Tony Collette  
 
Tony Collette « Back Home Really Cool E-mail Finland AutoAffirmations The Volunteer Workforce
 
 

The Volunteer Workforce

The Volunteer WorkforceIn the late 90s, America experienced a severe labor shortage. In some areas of the country it became almost impossible to fill open positions with qualified workers. I stumbled upon a remarkable solution which had been successfully implemented for decades, but only within a relatively narrow niche. No one was writing about volunteer workforces at the time, so I began actively researching and writing about the concept. Soon a heavy-duty New York City book agent signed me to write a book proposal which we shopped around to the major publishing houses. Everyone turned it down. So it was up to me to determine if there was any real interest in the concept.

An agency which supports non-profits agreed to fund the publication of some excerpts from the book proposal, which they sold to their membership, and I sold on Amazon. Dallas Morning News did a front-page story in their business section, then CNNfn and BloombergTV invited me to NYC to introduce their audiences to The Volunteer Workforce concept. After the live CNNfn interview, Allan Chernoff, their chief correspondent, grilled me for quite a while, asking additional questions. He was amazed that CNN had never heard of volunteer workforces. Before I left the studio that day, Allan forcefully stated that CNN would be contacting me shortly to do a major treatment of the subject.

The Volunteer WorkforceLeaving the CNN building that day, back out on a hot and muggy Manhattan street, I was thrilled with the knowledge that the hard work and creative risk-taking on this project were about to pay off in a gratifying and validating way. But 39 days later, two hijacked airliners crashed into the World Trade Center, the country instantly changed, and the attention of the NYC media was rightfully focused on the devastation. Within weeks the economy suffered dramatically, and the labor shortage abruptly ended as layoffs were announced and implemented across a broad spectrum of industries. With so many people out of work, the time was simply no longer right for a "hire volunteers" message.

People who study economics and labor dynamics are predicting another acute labor shortage beginning sometime in 2006. If that happens, I'll be ready!

Enjoy your visit to The Volunteer Workforce website.

« Back Home

 
  call toll-free: 800-552-3135 / mobile: 214-280-9017