plus 2, The American Legion's Job Fairs for Veterans Competes for $250K Pepsi Refresh Everything Grant - Forbes

The American Legion's Job Fairs for Veterans Competes for $250K Pepsi Refresh Everything Grant - Forbes
For Women, Being Attractive Can Adversely Affect Their Careers - Medical News Today
People@Work: The Latest Jobs Report Shows Even Temp Workers Are at Risk - Daily Finance

The American Legion's Job Fairs for Veterans Competes for $250K Pepsi Refresh Everything Grant - Forbes

Posted: 02 Aug 2010 09:16 AM PDT

BusinessWire - The American Legion is demonstrating its commitment to helping military veterans find jobs by entering its career fairs in this month's Pepsi Refresh Everything Project. If the effort is successful, The American Legion will be awarded a $250,000 grant to sponsor events across the country in which employers are paired with veterans looking for work.

"The unemployment rate among Iraq and Afghanistan veterans exceeds 14 percent. This is a national disgrace!" said American Legion Nation Commander Clarence E. Hill. "Every veteran vowed to defend America and protect our way of life. The least we can do is to allow them an opportunity to support their families and contribute to America's workforce. Hiring veterans isn't just the right thing to do, but it is smart business! These talented men and women offer unique skills, discipline and a proven work ethic that would benefit any employer smart enough to hire them. Additionally, job fairs sponsored by The American Legion include Small Business Development Workshops so veterans can pursue the American dream."

The Legion job fairs are among more than 1,200 charities that are competing for a grant. Pepsi will award $250,000 each to the two charities that receive the most votes on its Web site. Visitors can cast their votes by clicking on and registering at the "Vote Daily" panel at www.legion.org or by visiting www.refresheverything.com/vetsjobfairs. Voters can also text message their votes (standard rates apply) by texting *101758 to Pepsi (73774).

The American Legion's Operation Comfort Warriors finished in first place during February's competition and won $250,000. That money is still being used to provide items such as therapeutic athletic equipment, sweatsuits, DVDs, CDs, duffle bags and other comfort items to wounded and recovering patients at U.S. military hospitals and warrior transition units around the world.

Hill urged Legionnaires, Legion family members, friends and supporters of The American Legion to spread the message to vote for The American Legion's job fairs.

"Individual voting alone will not win this competition," Hill said. "We need people to post it on their web sites, Facebook and Twitter accounts. They should use all social media methods at their disposal. Operation Comfort Warriors was able to win because American Legion posts, Auxiliary units, Sons of the American Legion squadrons and American Legion Riders chapters all came together and worked toward a common goal. Spreading the word in newsletters and the mainstream media can also help us replicate our earlier success."

With a current membership of 2.5-million wartime veterans, The American Legion was founded in 1919 on the four pillars of a strong national security, veterans affairs, Americanism, and youth programs. Legionnaires work for the betterment of their communities through more than 14,000 posts across the nation.

A high resolution photo of National Commander Hill is available at www.legion.org.

SOURCE: The American Legion

The American Legion Joe March or John Raughter, 317-630-1253 Cell 317-748-1926 /317-441-8847

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For Women, Being Attractive Can Adversely Affect Their Careers - Medical News Today

Posted: 09 Aug 2010 12:53 AM PDT

Main Category: Psychology / Psychiatry
Also Included In: Women's Health / Gynecology
Article Date: 09 Aug 2010 - 1:00 PDT

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While many see no downside to being beautiful, a professor at the University of Colorado Denver Business School says attractive women face discrimination when it comes to landing certain kinds of jobs.

In a study released in a recent Journal of Social Psychology, Stefanie Johnson, assistant professor of management at UC Denver Business School, found that beauty has an ugly side, at least for women.

Attractive women were discriminated against when applying for jobs considered "masculine" and for which appearance was not seen as important to the job. Such positions included job titles like manager of research and development, director of finance, mechanical engineer and construction supervisor.

"In these professions being attractive was highly detrimental to women," said Johnson. "In every other kind of job, attractive women were preferred. This wasn't the case with men which shows that there is still a double standard when it comes to gender."

The study, co-authored by Robert Dipboye, professor of psychology at the University of Central Florida, Kenneth Podratz, an organizational development manager at UPS and Ellie Gibbons, research assistant at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, found that attractive men suffered no similar discrimination and were always at an advantage.

According to Johnson, beautiful people still enjoy a significant edge. They tend to get higher salaries, better performance evaluations, higher levels of admission to college, better voter ratings when running for public office and more favorable judgments in trials.

A recent Newsweek survey of 202 hiring managers and 964 members of the public concluded that looks matter in every aspect of the workplace and they mattered more for women. When asked to rate nine character attributes on a scale of one to 10 with 10 being the most important, looks ranked third, above education and sense of humor, the magazine reported.

But in one narrow aspect of life, beauty can be a hindrance, something researchers have called the "beauty is beastly" effect.

"In two studies, we found that attractiveness is beneficial for men and women applying for most jobs, in terms of ratings of employment suitability," according to the study. "However, attractiveness was more beneficial for women applying for feminine sex-typed jobs than masculine sex-typed jobs."

In one experiment, participants were given a list of jobs and photos of applicants and told to sort them according to their suitability for the job. They had a stack of 55 male and 55 female photos.

In job categories like director of security, hardware salesperson, prison guard and tow truck driver, attractive women were overlooked. In each of these jobs appearance was perceived to be unimportant. Attractive women tended to be sorted into positions like receptionist or secretary.

"One could argue that, under certain conditions, physical appearance may be a legitimate basis for hiring," Johnson said. "In jobs involving face-to-face client contact, such as sales, more physically attractive applicants could conceivably perform better than those who are less attractive. However it is important that if physical attractiveness is weighed equally for men and women to avoid discrimination against women."

The study chided those who let stereotypes influence hiring decisions. Given the importance of hiring and the consequences of making a wrong choice, the authors said, managers need to rely more on information from the individual rather than on stereotypes about physical appearance.

Source:
David Kelly
University of Colorado Denver

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People@Work: The Latest Jobs Report Shows Even Temp Workers Are at Risk - Daily Finance

Posted: 09 Aug 2010 06:30 AM PDT

Last week's employment report was by most measures disappointing. The Labor Department reported Friday that the nation's employers cut 131,000 jobs last month -- many more than the drop of 60,000 positions anticipated by analysts. Moreover, job creation was less robust than expected, with the economy creating only 71,000 new jobs in July, fewer than the 100,000 that experts had predicted.

Adding to the pain, June jobs cuts were revised upward, adding nearly 100,000 to the decline of 125,000 reported a month ago.

Unusual Loss of Temp Jobs

Then there was one inexplicable part of the report: a drop in temporary employment. After adding temp jobs every month since September, the number of temporary workers fell to a loss of 5,600 jobs last month. The decline is at odds with the cycle of economic recovery, which generally sees an increase in the number of temp workers as employers ramp up to meet growing demand. Companies generally hold off increasing the size of their permanent workforce amid a nascent recovery, fearing they may just have to lay workers off should the economy downshift.

The loss in temp jobs also isn't consistent with what many staffing firms are witnessing in recent weeks, says Tig Gilliam, chief executive at Adecco Group North America, a unit of Switzerland-based Adecco (AHEXY), the world's largest staffing company.

"I have to think the temporary staffing number is more of an anomaly in the month than it is a trend," he says. Adecco has seen its business grow, Gilliam says, and he believes that's emblematic for the industry as a whole. "I don't think we're that different from the broader temporary employment base."

Temp Hiring Not Yet Converting to Permanent Hiring

Adding to the puzzlement, the recovery has heretofore followed a typical pattern: an increase in hiring for temp workers in the industrial sector, followed by a rise in the number of professionally skilled workers. An issue that still concerns Gilliam is that the temporary hiring of professionals, in fields such as information technology, consulting and engineering, hasn't yet resulted in permanent hiring of those workers.

"That's where we're lagging," Gilliam says, which is why Friday's report only showed a gain of 71,000 jobs instead of, say, 271,000 jobs. The good news is there is growth in hiring among private employers, he says. The bad news is that it's not as fast as it should be.

But it isn't only private employers who are holding off hiring. Cash-strapped states and cities, which often rely on temp workers, are facing tough times, too. Further, temp hiring by the federal government related to the 2010 Census has run its course, and those positions have ended.

Private Sector Must Lead

On Thursday, the Senate pushed through $26 billion in funding to help states, many of which are facing huge shortfalls. It's a common theme that states are looking for more federal help, Gilliam says, especially in the wake of cuts in federal support. The House is expected to reconvene this week to vote on the measure, after adjourning for the August recess.

Still, the economy can't rely on government hiring to lead the jobs recovery, Gilliam says. "It's got to be private sector employment."

Unemployed workers, especially those who have been out of a job for a long time, would welcome any answer at this point. But given the pace of the recovery, it doesn't seem likely that hiring -- by either companies or governments -- will spike anytime soon.

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