Employers: Ted Williams Has a Job, but 14.5 Million Are Still Available

So far, Ted Williams – a homeless man with a velvet voice and multiple job offers after a moment in the YouTube spotlight – is shaping up to be the feel-good economic story of the year.

Oprah, MTV and ESPN think there is a place for Williams at their networks. A pair of Washington Post bloggers think President Obama should give Williams a shot at the soon-to-be vacant White House Press Secretary job.

Kraft Foods, Inc. has already put Williams and the free publicity he attracts to work. The once-homeless Williams is the not-at-all-ironic voice behind Kraft's homestyle mac and cheese.

Still, there’s an aspect of Williams’ nearly-everywhere tale that isn’t getting enough attention.

For the rest of America’s 14.5 million unemployed individuals, a YouTube-enabled 15-minutes of fame and cynical job recommendations probably aren't what's needed. American companies that have emerged from the Great Recession, begun posting record-setting profit increases or simply have the financial wherewithal to throw rapid and real opportunities at Williams, have also got to start hiring ordinary people for ordinary jobs.

That’s why it’s time for 112th Congress to expand and renew the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act.

In practical terms, the HIRE Act approved early last year gave companies that hired an unemployed person between Feb. 3, 2010 and Jan, 1, 2011 a payroll tax break. Companies that kept those new hires on the payroll for at least a year also qualified for a general business tax credit on their 2011 tax return. The whole thing will cost $13 billion over 10 years.

The HIRE Act lead 6.9 million unemployed people to new jobs during its first five months, according to the U.S. Treasury Department.

With 9.4 unemployment, the White House and Congressional backers should ask for a bigger incentive package that gives businesses a reason to hire the unemployed and additional incentives to hire those who have been out of work the longest.

To be clear, there are no easy solutions. There is certainly no guarantee that a new and improved HIRE Act will put 14.5 million people back to work.  (The New York Time’s Michael Powell explains the way the Great Recession has fractured the traditional relationship between corporate profits and new jobs in a way that is certainly worth reading).

For now, companies can cut the pay and benefits of existing workers and pursue maximum interest on the income they have in the bank.

But without an increase in corporate hiring, a recovery that can be felt in the real economy won’t be coming soon. That's why a new and expanded HIRE Act seems like a risk the tax-cut friendly 112th Congress could take.

Tell Congress to act right now.

Photo Credit: teamperks/Andy Perkins