How the Stimulus Helps Laid-Off Workers
Several provisions in the stimulus bill aid recently unemployed workers.
Help with health-insurance bills. When you lose or leave your job, you can generally continue coverage through your employer's health-insurance plan for up to 18 months through a federal program called COBRA. You can't be rejected or charged more because of your health.
But the costs of COBRA coverage are very high. While employers usually pay about three-fourths of the premiums for their current employees, that subsidy disappears for laid-off workers -- leaving them with an average annual bill of $12,680 for family coverage, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.
The stimulus provides a 65% subsidy to help cover the cost of COBRA for up to nine months.
Workers who have lost their jobs since September 1, 2008, but didn't elect COBRA will be given 60 days to elect COBRA and receive the subsidy after being notified by their former employer that they are again eligible. To qualify, your income for the year must be less than $125,000 for individuals and $250,000 for families.
Keep in mind, however, that not all laid-off workers qualify for COBRA. The federal law requires only companies with 20 or more employees to offer COBRA benefits (some states have similar programs, or "mini COBRAs," for smaller companies), and COBRA is available only if an employer continues to offer health benefits to employees. If the employer discontinues its health-insurance plan entirely or goes out of business, there is no COBRA.
Bigger and longer unemployment benefits. The stimulus bill also increases weekly unemployment benefits by $25 through 2009. The amount of your unemployment benefits continues to vary based on your previous income and your state, but everyone will receive an extra $25 per week. This increase is automatic -- people who are receiving benefits won’t need to take any special steps to boost their benefits. But it may take a few weeks for the state unemployment offices to reprogram their software programs and add the extra money, says Rich Hobbie, executive director of the National Association of State Workforce Agencies.
Plus, people collecting unemployment benefits get a tax break. Unemployment benefits are usually subject to federal income tax. But people receiving unemployment benefits in 2009 will be able to exclude the first $2,400. Any benefits you receive beyond that in 2009 will be subject to federal income tax.
The bill also extends the emergency unemployment-compensation program, which provides up to 33 weeks of extended unemployment benefits to workers who exhaust their regular benefits. Contact your state unemployment-benefits office for more information about receiving extended benefits.
For more information about collecting unemployment benefits, in Georgia go to the Georgia Department of Labor website at www.dol.state.ga.us
Herman Trend Alert: Over a Million Job Postings February 25, 2009
While job postings between January 2008 and January 2009 have declined in all industries, there are still almost 1.88 million jobs that require skilled workers. According to a release by Indeed.com last week, the industries that experienced the least contraction were Education and Healthcare. Job postings in these industries declined by nine and eight percent respectively
Indeed.com is one of the aggregators of job postings from job sites, newspapers, associations, and company career pages. The company releases Industry Trends to help job seekers and employers navigate the job market.
Looking at job seeker trends in 12 major industries, Indeed.com's assessment reflects major losses in the numbers of postings in most of the major industries. Not surprisingly, the greatest losses were in Real Estate (58 percent) with Accounting second at 53 percent. The numbers of postings in the other major industries Construction, Banking and Finance, Hospitality, Information Technology, Manufacturing, Media and Newspapers, Retail, and Transportation all dropped by between 43 and 48 percent.
These declines are certainly substantial and reflect a significant contraction in the United States economy. Their Industry Trends report provides a unique perspective on the nationwide job market.
Industry Trends presents a picture of job numbers and job seeker traffic in each industry--- including top job titles, keyword searches and cities--- and their changes over the last year. Industry Trends may help job seekers target their job searches more effectively and improve their chances of getting hired. It may also give employers a better understanding of the supply and demand for jobs in their industries. To read more, visit www.indeed.com/jobtrends/industry.
The other side of this picture, often overlooked except by employers in need, is the demand for skilled workers. In fact the numbers of postings in this report totals to over 1.87 million. The recently unemployed will fill some of those jobs. However, others will continue to be vacant because we simply do not have the trained workers to fill them--- even with a national unemployment rate of 7.6. Employers would do well to take this opportunity to reinforce their pipelines, through the schools or colleges.
Herman Trend Alert: Ripple Effects of Reducing Meetings February 11, 2009
Though we expect scaled back meetings and reduced incentives during economic slowdowns, this crisis has resulted in "a wave of cancellations". According to MeetingsNet.com, 56 percent of corporate meeting planners and 65 percent of financial or insurance planners report canceling one or more meetings or incentives due to economic conditions.
Many planners expect to adjust their meetings, including shorter trips and smaller groups. Among corporate planners, 52 percent plan to shorten their meeting length, while 48 percent plan to reduce the number of attendees and 65 percent plan to choose more affordable destinations.
All of these cancellations and cutbacks have produced ripple effects. Organizations responsible for planning meetings have been so hard hit that some have laid off workers. According to Smith Travel Research, convention hotels, 12 percent of the United States room supply, have trended lower than other hotels in both average daily rate and revenue per available room. The opportunity here is for smaller-market convention hotels to provide less expensive alternatives for price-sensitive planners.
In fact, all segments of the meeting marketplace are attracted to destinations that offer enough direct flights at affordable prices, so that attendees don't have to spend an additional night due to schedules. Expect to see an acceleration of this trend in the next year. We are also seeing more planners switching to a combination of in-person and online meetings. Unfortunately, virtual meetings eliminate the networking opportunities which are one of the key reasons most attendees invest in meetings.
Some high profile cancellations are Wells Fargo's Las Vegas event, ING Life Distribution's 2009 incentive sale agent trips, General Motors' meetings at the National Association of Automobile Dealers Convention, and Cisco's annual sales meeting. These cancellations and others have resulted in reduced hours and reductions in staff for convention hotels.
According to PKF Hospitality Research, hotel occupancy rates in 2009 are forecasted to be down by 4.4 percent over 2008, to an average of just 58.3 percent. We expect to see hospitality and travel to take a major hit in the near-term future. Given that these reductions are greater than we experienced post 9-11, it will be years before we see previous travel and meeting levels.
Last updated 3/10/09
