About Outplacement

What is this “Outplacement” thing?

Outplacement, sometimes called “Career Transition Services,” is a service offered to some professionals following a lay-off, often as part of their severance package. The typical outplacement firm offers an unemployed worker a workspace, phone line, and various levels of counseling and professional support for conducting their search for a new job. Services can include the support of an administrative assistant, counseling on planning and executing a job search, access to job banks, advice from special motivational speakers and consultants, and - in some facilities - therapy to help deal with job loss. Although outplacement “clients” find some services more valuable then others, most find it useful to have a dedicated work space to conduct their search and remain motivated, rather then simply convalescing at home. And yes, these places really exist - we didn’t make it up.

Some Facts About
Long-Term
White Collar Unemployment

• Over 500,000 Americans have dropped out of the labor market because they have given up on job searches
• 20% of currently unemployed people have been out of a job for over 6 months. This is double the historical average in periods with similar unemployment rates.
• Median family income has declined since 2000. Median hourly wages are the same as they were in November 2001 when the recovery began.
• 1.33 jobs are posted on-line for every 100 job seekers posting resumes on-line.
• In 2004, 3.6 million workers ran through all their unemployment benefits without finding a new job.
• Between 2001 and 2004, 44% of the unemployed were white collar workers.

(Center for Economic and Policy Research, October 18, 2005 via Barbara
Ehrenreich’s website)

• Despite falling unemployment rates, long-term joblessness - unemployment of 27 weeks or more - continues to rise.
• The share of long-term unemployed white collar workers has increased
6 percentage points in the early 00’s from the early 90’s
• The long-term unemployed make up over 20% of the unemployed.

(“The rising stakes of job loss,” The Economic Policy Institute)

Check our YOUTUBE VIDEO BLOG for related clips!

And Here’s Some Pertinent Books!

Bait & Switch: The (Futile) Pursuit of the American Dream by Barbara Ehrenreich
The Disposable American: Layoffs and Their Consequences by Louis Uchitelle
White-Collar Sweatshop: The Deterioration of Work and Its Rewards in Corporate America by Jill Andresky Fraser
Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson

MORE ARTICLES & OTHER INFO ABOUT
THESE ISSUES (COMING SOON)

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