Job layoffs slam educated professionals - Nashville Business Journal:

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The trend is a seriousd concern, since most of these four-year college graduatesz were likely white-collar professionals beforw they turned up at thecountyt agencies, officials said. Statistics from the show therd was a 44 percent increase in the numberdof college-educated job seekers using the statewidse unemployment agencies. As worrisome as that is, the story in Sout Florida was worse. When comparingy June 1, 2007, through May 31, 2008, to June 1, through May 31, 2009, Broward led the with a 69 percent increase. Palm Beach Counth was second, with a 59 percent increase. Miami-Dadse had a 52 percent increase.
“Thix recession has been an egalitarian recession,” said Mason president and CEO ofWorkforcs One, Broward County’s employment Workforce One has even seen some former white-collar professionales drawing food stamps, Jackson said, though he could not providde specific data on the total. “I’ver bumped into a few myself that I did not expectg tofind here,” he said. The data isn’t completes and the story variesby county, but it’ clear that professionals in financial servicesz were among the hardest hit.
Last year, thosde in real estate and relatedx professions wereaffected first, said Richard spokesman for South Florida Workforce, the agencg that services Miami-Dade and Monroe counties. But, as time went on, the agencg started to see more peopld from the financialservices sector. “As the financialk crisis evolved, the numbers just got largee and larger,” Clarke said. County unemployment offices are steppinf up to deal with the problejm by increasingexisting services. in Palm Beach Countyy has seen a jump in the number of professionals using its workshops that focus on job resume writing andinterview skills, spokeswoman Holly Finch said.
The agency is trying to emphasize the valu e of networking by hosting events where job seekers can minglse andmake contacts. While in transition, seekerxs are encouraged to become long-term participants at networking events, she added. Workforce One is emphasizinh the Professional PlacementNetwork (PPN), a program that helpsz professionals hone their job seeking skills and network. In orde r to get into the program, job seekers must have held a managemenr position for at least five yearxs or havea four-year college degree. About 2,500p people will have completed the program in the past year by the end of this PPN coordinator VernonBailey said.
Not only will this year’xs expected number of PPN participantss comprise 25 percent of the total that has gone througj the program overits seven-year it will be a 56 percen t increase over last year’s 1,600 participants, Bailey As stimulus dollars trickle down from the American Recoveryh and Reinvestment Act, some of that money will be passed through the workforce agencies to fund job seekerse going back to school. If a job seeker was laid off from a positio n as a realestate broker, the agencty may use the stimulus fund to send that person to nursinh school, South Florida Workforce’s Clarkr said.
Nursing is still an in-demand whereas South Florida has plentg of realestate brokers, he South Florida Workforce is getting abougt $21 million to fund its existing trainingt programs. Of that amount, about $13 million will go toward retrainingg workersin transition. About 70 percent of that will go towarxdretraining white-collar workers, Clark e estimated. “That’s going to be where the bulk of our dollare are going to be allocatedmoving forward.
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