift in the economy from salaried, permanent staff towards hourly, contracted consultants.

For the past five years, there has been talk in economic circles of changing the international currency used to compare all other currencies. Since the start of the industrial revolution at the turn of the 1900’s, that currency has always been the American “Greenback” Dollar.

As America’s economy slumps lower with every full-time, salaried staff job lost to a recruitment firm’s contracted out consultant, the talk in economic circles is to replace the American dollar with an Asian currency as the new standard for measuring the currencies of the world, as many Asian countries economies are growing.

So wake up Obama, Romney and the rest of you politicos trying to sell voters on the “j” word with useless outdated and ineffective stimulus programs that don’t work.

We need government intervention and incentive programs to encourage companies to hire salaried, staff employees to grow and develop for the long-term. Not casual, contracted out consultants that are here one day, gone the next.

Or else one day, we all will be looking for work.