I hate to kick someone when they’re down — between the still slow economy, ongoing wars and the recent health care reform “town brawls,” it certainly was a brief honeymoon for President Obama — but a release I received recently from the Alliance for Worker Freedom got me thinking.
The headline asked simply: What happened to Obama’s promise of jobs?
The release went on to note that as the president sold the stimulus package he said — many times, in fact — that the plan would “save or create 3 to 4 million jobs … 90% of these jobs will be created in the private sector.”
However, in looking at job losses, the reality has been different. Job losses in March after the bill was signed hit a high of 663,000, falling to 303,000 in May, spiking again in June to 443,000 and falling once more to 247,000 in July.
Now, while job losses have slowed, AWF asks, “Where are the jobs?” Hmm, good question. I think I’ll turn it to you, since HR/benefits pros usually are among the first to hear about it when your company decides to expand or contract on paid staff. Why hasn’t the stimulus package helped to spur job creation? Or has it, just on a smaller scale than the president said? Or, has the stimulus done nothing at all (good or bad) to affect your company’s staffing plans? Comment and let me know.
