the buzz log

A citizen brigade, released from presidential campaigning, seeks to funnel its energy elsewhere.

Workers, who used to occupy their days with a (paid) occupation, want something to do between jobs... and maybe get some cross-training in while they're at it.

These two different (but not mutually exclusive) forces could be at work—or not at work, as the case may be—for the renewed Search uptick in "volunteer work." January lookups for volunteer organizations mark an all-time high over the past three years.

The absolute numbers don't indicate a giant upswell by any means—the term "volunteer," for instance, ranks within the top 120,000 searches on Yahoo!. But the lookups show a slow, steady increase with few signs of letting up. 

Volunteering actually has been rising over the past 30 years, although the numbers dropped off a bit between years 2005 and 2006. Some already have credited President Barack Obama's call to civic duty for the latest increase in service. The Sun Sentinel wondered about an "Obama effect" in the local Peace Corps' 35% enrollment jump among Floridians. Down in Houston, the nonprofit Big Brothers, Big Sisters directly credited its 300 percent increase in possible mentors to Obama's call-to-service theme. 

Perhaps just as important is who's interested in volunteer possibilities: In looking at the age spread, people 17 and under conducted 19% of online research into volunteerism, while 20-somethings accounted for 25% of lookups. Ages 20-24 have the lowest volunteer rate.

Whatever the impetus, there's no lack of opportunities to help others. And for those unfamiliar to that "working for nothing" experience (except for maybe pulling weeds from your parents' lawn), a Huffington Post article gives kinesthetic encouragement on why to jump right in. Take a look at the ways Searchers have been considering to help out.

1. Volunteer Match (+670%)
2. Volunteer Work (+58%)
3. Volunteering (+48%)
4. Volunteers of America (+25%)
5. Volunteer Opportunities (+12%)

1. Donating Plasma (off the charts)
2. Plasma Donation Centers (off the charts)
3. Organ Donation (off the charts)
4. Salvation Army Donation Pick Up (+17%)
5. Locks of Love Donation (+15%)

Filed under: Jobs, Barack Obama, Charity

Where to now?

January is beginning to look like the career killing fields, with companies starting the work week with bleak layoff news. According to Forbes' tracker, America's 500 largest public companies have passed out more than 130,000 pink slips. (For layoffs over the long term, the Bureau of Labor Statistics page of Mass Layoff Statistics tracks establishments which file at least 50 claims.) These numbers won't let up, as economic forecasters predict unrelenting cuts for the next six months.  

But finding a paying gig—any gig—is a priority, and unsurprisingly searches for job opportunities have been climbing for weeks. Many eyes aren't just looking to the Obama administration to create opportunities, but to hire them: "Government jobs" (especially federal ones) lead the most employment-related searches on Yahoo! in the past 7 days, followed by "part time jobs," "online jobs," "work from home jobs," "jobs in dubai," and "fedex jobs." Not that this work will be easy to come by either, as American cities and states facing budget cuts have made such positions less stable and less available. (At least it's not as bad as Iceland.)

Compare searches to the same time last year, when people looked online for jobs, but not nearly to the same degree of specificity ("job descriptions," "job fairs," "job interview tips").  Even more illuminating are disciplines that have seen a huge spike in the past 7 days. Check 10 of the fastest-moving "job" searches—and while we're at it, the the 10 fastest moving "layoff" lookups.

Of course, one list is no correlation with the other, but layoffs often lead to career transitions—or taking any position that becomes available. Could a radio person find happiness in the Secret Service? Will someone from the Happiest Place of Earth find satisfaction investigating the criminal elements of society? Might a person versed in the workings of a Harley Davidson retrain him or herself to direct air traffic?

The layoff-weary looking for a place to rest their career ambitions may want to consider this NPR report about companies, like Southwest Airlines, which have pledged not to do layoffs. Or, for those with a macabre appetite for cynicism mixed with empathy, the New York Times pointed to hot times in the layoff industry.

By the way, regarding the above lists: Normally a percentage rate denotes how much a search term has risen or declined compared to the previous period. With so many cuts being announced from out of nowhere (for instance, "toyota layoffs" didn't exist as a Search term last week), these lookups have been mathematically off the charts. Grim days indeed.

Filed under: Jobs, Government, Economics