Because being unemployed doesn't stink enough....

[CW&M Mom]

Now companies are telling those unemployed to not even bother applying

Out-of-work job applicants told unemployed need not apply

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Chris Isidore, senior writer, On Wednesday June 16, 2010, 4:26 am EDT
The last thing someone who is unemployed needs to be told is that they shouldn't even apply for the limited number of job openings that are available. But some companies and recruiters are doing just that.
Employment experts say they believe companies are increasingly interested only in applicants who already have a job.
"I think it is more prevalent than it used to be," said Rich Thompson, vice president of learning and performance for Adecco Group North America, the world's largest staffing firm. "I don't have hard numbers, but three out of the last four conversations I've had about openings, this requirement was brought up."
Some job postings include restrictions such as "unemployed candidates will not be considered" or "must be currently employed." Those explicit limitations have occasionally been removed from listings when an employer or recruiter is questioned by the media though.
That's what happened with numerous listings for grocery store managers throughout the Southeast posted by a South Carolina recruiter, Latro Consulting.
After CNNMoney called seeking comments on the listings last week, the restriction against unemployed candidates being considered came down. Latro Consulting refused to comment when contacted.
Sony Ericsson, a global phone manufacturer that was hiring for a new Georgia facility, also removed a similar restriction after local reporters wrote about it. According to reports, a Sony Ericsson spokesperson said that a mistake had been made.
But even if companies don't spell out in a job listing that they won't consider someone who currently doesn't have a job, experts said that unemployed applicants are typically ruled out right off the bat.
"Most executive recruiters won't look at a candidate unless they have a job, even if they don't like to admit to it," said Lisa Chenofsky Singer, a human resources consultant from Millburn, NJ, specializing in media and publishing jobs.
She said when she proposes candidates for openings, the first question she is often asked by a recruiter is if they currently have a job. If the answer is no, she's typically told the unemployed candidate won't be interviewed.
"They think you must have been laid off for performance issues," she said, adding that this is a "myth" in a time of high unemployment.
It is not against the law for companies to exclude the unemployed when trying to fill positions, but Judy Conti, a lobbyist for the National Employment Law Project, said the practice is a bad one.
"Making that kind of automatic cut is senseless; you could be missing out on the best person of all," she said. "There are millions of people who are unemployed through no fault of their own. If an employer feels that the best qualified are the ones already working, they have no appreciation of the crisis we're in right now."
Conti added that firms that hire unemployed job seekers could also benefit from a recently-passed tax break that essentially exempts them from paying the 6.2% of the new hire's wages in Social Security taxes for the rest of this year.
Thompson said he also thinks ruling out the unemployed is a bad idea. But he said that part of the problem is that recruiters and human resource departments are being overwhelmed with applications for any job opening that is posted. So they're looking for any short-cuts to get the list of applicants to consider down to a more manageable size.
"It's a tough process to determine which unemployed applicants were laid off even though they brought value to their company and which ones had performance issues," he said. "I understand the notion. But there's the top x percent of unemployed candidates who are very viable and very valuable. You just have to do the work to find them."

[taylordvd]

Its articles like this that really scare me. Due to childcare issues, I did not go back to work after ds was born. He's 3 and I would LOVE to go back to work. But, even if I could find a job to interview for that matched my education and experience I just think attitudes like this would find my resume at the bottom of the pile.

[XUfan]

We ran into this when my husband was looking for a job. The company where he had worked, had downsized and he got a severence package. We lived off of that money for 2 years, while he went to school to train in HVAC. For the next year, he did odd jobs and tried to start his own business. But that was right about the time that the economy was taking a nosedive...and nobody was getting new AC units and furnaces. So, we couldn't make it on that. When he compiled his resume, he didn't put any of that on it. So, there was a 3 year gap in employment. He couldn't even get an interview!! And with most companies wanting people to apply via internet, you can't make a "first impression" until you get an interview.

After a few futile months of NOT hearing the phone ring, he changed his resume, and added that he'd been self-employed during that time, and listed the type of work he'd done. After that, the calls started coming in.

[amys]

I come up against this all the time. I am well-qualified, but I have been out of work since my dad passed away 5 years ago - I was his caretaker and couldn't work while I tended to him.

I have not been able to find any job at all. Even WalMart won't hire me.

[CW&M Mom]

YUP my DH added in he was self employed...and finally landed a contract job.

[gettinrevvin2007]

I saw this article too.
DH has been unemployed for a year and a half. So this certainly isn't going to help. :(

[cmricha2]

Oh lovely. My DH opted to stay home the last few years to take care of our DD. She goes to school this fall and he planned to start looking for a job. There is already such a stigma for SAHDs, I can't imagine this is going to help. Think I should tell him to list the last 5 years as child care facilitor?

[~~Who,Me?~~]

I just lost my job on the 11th. And my employer told me that they are self-insured as far as unemployment claims, so he has an obligation to challenge every claim. Good times. I'm confident I will win, just why do they have to be jerks about it?

DH keeps saying "If you get a new job this summer....." to which I keep replying, "Honey, there is NOTHING out there." I keep looking, I keep applying, but there is nothing out there.

[tinky1966]

The company I work for has a position to fill. My boss asked me if I knew anybody that needed a better job. When I asked him what exactly he meant, he explained that his theory was that someone that wasn't motivated enough to have some kind of job, no matter how menial, wasn't the kind of employee he wanted working for him!

He didn't find it nearly as funny as I did when I told him I needed a better job....lol

[motherofmolly]

i guess if you are unemployed, and qualified for say an executive job (using this as an example) it would be better for you to take say (example again) a job at cvs or walgreens and then apply for the job you want so you can say that you are employed?
i have been a stay at home mom for 1 year...guess i will have to think about that if i ever go back to working...

this kind of thing kicks people when they are already down...