Click here to see a list of best practices on recruiting and hiring the long-term unemployed -- and a list of signers.

Read a report on the importance of addressing the negative cycle of long-term unemployment.

Year of Action: Making Progress Through Executive Action

Today, following up on his call to action, the President is meeting with CEOs whose companies have agreed to take steps to help give the long-term unemployed a fair shot at a job, and will announce new steps to expand partnerships that connect the long-term unemployed to good jobs.

Partnering With Leading Companies to Give the Long-Term Unemployed a Fair Shot. Research shows that the long-term unemployed are frequently overlooked and sometimes excluded from job opportunities – with one study finding that long-term unemployed workers with otherwise identical resumes were called back for interviews at rates 45 percent lower than the short-term unemployed

New Best Practices for Hiring and Recruiting the Long-Term Unemployed . As part of an ongoing effort that began several months ago, the Administration has engaged with America’s leading businesses to develop best practices for hiring and recruiting the long-term unemployed to ensure that these candidates receive a fair shot during the hiring process.

Over 300 Hundred Companies Have Signed On . More than 80 of the nation’s largest businesses have signed on, including 20 members of the Fortune 50 and over 45 members of the Fortune 200, as well as small- and medium-sized businesses. In the coming months, the President will encourage other business leaders to adopt these practices.

Presidential Memorandum to Make Sure the Federal Government Does the Same. The President will also lead by example and use his executive authority to sign a Presidential Memorandum to make sure that individuals who are unemployed or have faced financial difficulties through no fault of their own receive fair treatment and consideration for employment by federal agencies.

$150 Million for “Ready to Work” Partnerships That Support Innovative Public-Private Efforts to Help the Long-Term Unemployed Get a Fair Shot. The Administration is launching a grant competition through the Department of Labor to support and scale innovative partnerships among employers and non-profits in states and cities across the country that are helping to prepare and place the long-term unemployed into good jobs.

Focus on Job Placement Assistance, Work-Based Training and Employer Engagement . These partnerships will employ strategies that have demonstrated success or high promise, including job placement assistance, work-based training, and employer engagement.

New Private Commitments to Scale Models That Help the Long-Term Unemployed. Foundations are also announcing new commitments to help the long-term unemployed, including providing new support to applicants for federal grant programs as well as new grants to rural and urban communities to upgrade the skills of the long-term unemployed.

FURTHER DETAIL ON EXECUTIVE ACTIONS THE PRESIDENT IS TAKING TO GIVE THE LONG-TERM UNEMPLOYED A FAIR SHOT

After the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, our economy has made significant progress, as businesses have added 8.2 million jobs over the past 46 months. But a remaining legacy of the recession is the crisis of long-term unemployment. Too many Americans who found themselves out of a job through no fault of their own have struggled to return to work. At a time when we as a nation should be helping those who are long-term unemployed find new jobs, we should never have taken an abrupt step backwards by cutting off their unemployment insurance, which has already hurt 1.6 million Americans since the end of last year and is estimated to hurt 4.9 million workers by the end of 2014. The President urges members of both parties to come together right now to extend emergency unemployment insurance. And, the President will continue to work with Congress as well as to take executive action to address the challenge of the long-term unemployed.

Partnering With Leading Companies to Give the Long-Term Unemployed a Fair Shot. Research shows that the long-term unemployed are frequently overlooked and sometimes excluded from job opportunities – even when they may have identical or superior resumes to other candidates.

Long-Term Unemployed Are Frequently Overlooked in Recruiting and Hiring Practices . One recent study showed that the interview “callback” rate for otherwise identical resumes falls sharply as the length of unemployment rises, with callbacks 45 percent lower for those unemployed for eight months compared to those unemployed for just one month. Another study found that those unemployed for seven months need to send an average of 35 resumes to online job postings to receive just one interview, compared to just 10 resumes per interview for those unemployed for only one month.

New Best Practices for Hiring and Recruiting the Long-Term Unemployed . As part of an ongoing effort that began several months ago, the Administration has engaged with America’s leading businesses to develop best practices for hiring and recruiting the long-term unemployed to ensure that these candidates receive a fair shot during the hiring process.

---- Ensuring advertising does not discourage or discriminate against the unemployed

---- Reviewing screening and other recruiting procedures so that they do not intentionally or inadvertently disadvantage individuals based solely on their unemployment status

---- Using recruitment practices that cast a broad net and encourage all qualified candidates to apply

---- Sharing best practices for success in hiring the long-term unemployed within their companies and across their supply chains and the greater business community

Over 300 Hundred Companies Have Signed On . More than 80 of the nation’s largest businesses have signed on, including 20 members of the Fortune 50 and over 45 members of the Fortune 200, as well as small- and medium-sized businesses. In the coming months, the President will encourage other business leaders to adopt these practices.

Additional Support for Human Resource Professionals in Implementing Best Practices . The Society for Human Resource Management, which helped develop these best practices, has developed additional guides for human resource professionals and long-term unemployed job-seekers and will be an ongoing resource to provide technical support for companies seeking to implement these practices.

Presidential Memorandum to Make Sure the Federal Government Does the Same. The President will also lead by example and use his executive authority to issue a Presidential Memorandum to ensure the long-term unemployed receive a fair shot in the Federal hiring process. The Memorandum directs federal agencies to review their recruiting and hiring practices to determine whether these practices put long-term unemployed individuals at an undue disadvantage and report the results to the Office of Personnel Management. This process will help to make sure the unemployed or individuals who have faced financial difficulties (a common side-effect of long-term unemployment) are fairly considered for jobs.

$150 Million for “Ready to Work” Partnerships to Support Innovative Public-Private Efforts to Help the Long-Term Unemployed Get a Fair Shot. Today, the President and Department of Labor are announcing $150 million in existing resources from the H-1B fund to support high performing partnerships between employers, non-profit organizations and America’s public workforce system that will help provide long-term unemployed individuals with the range of services, training, and access they need to fill middle and high-skill jobs. A solicitation for applications for these “ready to work” partnerships be available in February and awards will be made in mid-2014. In particular, these grants will reward partnerships with the following key features:

Focus on Reemploying Long-Term Unemployed Workers . Programs will have to recruit long-term unemployed workers and employ strategies that are effective in getting them back to work in middle to high-skill occupations. These strategies could include assessments, job placement assistance, training, mentoring and supportive services such as financial counseling and behavioral health counseling.

Work-based Training That Enables Earning While Learning Through Models Such as On-the-Job Training (OJT), Paid Work Experience, Paid Internships and Registered Apprenticeships . Incorporating work-based training into these projects will afford employers the opportunity to train workers in the specific skill sets required for open jobs.

Employer Engagement and Support in Program Design – Including Programs That Commit to Consider Hiring Qualified Participants . Training programs funded by these grants must address the skills and competencies demanded by employers and high-growth industries, and ultimately lead to the employment of qualified participants. Preference will be given to applicants with employer partners that make a commitment to consider candidates who participate in these programs.

CONTINUING TO WORK WITH CONGRESS ON THE PRESIDENT’S EXISTING PROPOSALS TO GET THE LONG-TERM UNEMPLOYED BACK TO WORK

Continuing to Work With Congress to Extend Emergency Unemployment Insurance for Americans Looking for Work . At a time when we as a nation should be helping those who are long-term unemployed find new jobs, we should never have taken a step backwards by abruptly cutting off their unemployment insurance, which has already hurt 1.6 million Americans since the end of last year and is estimated to hurt 4.9 million workers by the end of 2014. The President urges members of both parties to come together right now to extend emergency unemployment insurance.

Working to Put in Place Job-Driven Training Programs that Connect the Long-Term Unemployed to Work. In addition to his broader efforts to support job growth through investment in areas like infrastructure and manufacturing, the President has called for new, targeted efforts to train the long-term unemployed and connect them to jobs. In the American Jobs Act, for example, and in his subsequent budgets, the President has proposed new, temporary programs that would offer reemployment and training for the long-term unemployed and low-skilled workers. The President’s budget also proposed consolidating and improving the two programs that serve displaced workers in order to double the number of workers that are able to receive training after losing a job through no fault of their own.

NEW PRIVATE COMMITMENTS TO EXPAND MODELS THAT HELP THE LONG-TERM UNEMPLOYED GET BACK TO WORK