U.S. Senator John Cornyn, a Republican, has written an article in Chron.com stating that raising oil-industry taxes might lead to a substantial loss of Texas jobs.

According to Cornyn, the oil-and-gas industry helps power the U.S. economy, especially in Texas. More than 300,000 Texans work in the industry. They generate nearly 7 percent of the wages in Texas, despite being only a little more than 3 percent of the entire workforce.

Cornyn says that more than 90 percent of the wells in the United States are operated by small and independent businesses, and even the major energy companies rely on small businesses as suppliers and contractors. Together these workers and businesses help reduce dependence on foreign oil and contribute to the diversity of energy resources needed for decades to come.

Domestic oil and gas production is part of America's energy solution, but many in Washington see the industry as part of the problem. As a member of the Senate Finance Committee, Cornyn says he heard the Obama administration testify this month that the domestic oil-and-gas industry actually reduces long-term energy security. Cornyn believes that in their view, the industry is guilty of overproduction, at a time when 60 percent of U.S. oil comes from foreign sources.

To tackle overproduction, Cornyn says the White House wants to repeal nine oil and gas incentives that encourage entrepreneurs to develop America's natural resources and create new jobs. By doing so, the administration would impose more than $30 billion in new taxes over 10 years.

Cornyn believes Texans would pay the biggest share of that bill, and that some might pay by going out of business. For example, independent refineries must make the same large capital investments as their global competitors, while operating on much thinner profit margins. Raising taxes now could end their ability to compete and send more Texans to the unemployment line.

Cornyn thinks higher taxes would cost jobs in Texas and weaken America's strategic position overseas. He feels that the less oil and gas produced here, the more dependent we are on foreign suppliers. He also thinks that no matter which suppliers we choose, unfriendly regimes like Iran and Venezuela would claim a larger share of the global energy market.

In addition, Cornyn says that U.S. private businesses would be further disadvantaged compared to their state-owned competitors, such as Russia's Gazprom and Brazil's Petrobras.

Cornyn firmly believes that raising taxes on oil and gas producers won't produce the return Texans want. Instead, it would only weaken our energy security, force many businesses to close or lay off workers and lengthen the longest and deepest recession in a generation.

Labels: texas jobs

The Associated General Contractors of America said in a report issued Wednesday that construction-related jobs in Nashville dropped by 13 percent in August from the same month a year earlier.

Construction jobs dropped 22 percent across Tennessee.

In the Nashville metro area, construction-related employment went down by 5,200 over the year ended August 2009, the AGC of America's report says. There were 35,000 people still employed in construction in the Nashville area as of August, down from 40,200 a year earlier.

Nashville ranked 189th out of the 337 metro areas studied, with first place meaning the biggest gain in construction jobs by percentage and 337th place the most jobs lost by percentage.

Nationwide, unemployment in the construction industry now stands at 16.5 percent, well over the national rate for all industries, the report says.

The report is based on AGC of America's analysis of data from the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics. It includes direct construction jobs as well as employment in related segments of mining and logging.

With the report, the trade group unveiled a proposal combining incentives, tax cuts and infrastructure investments that it said would help "stem the dramatic decline in construction activity and employment taking place nationwide."

It includes a call for repealing the alternative minimum tax and increasing and extending a series of tax credits and cuts – including the net operating loss carry back – to boost investments in real estate development, as well as doubling federal spending on transportation infrastructure.

Statewide in Tennessee, the report said construction-related employment declined 22 percent, to 105,000 jobs, over the 12-month period.

Nationwide, AGC of America said only eight metro areas out of 337 saw gains in construction employment, led by Columbus, Ind., with a 14 percent increase. Five other cities saw no change.

The biggest decline by percentage was in Reno-Sparks, Nev., with a 35 percent drop in jobs.

Labels: Jobs in Nashville

The number of online advertisements for Colorado jobs was virtually unchanged in September from the previous month, but was down 35.7 percent from the same month a year earlier, the Conference Board said Monday in its monthly report on Internet help-wanted ads.

Some 68,300 online job ads ran in Colorado in September, including new ads and those reposted from previous months, about the same as in August but up from 65,900 in July and 67,400 in June.

There were 106,300 such ads in September 2008.

Colorado saw 43,400 newly posted help-wanted ads online in September, down slightly from the August total of 43,600 but up from July’s 39,900 and June’s 40,300. There were 72,300 new online job ads in September 2008.

In Denver, the number of online job ads in September was 37,900, down from 40,300 in August. The September total was down 44.5 percent from last September’s total of 68,200 ads.

The number of new ads in Denver was 23,400 ads in September versus 25,400 in August and 46,400 in September 2008.

Nationwide, there were 3,363,000 online job ads in September, down by 101,800 from August’s 3,464,800, the Conference Board said.

“While the trend has been modestly upward ... over the last five months, the labor market continues to have a hard time gaining momentum,” Gad Levanon, senior economist at the Conference Board, said in a statement.

Across the nation, online advertised vacancies declined by 101,800 to 3,363,000 in September.

September losses partially offset the larger August gains (+169,000), leaving labor demand up by 67,000 over the past two months. Since the low point in April 2009, labor demand is up by 201,000, showing a modest upward trend following a five-month period of steep losses.

The New York-based Conference Board is a nonprofit business research organization.

Labels: Colorado Jobs

The growth projection for the Portland area, often summarized in news reports as "a million more people," has not been easy to track because some of the projected population, Portland jobs and housing increases mix different time periods and cover different geographical areas.

According to OregonLive.com, the regional government's communications director tried to set things straight. They listed these details to keep in mind when calculating growth projection:

The projection of adding 1 million people applies to the seven-county Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton statistical area, which includes Multnomah, Washington, Clackamas, Yamhill and Columbia counties in Oregon, and Clark and Skamania counties across the river in Washington. The population increase is expected by 2040, a 30-year planning period.

It is actually traditional to use the seven county region. It's called the Portland Metropolitan Statistical Area. The U.S. Census Bureau's definition for the Portland MSA currently includes all of the following counties: Clackamas, Columbia, Multnomah, Washington, Yamhill, Clark and Skamania. The determination of the statistical area is based on the number of residents from each county with commuting ties to Portland.

Metro coordinates land-use and transportation planning in Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas counties and is working on a 20-year planning period. About 62 percent of the seven-county area's residential growth has historically been captured by the three Metro counties.

Based on that, Metro projects that the urban growth boundary of the three counties will have to accommodate between 412,700 and 558,500 additional people in the next 20 years.

Most of that growth is expected to be handled by infill development, higher densities and redeveloping existing buildings. Michael Jordan, Metro's chief operating officer, said the region can get by with only minor expansions of the urban growth boundary.

Metro and its partner counties are working toward decisions on adopting a regional transportation plan, whether to expand the growth boundary, and which land to designate for urban and rural reserves. The latter will determine which land is developed and which is set aside for farming, forestry of natural areas for the next 40 to 50 years.

Metro calls the planning process, "Making the Greatest Place."

Labels: Portland Jobs

Outplacement agencies are enjoying a sizable surge in business due to the millions of unemployed Americans looking for help finding their next job.

Outplacement services provide an office, counseling and expertise on finding a job, or new direction. This includes career assessments, job leads, networking and coaching on resume writing and interviewing.

Private outplacement firms are hired by companies to assist with laid-off employees, typically executives and professionals.

Officially, they just offer job search coaching, but that also includes psychological support for people laid low by a job loss.

According to Wikipedia, the term "outplacement" was coined more than thirty years ago by the founder of a New York based career consultancy. With the increased rates of downsizing, rightsizing, redundancies and lay offs, particularly during the 1980s and 1990s, businesses increasingly found a need for some form of assistance in reducing the trauma of redundancy for both departing employees and those who remain.

Indeed, research shows that losing one's job is one of the most stressful experiences a person can face, ranked third behind death and divorce.

Since millions of people have been laid off due to the recession, outplacement services have seen their client list soar. Employers are tapping these agencies to assist those that have been terminated with their new job search.

According to the Wall Street Journal, a growing number of high-level executives are now paying for their own outplacement services that are pricier but custom-tailored to each individual. In exchange for the higher price tags, these executive outplacement firms provide a wider array of services, including legal advice, custom research and counseling.

More laid-off senior managers now must pay part or all of the bill for this customized counseling because employers are less generous in the current economic environment. At the same time, jobless executives need every possible leg up in a fiercely competitive job market.

Labels: Outplacement

According to Oregon Employment Department economist Jessica Nelson, an estimated 139,000 people are still looking for Portland jobs.

The Portland metro area’s unemployment rate rose to 11.6 percent in August.

Since peaking in January 2008, the metro area lost 65,600 jobs: a decline of 6.3 percent.

Oregon's unemployment rate rose to 12.2 percent in August, with state economists sticking by their prediction of a slow recovery likely to begin this fall.

Labels: Portland Jobs

A trashy plan that could create Nevada jobs is raising quite a stink among residents and officials.

Recology, a garbage company based in San Francisco, is looking to build a 1-square-mile landfill in the Nevada desert. Despite the fact that such a landfill would create local jobs, many are opposed to the idea.

The company is seeking approval to build its landfill 28 miles west of Winnemucca as part of its plan for when existing landfills begin to overflow during the near future. Recology would haul up to 4,000 tons of trash per day from the Bay Area and other parts of Northern California by train five days a week for 95 years.

Opponents of the project say workers would spread the trash across the desert in a mound that could eventually grow to 200 feet. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid recently sent a letter to Gov. Jim Gibbons asking him to reject the plan, calling it a "threat to Nevada's sovereignty and dignity."

Residents in the area close to the proposed landfill site are asking Recology to leave the desert alone and California to keep its own garbage. Nevadans Against Garbage, a group opposing the plan, has already sprung up.

"The notion that Nevada is some sort of wasteland because we don't have Ponderosa pines covering it is repugnant," Jim French, retired wildlife biologist from the Nevada Department of Wildlife and a member of the group, told the San Francisco Chronicle. "Can you imagine the reaction in the Bay Area if the people of Western Nevada bought some land in Marin County and wanted to ship their garbage there?"

However, some people are in favor of the proposed landfill project. The Humboldt County Planning Commission has supported the proposal and allowed the company to seek permits from the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection.

Recology has said the landfill would not generate odor or air pollution. If accepted, the proposal would create 25 to 35 jobs and could generate at least $1 million per year in fees.

Labels: Nevada Jobs

One recruiting software company is making an effort to reduce effort and costs while increasing its quality of service to customers, candidates and employees.

The latest 2.0 release of Pointwing Front Office is doing so by offering a tighter integration with Microsoft Outlook. Some of the new benefits to recruiters, staffing coordinators and sales staff include:

• Users can initiate new e-mail from either Pointwing or Outlook and have that activity tracked within Pointwing. Inbound e-mails are instantly identified and recorded in the correct Pointwing Contact or Candidate record enabling the end user to efficiently manage and prioritize their daily communications, while insuring that their daily activity metrics are tracked.
• E-mail marketing campaigns can be sent using the comprehensive capabilities available within Outlook, while recording the activities within Pointwing for tracking and reporting.
• Pointwing users can find Pointwing Contacts and Candidates directly from within Outlook to compose their e-mail, appointment or task. For more information about a Contact or Candidate, they can jump to the associated Pointwing record from Outlook or create a new Pointwing record from Outlook if the record does not already exist.
• Outlook integration leverages the Pointwing resume parsing tool to enable the user to easily parse a resume attachment or parse directly from the body of the email.
• Pointwing also gives recruiters a quick way to move through records and complete Tasks for a record. This can be done from a single record or from a grid and can be performed without leaving the record. They can then go to the next record and continue.

The tighter integration between Pointwing recruiting and staffing software and MS Outlook also includes administrative and management capabilities that reduce the challenges often experienced in other recruiting packages with integrated e-mail.

For example, the Pointwing administrator can control whether to enable the auto add of e-mails and can omit certain e-mail addresses or Internet domains from being monitored. This auto-add feature may also be turned on or off at the user level.

Additionally, Pointwing offers better tracking of activities and a more efficient workflow that enables the recruiter to focus on using their best marketing options and the flexibility of managing their e-mails from Outlook or Pointwing leading to quicker user adoption and improved productivity.

Labels: Recruiting Software