Through the leadership of Nevada Senator Harry Reid, more than $100 million could come to the state to create jobs in Nevada, stop foreclosures and improve health care and education through the omnibus appropriations bill currently being considered in Congress. The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote on the bill today and the Senate will take it up next week.

“Nevada needs this money desperately and I will always do my best to ensure the state’s needs are met on a federal level,” Reid said. “We can create thousands of jobs and support vital services through these projects. We’ve worked with unprecedented transparency in this bill, while still ensuring Nevada gets what it needs to continue moving on the path to economic recovery.”

According to MSNBC, money invested in transportation projects leads to job creation, and the bill includes more than $18.7 million for Nevada roads, highways and mass transportation. Nearly $15 million would go to energy projects, which also create good-paying jobs in areas of Nevada that desperately need them.

Labels: Nevada Jobs

All About Careers, LLC (AAC), a comprehensive resource for job hunters, with a specialty in successfully working with sales professionals is now offering sales job search strategies and resume development services.

According to Laurie Kahn, co-founder of AAC and founder and president of Media Staffing Network, sales professionals may be skilled at selling products and services, but often have difficulty trying to "sell" themselves. Kahn has been successfully been working with media sales candidates since 1993 and applies her expertise to help others find jobs in today's struggling economy.

Having worked with media sales professionals for more than 18 years, Kahn and her team of coaches have a strong sense what hiring managers are seeking in sales candidates and how that information should be presented.

"Sales resumes are a specialized area and require different formats and information than other professions," says Kahn. "Many traditional recruiters or outplacement professionals aren't experiences in creating sales-focused resumes. It is imperative, especially in today's economy, that sales professionals effectively showcase the skills that will get them hired, as well as contacts and key successes that make them stand out from the pool of candidates," adds Kahn.

Labels: Job Search

Department store giant Macy's has announced a series of actions designed to position the company for increased sales, profitability and cash flow – including reducing its workforce, including 850 Atlanta jobs. According to a company report, these moves will prepare the company for accelerated growth once the economy recovers while reducing previously planned expenses by approximately $400 million per year beginning in 2010 (and $250 million in the partial year of 2009).

A net company-wide total of approximately 7,000 positions are being eliminated from the company's workforce in offices, stores and other facilities. This total includes approximately 1,200 positions being added to new My Macy's districts and regions.

The net reduction of 7,000 positions represents about 4 percent of the company's total current workforce of about 180,000 positions. (Note that the reduction is a much higher percentage in central office functions being centralized, where nearly 40 percent of executive positions are being eliminated.) In some cases, the reduction involves positions that currently are unfilled. Employees whose positions are eliminated will have the opportunity to express interest in other available positions. Employees who are laid off in this process will be provided severance benefits and outplacement assistance.

"Reducing our workforce is an unfortunate outcome of the current economic environment, and I am frustrated that so many of our people will be unable to move forward with us as we proceed into a very exciting future for Macy's and Bloomingdale's," Terry J. Lundgren, chairman, president and chief executive officer said.. "Be assured we will be sensitive to all affected employees, work diligently to find other positions for as many of them as possible, and treat everyone with respect and honesty."

Labels: Atlanta jobs, Jobs in Atlanta

The guys are back for good after a long hiatus that saw Chad back in military service. A lively chat about vet recruiting, the economy, Super Bowl ads and Monster.com's redesign ensues.

While employment news continues to be bleak, fewer governmental layoffs have helped jobs in the DC and Northern Virginia area remain relatively strong.

Unemployment rates were higher in December than a year earlier in 363 of the 369 metropolitan areas, lower in 5 areas, and unchanged in 1 area, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor has reported. Forty areas recorded jobless rates of at least 10.0 percent, while only two areas registered rates below 3.0 percent. The national unemployment rate in December was 7.1 percent, up from 4.8 percent a year earlier.

In December, 168 metropolitan areas reported jobless rates of at least 7.0 percent, up from 33 areas a year earlier, while 22 areas posted rates below 4.0 percent, down from 112 areas in December 2007. El Centro, Calif., continued to record the highest unemployment rate, 22.6 percent.

Elkhart-Goshen, Ind., recorded the largest jobless rate increase from December 2007, followed by Dalton, Ga. Both areas have experienced manufacturing-related layoffs in recent months.

Of the 49 metropolitan areas with a Census 2000 population of 1 million or more, Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich., and Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif., again reported the highest unemployment rates in December, 10.6 and 10.1 percent, respectively. Twenty additional large areas posted rates of 7.0 percent or more.

The large areas with the lowest jobless rates in December were Oklahoma City, Okla., and Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va., 4.6 and 4.7 percent, respectively. All 49 large areas registered higher unemployment rates than in December 2007. Providence-Fall River-Warwick, R.I.-Mass., had the largest jobless rate increase from a year earlier.

Labels: Jobs