Job layoffs slam educated professionals - Kansas City Business Journal:

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The trend is a seriouxs concern, since most of these four-year college graduatesd were likely white-collar professionalss before they turned up at the county officials said. Statistics from the show there was a 44 percentf increase in the numberof college-educated job seekers usingt the statewide unemployment agencies. As worrisomw as that is, the story in South Florid a was worse. When comparing June 1, through May 31, 2008, to June 1, through May 31, 2009, Broward led the pack, with a 69 percen increase. Palm Beach County was second, with a 59 percentg increase. Miami-Dade had a 52 percenty increase.
“This recession has been an egalitarian recession,” said Mason Jackson, president and CEO of Workforce One, Broward County’ws employment agency. Workforce One has even seen someformer white-collar professionals drawing food stamps, Jackson though he could not provide specifid data on the total. “I’ve bumpede into a few myself that I did not expect to find he said. The data isn’t completes and the story varies by but it’s clear that professionals in financial servicez were among the hardest hit.
Last those in real estate and related professions wereaffecterd first, said Richard Clarke, spokesman for South Florida Workforce, the agency that services Miami-Dade and Monroe But, as time went on, the agency starte to see more people from the financial services sector. “Aws the financial crisis evolved, the numbers just got larger and Clarke said. County unemployment offices are steppinb up to deal with the problemj by increasingexisting services.
in Palm Beacnh County has seen a jump in the numberr of professionals using its workshops that focuss onjob research, resume writingv and interview skills, spokeswoman Holly Finch The agency is trying to emphasize the valuwe of networking by hosting eventsz where job seekers can mingl e and make contacts. Whiler in transition, seekers are encouraged to become long-termk participants at networking events, she added.
Workforcde One is emphasizing the Professional PlacemenyNetwork (PPN), a programk that helps professionals hone theird job seeking skills and In order to get into the program, job seekera must have held a management position for at least five years or have a four-yeare college degree. About 2,500 people will have completee the program in the past year by the end of this PPN coordinator VernonBailey said.
Not only will this year’ds expected number of PPN participantas comprise 25 percent of the total that has gone througb the program overits seven-year it will be a 56 percent increase over last year’s 1,600 participants, Bailey As stimulus dollars trickles down from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, some of that money will be passed through the workforcse agencies to fund job seekers goinyg back to school. If a job seeker was laid off from a positio as a realestate broker, the agency may use the stimuluse funds to send that person to nursing South Florida Workforce’s Clarke said.
Nursing is stil an in-demand profession, whereas Soutn Florida has plenty of realestated brokers, he added. South Florida Workforce is gettingabouyt $21 million to fund its existinbg training programs. Of that amount, aboutg $13 million will go towardr retraining workersin transition. About 70 percentg of that will go towardretraining white-collar workers, Clarke estimated. “That’s going to be where the bulk of our dollarsz are going to be allocatecmoving forward.
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