ResuWe is a new free site that allows users to reformat, restructure and optimize their resume simply by uploading a current version of the document.

The site’s technology recognizes the key components of a user’s resume and allows the user to quickly and simply rebuild their resume with minimal to no data entry.

“We’re doing this from a recruiter’s perspective and bring a combined 25 years of experience in the industry,” ResuWe Co-Founder Jeff Schwartzman said. “We’re fighting unemployment by showing people how to position themselves properly in a job search. We know how employers and other recruiters think.”

Schwartzman and Co-Founder Dan Boersma spend their time reviewing resumes so they know what works and what doesn’t. ResuWe allows job seekers the ability to easily reformat based on the standards preferred by companies and recruiters alike.

“Many resumes that look great in Word do not display well in HTML,” Boersma said. “ResuWe allows you to download your resume as a Word document that displays well in Applicant Tracking Systems that companies use to filter resumes.”

ResuWe has the ability to help users focus on personal branding by integrating with social media and blogs. The site also allows users to control their privacy settings from displaying a full resume to a minimal profile, which can be helpful to passive job seekers.

In addition to the interactive resume optimization technology, ResuWe’s Fight Unemployment blog also offers insider tips and articles on everything from handling counter offers to using a Google Voice phone number on your resume.

In the future, the site plans to add the ability to search for jobs, get tips on preparing a cover letter and download podcasts that you can listen to on your way to an interview.

Planned job cuts declined to the second lowest level of the year during August.

A recent report from Challenger, Gray & Christmas found that employers announced a total of 76,456 layoffs last month, a 21 percent decrease from the 97,373 job cuts announced during July. This is the sixth time during the last seven months that job cuts declined from the previous month.

In addition, job cuts were lower than a year ago for the third consecutive month, with August cuts coming in 14 percent below the 88,736 layoffs announced during 2008.

Despite the declines, announced job cuts for the year have amounted to 1,070,504, which is 60 percent more than the same time last year and less than 200,000 away from surpassing the 2008 year-end total of 1,223,993.

The government and non-profit sector saw the biggest job cuts, with 38,586 planned layoffs. That represents the second largest monthly industry total of the year behind the 61,288 job cuts announced by the automotive industry in February.

The largest reduction in force in the government or any other sector last month was announced by the United States Post Office, which detailed plans to eliminate 30,000 positions from a 656,000 employee payroll. Most of those layoffs will be achieved through early retirement buyouts, which includes a $15,000 incentive for some.

“Until now, government job cuts have been dominated by local and state agencies suffering from depleted budgets,” CEO John A. Challenger said. “The federal government has been one of the few areas of the economy that is creating jobs. Fortunately, the job cuts by the Post Office are not indicative of a coming surge in federal government downsizing. Rather, the cuts are tied to falling mail volume as more Americans rely on e-mail.”

“Outside of government, many sectors are seeing the number of job cuts steadily shrink,” he continued. “The next four months will be very telling about the state of the job market. The final four months of the year are typically among the heaviest for downsizing. If monthly job-cut levels remain near 100,000 or lower, it will be a strong indication that the economy and job market are improving.

“That does not necessarily mean that there will be a sudden surge in job creation as 2010 gets underway, but we will at least be heading in the right direction,” Challenger added. “Unfortunately, the aftermath of this severe downturn may see excessive caution among employers when it comes to hiring. So, even when job creation begins, it could be a slow process.”

The Conference Board Help-Wanted OnLine Data Series found that online advertised vacancies increased by 169,000 to 2,464,800 during August.

August job demand data is on par with The Conference Board’s recently released Consumer Confidence Index, which also rose during August, and reflected consumers’ feelings that jobs were becoming easier to find.

“The August increase is good news showing what we hope will be a continued improvement in job demand this fall,” Gad Levanon, senior economist at The Conference Board, said. “While all of this is good news, the gap between the number of unemployed and the number of advertised vacancies still remains at about 11 million, with over four unemployed for every online advertised job vacancy.”

Since April, online job demand has increased by 300,000, with many of the largest states showing stable trends after two years of losses that began in May 2007. As of August, job demand trends have turned positive in New York, Maryland and Virginia.

August also saw strong gains in several of the country’s largest states. California added 26,700 listings, Texas added 21,900 listings, Florida added 15,700 listings and New York added 11,100 listings.

Healthcare practitioners and technical occupations, which is the largest category in terms of volume, saw its online job listings increase by 52,700 during August to 574,400. There were 2.5 unemployed workers for every advertised vacancy in this field.

“Advertised vacancies in this occupational category have been declining, and the August increase is the first significant monthly rise we have seen in over a year,” Levanon said.

However, labor demand for healthcare support occupations has remained mostly steady dyring the last two years, and in August increased by 16,500, or 16 percent, to 117,800. Individual occupations showing increases included physical and occupational therapists, physical and occupational therapist assistants, speech-language pathologists, home healthcare aids, medical assistants and registered and practical nurses.

Advertised vacancies in management occupations have trended upward since May, and during August increased by 18,900, or 5 percent, to 431,600. There were 1.7 unemployed people for every online advertised vacancy in this field.

Among the top 10 occupations in August with online advertised vacancies, computer and mathematical science increased by 8,800 to 406,800; sales and related occupations rose by 6,200 to 382,100; and Office and Administrative Support was up by 7,400 to 347,100.

Only two of the top 10 occupation categories declined during August. Business and financial operations decreased by 2,100 to 174,900 and arts, design, entertainment, sports and media declined by 1,100 to 100,800. Job demand for architecture and engineering was unchanged at 117,700.

Simply Hired just released data on the best and worst markets for job seekers based on the ratio of unique jobs (duplicate job content removed) to job seekers in each metro area.

This data gives a sense of the competitive landscape in each area for job seekers and employers. These results are based on de-duplicated data collected and compiled from the Simply Hired database.

Many people say that searching for a job can become a full-time job in itself, but one new start-up claims to do all that work for you.

ApplyForMe.net is a new job application completion service meant to help job seekers get as many interviews as possible so they can choose the job right for them. More than 6,500 people are already having the site fill out job applications for them.

The site applies for positions on behalf of job seekers through The Execu Search Group, JobServe, LinkedIn, CareerBuilder, Hound, JobCentral, SnagAJob.com, Trovix, Yahoo! HotJobs, Simply Hired, Monster, Jobster, Indeed and TheLadders.

ApplyForMe.net employs HR professionals who are familiar with many different industries and can help provide job seekers with customized services. Anyone who uses the site is assigned their own HR professional and their own secure workspace for sharing documents and tracking job submissions.

In order to use the site’s services, job seekers must sign up for one of the available plans, which range from $39.95 per month for up to 30 applications, $59.95 per month for up to 60 applications or $89.95 per month for up to 100 applications.

I came across a review on TechCrunch today that has me thinking the apocalyptic vision of a moronic society featured in the movie Idiocracy isn’t light years away from occurring if these kinds of products keeping cropping up (ouch my balls, anyone?).

The makers of Button, a new iPhone application that consists of pushing a big red button over and over to possibly win a prize, said that while performing research on their new game they came across some unintentional (and in my opinion, horrifying) results. Per TechCrunch:

The game is about as simple as they come. There is a big button on the screen, and when it lights up, you push it. So why would anyone want to play that game? No, the world isn’t going to end if you don’t, but you will potentially miss out on some free prizes. And pushing the button may just help you get through some mundane tasks throughout your day as well.

Button was created by Blank Software, which is a side project of MobileCrunch editor Greg Kumparak. He thinks of it as a passive game, that you pick up and play at various points throughout the day. But he notes that while they were testing it out, they began to notice feedback from testers mentioning that playing the game helped them with their normally mundane tasks at their jobs. The thought is that the effort required to open up and play Button on the iPhone was just enough brain stimulation to keep people engaged in whatever boring tasks they may be doing. Also, knowing a reward was possibly coming for pushing the button made it interesting to users.

Yes, you read that right. People are so bored at their jobs that they become invigorated by pushing a button over and over. Are these the same people that made iFart the number one iPhone application for several months straight? Let’s hope their jobs don’t involve saving lives or teaching our children.

A recent survey found that while most Americans are still happy at work, they’re not as happy as they used to be.

SnagAJob.com’s third annual Labor Happiness Index found that 58 percent of workers are happy on the job, a 7 percent decrease from 2008.

“Even as we continue to face layoffs and other corporate cutbacks, the majority of the American workforce remains upbeat about their jobs,” Shawn Boyer, founder and CEO of SnagAJob.com, said. “But on the whole, we’re not as happy. Ongoing anxiety about the economy may well be chipping away at the happiness level.”

About 24 percent of respondents said their happiness is based on the fact they’re employed, while 41 percent said they’re happy their jobs give them personal satisfaction or suit their lifestyle.

The survey found that 64 percent of women are happy with their jobs, while 64 percent of those 34 to 54-years old and 70 percent of those older than 55 are content at work, and 62 percent of those happy at work are married.

The least happy workers seem to be those 18 to 34-years old, at 47 percent, and those who are not married, at 51 percent.

Overall income isn’t necessarily linked with job satisfaction. About 59 percent of workers earning less than $25,000 per year said they’re happy with their job, while 62 percent of those earning at least $50,000 are satisfied at work.

On the other hand, education levels do seem to play a factor in overall happiness. About 65 percent of those with a college degree are happy with their line of work, while only 54 percent of those with a high school education or less are happy.

The survey further found that 58 percent of workers still consider the economy to be the number one issue, followed by healthcare at 15 percent, immigration at 6 percent, the war in Iraq at 6 percent, the environment at 5 percent, terrorism at 5 percent and the housing market at 3 percent.

This is a change from the results of the first survey in 2007, which found 21 percent of respondents were most concerned about healthcare, 20 percent were concerned about the war and only 18 percent were concerned about the economy.

When it comes to the economy, 56 percent of respondents said they think the economic climate has stabilized but hasn’t begun to improve, while 36 percent said the worst is yet to come and only 4 percent think the economy has taken a turn for the better.

“It’s clear that most Americans are cautiously optimistic about their jobs and the economy itself,” Boyer said. “We believe the economy is moving in the right direction based on the feedback we’re getting from hiring managers across the country.”

Of those surveyed, 52 percent reported a decline in job security from last year, and of those, only 49 percent said they’re happy with their jobs. About 70 percent of the workers who think their jobs are more secure say they’re happy at work.

Although only 18 percent of workers made a career change last year, 33 percent of those said they chose to do so because they were looking for new opportunity, while only 25 percent said they sought new employment because they had been laid off from their previous job.

Looking ahead, 41 percent of workers said their biggest concern for the long-term future is saving for retirement, their child’s education or other large future expenses. Other financial concerns include worrying about how their family will be cared for at 19 percent, paying bills at 14 percent, their health at 12 percent, losing their job at 7 percent and a lack of job mobility at 4 percent.

About 77 percent of workers said they have no plans to look for a new job in the near future, while 73 percent said they’re not proactively thinking about changing their job.

“We’ve seen from past recessions that the hiring rebound can be fairly rapid,” Boyer added. “If the experts are accurate in predicting the end of the recession this fall, we expect that the New Year will afford job seekers a better selection of opportunities and the opportunity for employers to compete for the most talented employees.”

Here is more evidence that layoffs have a devastating effect on not just those who are let go, but those who remain employed. A new survey from Kronos Inc. and Harris Interactive reveals that 40 percent of respondents whose workplaces experienced layoffs in the past year feel that the overall productivity of their organization has been negatively impacted.

The “Productivity Drain” survey examines what this means for employees and what they think their employers should be doing to be positioned for success as the economy rebounds.

Thirty-eight percent of respondents employed full or part-time said there had been layoffs in the past year at their primary place of employment. Of those respondents who said that productivity had been negatively impacted by layoffs:

• 66 percent said that morale has suffered and people are less motivated;
• 64 percent said that there is too much work and not enough people to do it;
• 37 percent said the wrong people or departments were laid off, leaving inefficient systems and workflows;
• 36 percent said they are concerned that as the economy picks up, they won’t have the right resources to meet demand.

Despite feeling overworked, 53 percent of respondents said they felt the right number of people were laid off at their organization. Thirty-two percent said they felt too many were laid off and seven percent said not enough were laid off.

Employees also have some advice for employers on how to improve productivity in their workplace. Fifty percent said employers should look for ways to improve morale; Forty-six percent said their employers have processes that should be automated to be more efficient; Thirty-six percent said their organizations should invest in new technology to help manage productivity. More men (42 percent) than women (30 percent) believe this would help; and 36 percent of employees believe that organizations need to take a fresh look at how to redistribute the workload among those employees who are left.

The American Staffing Association found that demand for temporary and contract employees increased “markedly” this month, a potential sign of improvement in the overall job market.

In the two weeks ending August 16, the Association’s Staffing Index came in at 75, up from 71 during early July. The index, which measures demand for temporary workers among ASA member firms on a 100-point scale, has been hovering between 71 and 73 since hitting an all-time low of 69 at the end of December 2008.

The ASA says its members generate 85 percent of sales in the U.S. temporary-staffing industry. Employment experts say temporary staffing is a leading indicator of overall employment, because cautious employers are more likely to add temporary workers before hiring full-time staff following a recession.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, however, has been behind the Staffing Index. Employment in temporary help services declined by less than 1 percent to 1.74 million jobs during July. Although the industry has lost 844,000 jobs since the beginning of the recession, the declines have lessened substantially during the last three months.

The National Labor Exchange’s Rapid Reemployment Initiative, which launched last month, recently partnered with two states.

The initiative is now available through Connecticut and New Jersey’s labor departments. The RRI , which is powered by JobCentral and provided through an alliance between the National Association of State Workforce Agencies and Direct Employers, is free of charge to job seekers and employers in all industries.

“Employees from companies that are downsizing are typically displaced through no fault of their own,” Connecticut Labor Commissioner Patricia Mayfield said. “They have transferable skills extremely valuable to employers in other occupations and other industries. Workers have reemployment opportunities even in bad economic times. This new initiative is designed to benefit displaced workers, as well as employers looking to hire or faced with downsizing.”

The RRI adds an employer outplacement data exchange and a career event network for posting job fairs and other related events throughout the country. It also includes a resume builder that offers integrated job search tools to the National Labor Exchange.

That database allows employers to place free job postings through their respective state’s job boards and provides links to powerful career tools and state workforce services.

“The Rapid Reemployment Initiative is designed to connect downsizing employers with those companies that are hiring,” Mayfield said. “The overall goal is to provide a more effective job search tool for those employees affected by any type of employment loss.”