Pittsburgh Unemployment Rate Flat for October

The unemployment rate, as reported by the Pennsylvania State Center for Workforce Information and Analysis, held steady in October at 4.6% for the third consecutive month. This compares to a state rate of 4.5% and a national rate of 4.7%. Pittsburgh’s rate was down one tenth of a point from a year ago. The service sector accounted for the largest gain (up 5,200 jobs) lead by the education sector as schools reached full employment. However, leisure and hospitality lost 2,800 jobs, which is considered typical as seasonal businesses wound down and students went back to school.

Education and health services reached record highs in October. Overall, the Pittsburgh metro area added 3,000 jobs from one year ago.

How does this relate to employment OPPORTUNITY in Pittsburgh?

Overall job growth in Pittsburgh has been anemic compared to both statewide and national growth figures over the past year. However, with population out migration and having one of the oldest median ages of any metro in the country, more residents are reaching retirement age than are entering the job market. This has kept opportunities for hourly and entry level jobs at high levels. We are seeing continued strong demand for mechanics, sales, nursing and allied health and unusually high demand for factory and warehouse jobs. Below is a map of unemployment rates from across the state for SEPTEMBER. Click on the image to increase size.

What? Internet Recruiting is like Internet dating?

We have read a number of good articles and blog posts recently regarding the difficulty recruiters are having in not only hiring qualified workers for open positions, but just getting them to show up for a scheduled interview. Because we deal primarily with hourly recruitment this is a complaint we are hearing more about even right here in Pittsburgh. Although this phenomenon is occurring at all levels of recruitment, it is most prevalent with hourly and entry level positions.

The primary reason is not just the “millennial mentality” or increased lack of common courtesy anyone over 30 proclaims to be experiencing with those under 30. It could be due to the fact that because so much recruiting has shifted to large online job boards, the effort in applying to an advertised position has become so small that job seekers are able to spray their resumes to literally hundreds of listed jobs, agree to interviews with anyone who bothers to email them, and only then decide which interview they would rather go to, or whether their social life will permit investing the time required to go.

Internet based recruitment has become virtually anonymous (pardon the pun) with very little “sweat equity” involved in its use by either job seekers or recruiters. The old fashioned print ads required much more work on both parties. Job seekers had to actually print a resume, sign a cover letter, lick a stamp and put it in a mail box or, heaven forbid, actually walk in and fill out an application. That’s not easy to do 100 times in a week. Here come Internet job boards and a job seeker has almost unlimited ability to send their information out.

Conversely, recruiters can write a job description one time and easily post it on enough job boards to reach literally millions of job seekers within a week.

Of course this leads us to the title of this posting. Whether you are a job seeker or a recruiter this approach can result in response overload. Just like a consumer utilizing a dating site and putting embellished information about who they are and responding only to those who appear to meet their needs (which is also embellished). How many “dates” set up through anonymous dating sites have resulted in no-shows? The recruiter will be confronted by hundreds of resumes that he or she could not possibly have time to view, let alone respond to, with a high percentage of them unqualified due to the sender not having to expend energy in applying (throw it against enough walls and see what sticks). Job seekers who complain about recruiters who do not acknowledge the receipt of their response are also victims of this development.

Perhaps this will cause the Internet recruitment backlash that newspapers have been praying for since their classifieds began losing dollars to the web six years ago. Print will offer the potential of better prequalification of applicants for recruiters while making serious job seekers more likely to know whether their response has been received.

What Workers Want

We recently read an interesting article posted on MarketWatch that dealt with the reasons workers leave a company to work somewhere else. The article was based on a survey conducted by Kenexa, a recruitment and retention consulting firm. After surveying 10,000 U.S. workers and 1,000 workers from five other countries each, the survey found that direct managers have the biggest influence on their department’s turnover. Simply treating workers with dignity and respect is the biggest concern. However, it was noted that managers aren't the only reason workers opt to stay or go. The five key drivers of retention are, according to Kenexa:

A sense that the job holds a promising future for the worker, which includes a feeling that the company will be successful and that the individual worker plays a key part in that success.

The company's involvement in corporate social responsibility initiatives. "This came as a surprise to us,"

Recognition of the worker. That's often a simple "thanks for doing a good job".

Getting paid fairly.

Deriving a sense of accomplishment from the job.

If you are a manager of other people, consider your own management style and how it affects turnover. It’s not about being friends with your employees. Good management includes the ability to reward and recognize as much as it does discipline.

Read the whole article here.

Pittsburgh Area Unemployment Rate Holds Steady in September

With the Pittsburgh area jobless rate holding steady at 4.6% for September actual opportunity for job seekers still appears to remain robust compared to the past 5 years. Although this does not tie in to actual strong job growth for our area (job growth still remains stagnant in southwest Pennsylvania) demand for qualified workers in most hourly categories continues to outpace last year due primarily to the number of retirements and population outflow.

This sets up a dichotomy in Pittsburgh’s job market of at least temporarily increasing opportunity for those searching for jobs while not creating new positions that increase overall economic growth and stems the tide of population outflow, especially among young professionals.

Without getting into political debate about what could or should be done to turn the tide and create a spark that stimulates actual job growth (which is not the purpose of this blog) we are certainly at a juncture where decisive action has the potential of reaping greater rewards than at any time in the past decade.

Previous postings have touched on the causes of our long term job growth problems as reported by local media and experts. An excellent blog to follow is Harold Miller’s Pittsburgh’s Future blog. As Pittsburgh enters a long period of demand for the building trades and other opportunities, it is up to state and local government to take action and build on the momentum.

Pittsburgh Region Second Highest Job Growth Area for Online Recruitment in September

According to the Monster Local Employment Index Pittsburgh has become the second fastest growth market in the country for online recruitment. Particular strength was cited for the blue collar, hourly jobs arena including food prep, transportation and skilled technical jobs (mechanics, maintenance, repair).

This is inline with what we have seen, as well as healthcare, hospitality and sales. Although this does not directly translate into improved job growth overall, it does show a strengthening of opportunity for job seekers in our area.

Employers are telling us in Pittsburgh it has become noticeably more difficult to recruit qualified workers, while post secondary career schools are seeing a comprehensive slowdown in applications from job seekers seeking re-training. Both are symptoms of job supply and demand transitioning from a buyers market to a sellers market. Below is an excerpt from the actual report:

Online Job Demand in Pittsburgh Jumps in September, According to the Monster Local Employment Index

PITTSBURGH, October 18, 2007 – The Monster Local Employment Index for Pittsburgh notched a solid four-point gain in September as online recruitment activity and related job opportunities reached a new historical Index high. The 16-point, or 15-percent, over-the-year rise establishes Pittsburgh as the Index’s second-fastest growing major online recruitment market in the country, reflecting tight labor market conditions and sustained print-to-online migration of help-wanted advertising. Results for Pittsburgh over the past 13 months are as follows:

The food preparation and serving category registered the highest rate of increase in online job availability during September, and is the top growth category for Pittsburgh year-over-year. Pittsburgh remains the top growth market among the 28 tracked by the Index for this category, indicating high demand in the local accommodation and food services industry. Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media also posted a significant gain last month. During September, online job availability also continued to increase for major blue-collar occupations such as installation, maintenance, and repair; production; and transportation and material moving. In contrast, both protective services; and community and social services reported sharply fewer opportunities than last month. In the white-collar segment, the business and financial operations and legal categories both edged higher and remained moderately improved from a year ago. The only category showing reduced online job availability compared to a year ago is life, physical, and social science, which dipped two points, or two percent. In all, 15 occupational categories rose in September, while three declined one was flat.

Pittsburgh Job News for Hourly Job Seekers

On the job news front over the past month it has been a mixed bag for Pittsburgh job seekers. The announced decision by US Air to cut yet another forty plus flights a day and the resulting loss of another 450 Pittsburgh area jobs was bad news.

The good news out weighs the bad if measured on a job creation scale. Giant Eagle is purchasing Le Natures bottling plant in Latrobe. This will result in an immediate 75 jobs recreated, and the possibility of many more over the next two years. Also in the grocery business, Aldi’s Foods is in the process of adding 7 more locations around the southwest Pennsylvania area. No official job count has been released, but based on current per store staffing this should add more than 175 jobs over the next year. BONY / Mellon Bank has announced it will increase Pittsburgh area employment by at least 150 new jobs over the next year. Columbia Gas has announced it will be replacing more than 2,400 miles of aging gas lines over the next 20 year and create about 400 new jobs in southwest Pennsylvania.

Totaling up these headline reports, we have 450 jobs leaving town (all from US Air) but over 800 jobs coming in.

Diversity Job Fair At Mellon Arena Coming October 9th

The Employment Guide and The Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh will host The 2007 Pittsburgh Diversity Employment and Career Education Expo at the Mellon Arena on Tuesday October 9th from 10:30AM to 3:00PM. The job fair is free for all job seekers and no prior registration is required. Geared toward hourly entry level to mid level skilled positions, approximately 30 companies are expected to be on hand looking for qualified and motivated job seekers in multiple categories. Categories such as healthcare, nursing, skilled trades, office / clerical, retail, drivers, law enforcement, customer service and more, with career training opportunities as well. Some of the companies attending include Manpower, Boscov's, Giant Eagle / Market District, SMG, CareerLink, Maronda Homes, Transitional Services, First Student, Leeds, Lenzner Coach Lines, Mainstay Life Services, Pennsylvania State Police, Best Buy, New Century Careers, Student Transportation of America, Inc., Kaplan Career institute, United States Post Office, Army National Guard, Sunrise Assisted Living, Academy of Court Reporting, All State Career School, Verizon Wireless and more. Stay tuned for more updates as we get closer to the event.