Rebound in 2010?

Moody's Economy.com is predicting a rebound for jobs in 2010, and USA Today has taken their data and made an interactive map of the current status and the predictions. The Bank of Canada made a similar prediction for Canada, but we didn't make a cool map, though we had a cooler line: "we don't do spin."

Read a little farther past the map and you'll come to a link to this article, Recession's reach limits our ability to find work by moving which explains one of the reasons why Americans are really suffering in the slump: a loss of labor mobility. They can't flee the turmoil in one state and move to another, 'cause the fire has spread throughout the house. Relocation, however, is still a good strategy to get your career off the ground (shameless link to my article on LIScareer about relocating). This is especially true for librarians, who don't have to get recertified in each state or province and because, wherever knowledge is, we need people who can organize it and remember where they put it.

For librarians who deal with the public who are looking for work, I want to call attention to this statement from one of the people interviewed for the article:

"I've not (formally) applied for a job since I was 19 years old. I've always gone on to the next one, so it's going to be an interesting experience."

Sadly, these are the people who are going to need a resume writing class, some interview prep, and maybe a shot in the arm when they ask why they aren't getting any call backs when they've had their resume on Monster for a whole week. If you are opposed to violence, you can hug them afterward, but they still need a shot in the arm if they think they are going to google their way out of a job loss.