MinnEcon: April 27, 2009 Archive

Unable to find jobs for clients, a staffing firm owner wonders what's next

Posted at 10:14 PM on April 27, 2009 by Paul Tosto (0 Comments)
Filed under: Jobs & unemployment, Twin Cities metro

"I am writing because we have hundreds of people in need of work."

That sentence threw me. Yes, there's record high unemployment in Minnesota. But the person who wrote that sentence heads an employment staffing firm.

Sharon Murphy owns ADD ON Staffing Solutions in the Twin Cities. She's part of our Public Insight Network and she's expert at connecting workers to the companies who need them. She describes herself as "usually the most upbeat person in the world."

But these are the hardest times in decades. She gave us a view this week of the struggling jobs market through her eyes:

Here is what we see everyday...our customers are cutting back on all temporary staff, cutting their permanent staff wages and hours, forcing them to take time off without pay. I truly believe we have not seen the worst of things for folks yet.

I just took a phone call from a manufacturing facility in Woodbury, our client....they have laid off their entire second shift, running a skeletal crew for 1st shift and they don't see any hiring until July....what are people to do? We simply cannot manufacture jobs....people are not able to sustain themselves on unemployment...this is bleak!

Frankly, I'm not sure how long I can sustain my company with so few people actually on my payroll now. The small business owner is not eligible for a bailout...something that can sustain us until we can get through this dark time.

Data back up Murphy's observations. The chart attached to this post shows a stunning gap between the declining number of job vacancies in Minnesota and the rising number of unemployed in Minnesota at the end of 2008.

Murphy says she and her staff take their clients' unemployment personally.

They confide in us, share their dreams with us, refer their family members to us. We care about each and every employee. They call every other day checking in for work. It breaks my heart that we are unable to find jobs....these associates are desperate, they have bills, mortgages, children....

We've had readers email MPR and tell us that we're too negative on the economy, that more than 90 percent of the workforce still have jobs. Point taken.

Still, it's hard to ignore the observations of someone like Sharon Murphy who comes at it from a vantage point most of us don't see.

Below, we've mapped some other recent voices on jobs from our Public Insight Network. Take a look, then add your story.

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Working multiple jobs in a lousy economy

Posted at 10:16 PM on April 27, 2009 by Paul Tosto (2 Comments)
Filed under: Jobs & unemployment

Working a couple part-time jobs is a rite of passage for many young adults. I juggled a few right after college until one -- a tiny newspaper -- offered me a full-time gig.

That's a lot different, though, than moonlighting in your 30s, 40s or 50s in a lousy economy.

We've heard from a couple dozen people the past few months in our Public Insight Network who've told us they're working multiple jobs in this economy. For some, it's needed extra cash. For others, the second job money is paying down debt.

Missi Lang of Eagan is in her early 30s and was working two jobs before recently taking time off to have a baby. She told us in February:

One job is as a server at a restaurant - there I am pretty secure in my employment, but the money I make each shift seems to have decreased. My other job is working in Adult Basic Education. That job also seems fairly secure, just due to the fact that when so many people are getting laid off, it would be counter intuitive for the state to cut programs that could potentially help those in need.

I guess I'm just hoping everything will be normal when I go back to work. We are really unable to save much because it seems like we're always behind, so we will just keep doing the same things. I guess when I grocery shop, I have been going for just the essential items, skipping the pre-made meals and a few other extras.

Two weeks ago, Paula Swenson of Bemidji wrote in and called her job security "shaky."

She's working three jobs in her late 50s -- "Artist, good prospects but low income, sub teacher, erratic, Census employee, temporary." She's trying to pay off her credit cards. Asked about the last time she had a raise, she replied, "What's that?"

Moonlighting has always been a bit of a phenomenon here. Minnesota and the Northern Plains states have among the highest multiple job holding rates in the country, with Minnesota the top moonlighting state in 1994, according to the state's labor department. Officials say about 8 percent of employed Minnesotans held more than one job in 2004 and about 5.4 percent in the U.S.

I couldn't find any data more recent than 2004. If anyone has any please post below. But the Minnesota report noted moonlighting picks up during economic downturns, so it's a pretty good bet Minnesota's numbers are up.(Correction: I misread the report on moonlighting and recession. The report shows moonlighting declining in a recession. Thanks to Dave Senf, author of the study, for setting that right.)

Below, we've mapped some other recent voices on jobs from our Public Insight Network. Take a look, then add your story.

Most surprising multiple job holder? Paul Kolisch of Burnsville is in his 60s working multiple jobs but called is job outlook "very secure." Why?

He trains pilots for Mesaba Airlines, job he says that is a beneficiary of Delta Airlines' takeover of Northwest Airlines and "must continue unless the airline shuts down."

Plus, his other job seems like it has a lot of staying power: He's a priest in the Anglican Church and, he notes, "I see more people joining our congregation."

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