So what’s all the buzz about the number of job firings being lower or at least lower than expected? Well perhaps the upcoming midterm elections and the battle over taxes which are likely to go higher. On one side of the isle, the rant is why on earth would we raise taxes (on the wealthy) at an economic time like this where job uncertainty is well – certain. On the other side of the isle, the rant is why not raise taxes since the big money brokers are sitting on the cash and not contributing to the economy in the form of hiring or jobs and at the same time escaping taxes with tax loopholes and tax shelters.

Regardless of what side of the fence you’re on there is no escaping the fact that jobs just have not rebounded yet. The number of available jobs to job demand is so skewed that even the job boards are having a hard time. With Monster moving forward with the acquisition of HotJobs.com that means less job search outlets for job seekers who surf the big boards. For Monster it means their sagging revenue directly tied to the job market can at least be offset with the customer base from HotJobs. Oh let’s not forget that on the surface Monster will now appear to have more jobs available once the two databases are integrated. Perhaps what many job seekers are wondering is whether the name will change…how about HotMonster? Sounds good to me.

For those of you that have had enough of the talk on jobs or the lack there of, sorry to disappoint but you can expect to hear this mantra from now until at least the conclusion of the midterm election cycle. Surely you don't think the politicians are going to pass up an opportunity for theatrics driven by the need to get re/elected based on promises that can't or won't be kept only to blame their "friend across the isle." Then, of course, we get to repeat this exercise in two more years. At least we can hope in two years the theme will be something else other than jobs. That would be a good thing. Gotta luv it! For now we will just get warmed up with all the rhetoric that firings are going lower with the all but promise that taxes will go higher.

In a struggling economy with fewer and fewer jobs available while demand for jobs remains high, "need it now" in terms of timely job leads is a must. Does that make you wonder, is it time to say goodbye to the concept of job boards? You can bet your bottom dollar that's on the mind of many job sites that are undoubtedly experiencing low volume in terms of job postings. Some of that is just the natural cycle of demand, any, product or service experiences. On the other hand, a good portion of it is due to the job board concept simply being a dinosaur job lead channel that has failed to spur innovation or at least simply keep up with the end users want and how best to deliver what job seekers want -- solid accurate timely job openings.

So if job boards are struggling, which many of them are, what have the mass exodus of job seekers turned to? In a nutshell, job seekers have reverted to the days of person to person contact or good ole fashion networking. You know the days where you actually interacted with a person and worked mojo to get your foot in the door. That's what happens when the new ways fail, job seekers revert to what is tested and true. In short, real time job search is where it's at and the leaders in job search understand this reality and have embraced such reality. Conversely, the job sites feeling the most pain are those holding on to cheap job search pages that simply relied on static job postings and big budgets to gain favor with search engines.

Surely, there's no doubt the economy is taking its toll on job site, job board and job search engine alike. On the other hand innovation and staying connected with your base is essential in any market. Right now, the job seeker base is screaming loudly for ways to gain privy knowledge of hiring trends and the ability to respond quickly to job openings that represent a strong match. Short of real time job search, job sites simply fail to meet these fundamental requirements of today's job seekers. So while it may not be time to say goodbye to, all, job boards, job seekers simply expect more from job search engines as real time job search is "IN" while posted and re-posted snail pace job listings are "OUT".

If you were under the impression that the job market has, or at least is, recovered/recovering than you might be surprised to learn otherwise. So what does that mean? It means people are beginning to wonder where did all the jobs go? You know the jobs that the Bailout Billions were supposed to create. Let's top it off with the nearly 8 million jobs that have been lost which are probably lost for the rest of our lifetime.

Really its no joke...the economy is being a little temperamental with getting back on track. Despite the fact that the current Great Recession has lately been adding 100,000 plus jobs the last few months, that's just a drop in the bucket compared to the 15 million plus unemployed. As for the unemployed, getting another unemployment benefits extension isn't likely as Congress is starting to tighten up on the spending or at least the spending on the unemployed. Hummh maybe the unemployed are considered expendable? Who knows. Surely the BP oil spill debacle isn't adding (positively) to the economic woes either.

So where did all the jobs go? Your guess is as good as the next guy's. What is certain is that the Bailout Billions, from which the banks benefited, has done little if anything to revive the economy and create jobs. At best the Bailout Billions merely refilled the Banker's coffers. So the question that everyone is pondering, what's going to be the next economic wave to get the economy out of the trenches? Hummh, you're still searching for an answer too huh. Don't worry, so too is Congress who knows their days are numbered if a job recovery miracle doesn't happen in the next few months. The fall elections are coming and let's face it, voters aren't happy with the overall economic conditions. So in the next few months you can expect your Congress men and women to answer the "where did all the jobs go?" question in an attempt to survive the voter axe or gain support to make to Washington.