The New York Times just reported on a new phenomenon in job hunting that has arisen as a result of the high unemployment rate among white-collar workers – accountability groups.

According to the Times, membership in various networking organizations across the country for unemployed executives and other professionals has ballooned in recent months as the recession has continued its march, sparing not even the highly educated and skilled.  Providing a spur as well as solace, the groups offer transition assistance for people who previously led comfortable lives in the middle and upper-middle class.  The group in the Times piece, which is based in suburban Chicago, meets on Mondays to provide structure for the week.  Members’ days are filled with a revolving door of networking meetings, applications and chasing down the all-important but elusive hiring “decision-maker” at their target companies.

White-collar unemployment rose to 4.6 percent in December, up from 3 percent the year before. The figures still pale in comparison to the 11.3 percent unemployment rate for blue-collar workers. But Lawrence Mishel, president of the liberal Economic Policy Institute, said white-collar unemployment rose faster in the past year than in any other recession dating to at least the 1970s, even the devastating downturn of the early 1980s. Moreover, white-collar workers also tend to form a disproportionate share of the long-term unemployed — those who have been out of work six months or longer.

WCW reader Zak Nelson recently started a similar club Tacoma, Washington.  Their goal as a group of proactive job seekers in a common geographic region (Pierce County, Washington) is to share resources, encouragement, and accountability in their job searches, no matter their ages or difference in background.

Want to find a group in your area?  I recommend checking out Meetup.com for options.