Temp Cuts Lead Mass Layoffs Lower

May 30, 2002 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - There were 1,507 mass layoff actions in April involving at least 50 workers from a single company, with cuts in temporary workforces leading the way, new statistics show.

Some 165,861 workers were involved in the actions, according to April data from the US Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) represented a 6% drop over a year earlier – the third consecutive month of year-over-year layoff declines.

However measured year to date, initial claims in the January to April 2002 period were 730,002 – up from 720,982 a year earlier.

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Manufacturing Mass

A third of April’s mass layoff events and worker initial claims came from the manufacturing sector – down from 42% of layoff events and 45% of claims a year earlier.
  
The administrative and waste services sector accounted for 12% of events and 11% of initial claims filed during April.

Some 7% of all layoff events and 9% of initial claims filed during the month were in transportation and warehousing, mostly in transit and ground passenger transportation (school and employee bus transportation).
 
Compared with April 2001, the largest decreases in initial claims were in administrative and support services and transportation equipment manufacturing, the BLS said.
                                 
Geographic Distribution
  
The highest number of initial claims in April due to mass layoffs was in the West at 54,426.  Temporary help services, motion picture and video production, and farm labor contractors and crew leaders accounted for 23% of all initial claims in the West during the month. 

Following was the Northeast with 38,576 initial claims (mainly in school and employee bus transportation), the Midwest with 37,119 (largely in temporary help services), and the South with 35,740 (mostly in temporary help services and industrial building construction).
  
Of the individual states, California registered the largest number of initial claims filed in mass layoff events this April, 39,943, mostly in temporary help services and motion picture and video production.  New York reported 17,889 initial claims in mass layoffs, followed by

  • Texas at 9,845,
  • Illinois at 9,583,
  • Ohio at 9,034,
  • Pennsylvania at 8,985.

Resume Puffery a Common Problem

May 29, 2002 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Puffing up one's resume is apparently a pretty common thing, according to the latest New York Times job survey.

The Times Job Market survey of hiring executives and applicants found that 89% of job seekers and 49% of hiring managers think a significant number of candidates add puffery to their resumes to make themselves appear a stronger candidate.

Of those hiring managers who believe a significant number of resumes are padded, they believe that 52% of the resumes they receive are padded. But only 13% of job seekers admitted to ever personally having padded their resumes.

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Lies, All Lies

As to what was areas were being padded, hiring managers and applicants said potential employees most often lie about:

  • 53% of hiring managers and 51% of job seekers listed job responsibilities,
  • 18% of hiring executives and 14% of applicants said length of employment,
  • 13% of hiring managers and 10% of job seekers listed education level, and
  • 11% of hiring managers and 14% of job seekers mentioned college attended or a previous job

More than eight in ten applicants say they think companies are aware of resume padding. The applicants also believe that companies perform background checks on the following:

  • some items on the resume, 70%
  • all items on the resume, 17%
  • none of the items on the resume, 13%

Checking Out

Hiring managers use the following techniques to verify job candidates’ claims made on their resumes:

  • checking of references, 47%
  • evaluating candidates during the interview process, 30%
  • checking of past employers/schools listed on resumes, 17%
  • asking questions of candidates to see how specific their answers are, 6%
  • evaluating new employees once they are on the job, 4%

If a company uncovers a resume padder, about eight in ten respondents said the person is fired, 7% said the worker would be disciplined and 5% said the action would depend on what was padded.

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