It’s mid November and with the national economic news enough to scare even the sanest of us into a catatonic state what is a job seeker to do? Regardless of your current employment status; safely employed, under employed, barely employed or unemployed be grateful if you live in the Pittsburgh region, still considered one of the better job markets in the country.
With that said we are unquestioningly seeing a softening in demand in a number of job categories while a few are surprisingly maintaining and even increasing demand. Most positions in healthcare and education are the top in demand. Weakest job categories in Pittsburgh include retail and automotive (not surprisingly), although mechanics and body shop technicians are still in high demand. What is a bit surprising is the current strength of hospitality, banking, customer service and maintenance technicians. Construction (mostly commercial/industrial) worker demand also remains strong factoring in seasonality.
What next month or next year will bring is literally anybodies guess. We have read projections as optimistic as a rebound as early as next fall and as pessimistic as late 2010 (again, national figures). We here tend to be optimists. The new administration will at the very least offer new hope to the majority of the country. With new hope comes improved optimism. With improved optimism (and lower gas prices!) dollars will begin flowing again from consumers, even if it starts as just a trickle.
A blog to inform Pittsburgh area jobseekers and recruiters about Pittsburgh job news, advice and happenings around the 'burgh concerning the job market especially pertaining to the hourly, blue collar, entry level to mid level skilled positions. We speak with hundreds of Human Resource people, business owners and department heads every week giving us a firm finger on the pulse of the Pittsburgh Job Market.
Friday, November 14, 2008
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