According to the US Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate in the US in March was 8.5% (up from 8.1% in February). Not counting farm workers, the US lost 663,000 jobs last month alone.
Among the unemployed, the number of job losers and persons who completed temporary jobs increased by 547,000 to 8.2 million in March. This group has nearly doubled in size over the past 12 months. The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) rose to 3.2 million over the month and has increased by about 1.9 million since the start of the recession in December 2007.
In other words, not good.
That being said, I have noticed a sudden little increase in positive churn: People landing jobs, positions coming open, requests for resumes and talent – all on Twitter. And today, two of my Twitter friends started new jobs with pretty solid companies. So you know what? Why not start up a new hashtag on Twitter with a greater purpose: Talking about people GETTING new jobs instead of losing them.
Even if you aren’t a fan of Twitter, perhaps you can get behind that kind of little movement.
Hat tip to @triumphCIO for coining the hashtag 12 days before I thought of it.
How to use #hired:
1. Log in to your Twitter account.
2. Post an update/tweet when you or someone you know has been hired or is starting a new job. (Make sure that information is cleared for public release before posting) 😉
3. End your update/tweet with these characters: #hired
4. Press SEND.
It’s that simple. Besides, spreading a little cheer by talking about new jobs for a change might help us turn this economic downturn around that much faster.
Thanks, everyone. 🙂
Brand Building and Online Marketing Blog 
Great blog and thanks for the clarification on hastag…
It’s good to be a positive vibe merchant now and again. I like this idea. Today is my second day “officially” employed again and would have been my third week out of work.
People need to be reminded that good things are possible and happen all the time, as opposed to the fear mongering done by the mainstream media channels.
Anyone out there want to job swap? You’d have to move to Montana and take over a thriving marketing agency! That would create two new hires!! 😉
@bcavanaugh
Yes time to be positive. The 3 websites where job seekers got the best results (from about.com)-
http://www.linkedin.com (networking for professionals)
http://www.indeed.com (aggregated listings)
http://www.realmatch.com (matches you to the perfect jobs)
For those looking for work, good luck!
I need 25 sales managers to launch a new local advertising program . We are U.S. and Canada based for now,We will provide training 50% commission on sales as well as production bonuses and stock option. These postions need to be filled by May1 seen your resume to paytool@ymail.com
Have openings for 5 sales managers to join an incredible company . We are going in Australia and Canada this fall and need serious sales staff to fill this growth. There are 20 open positions for Ad Executives starting at 50% Commission. The company is already going vertical and seen 556% increase in our page rank in 90 days. I need all serious sales people to send there resume to paytool@live.com I Thank You for your time.
I agree, this is a remarkable idea and i am 100% behind it. Its time that we begin thinking about what we can do instead of what we cannot.
Its the magic of positive thinking that moves us forward.
Thanks for the incredible idea.