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'Significantly more jobs available' says director of job bureau

By Howard B. Owens

If you're out of work, or underemployed, this is a great time to be looking for a job or a better job, said Scott Gage, director of the county's Job Development Bureau.

The unemployment rate has been at or below 5 percent all summer and now into the winter, which is a period of low employment the county hasn't seen since 2008.

The job bureau currently has 279 job openings listed. A year ago, there were only 199 jobs listed.

"Employers are hot to get new employees," Gage said. "This is a great time to be job searching. If people are unemployed, they should come down to the career center and see us. We can help them find a job."

Gage said they're seeing both people who were underemployed finding new employment that better meets their qualifications, and people who have been among the long-term unemployed are finding work.

For the long-term unemployed, there is a job-training program available that is funded by the federal government through the H1B visa program (the same program that brings foreign workers into the country).

The jobs available aren't just entry-level jobs, Gage said. The list includes $16 and $18 an hour jobs and jobs that pay $35,000 to $40,000 a year.

"There are significantly more jobs available now," Gage said.

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Raymond Richardson

Well of course it's a great time to be job searching because many employers need extra workers for the holiday season.

Come mid to end January, the extra, holiday help will become unemployed again.

Dec 12, 2014, 8:25am Permalink
Frank Bartholomew

Raymond, on the brighter side, those underemployed who find higher paying jobs
will add more $$ to their unemployment benefits when layed off.

Dec 12, 2014, 11:00am Permalink
Doug Yeomans

Mike Rowe, of dirty jobs fame, has a video on youtube addressing college education and high paying jobs. Lots of "dirty jobs, and not so dirty jobs" are going unfilled because people seem to be unwilling to move to where the jobs are, and they seem unwilling to do those kinds of jobs. If you want a high paying job, be the person willing to do the jobs that other people don't want to do. Plumbers can make a fantastic amount of money. Pipe fitters, electricians, heavy equipment operators, welders...get into the trades and you'll never starve.

Dec 12, 2014, 11:08am Permalink
Jim Urtel Jr

Where are these jobs? Not here! The whole system is flawed. The hard working blue collar employee gets screwed anymore. If you dont have a college education, you cant get a decent job regardless of how hard a worker you are and thats wrong. Before the great college boom, there were factory jobs all over our area and because of the bigshot college grads taking over, all the factories are gone!! Temp services have ruined the workforce as well. Companies use them to fill the void for 6 months, then lay you off when its time to put you on full time so they dont have to give you a real full time job with benefits and they hire all new temps. Then they wonder why production slips! All the companies are worried about you getting too many hours. They would rather pay 2 part timers who slack off rather than 1 great worker who knows what they are doing! It makes no sense! Tell me how some college grad clown should be in charge of hiring and make 100k a year who never came out from behind a desk and manually worked a day in his life while the actual worker doing the labor makes $8-$10 an hour! The companies left need to start doing their own hiring. You cant even fill out an application at the place you are trying to get a job at anymore. You either go to a temp service or online. What happened to face to face interviews? This country has come to depend too much on education and not enough on work. Give me the hard worker, not the booksmart guy who thinks he knows how to do something!

Dec 13, 2014, 10:25am Permalink
Peter O'Brien

Sounds like whining Jim.

I have a tradeskill, electronics technician. I have worked for as much as $20 an hour with only military training. I have been told by my former boss that I am worth much more. But the work isn't there, well at least not here.

So I am going back to school to get my associates in computer science. Its an industry that will only grow while electronics repair jobs are becoming increasingly harder to find.

This is called changing with the times. Technology and markets shift too often these days to expect to have a career in one field without starting your own business.

I imagine in 15-25 years I might need to change careers again. Its the way of things.

Blaming others (some college grad clown) isn't doing anything to improve your life. Go out and make yourself marketable.

Dec 13, 2014, 5:52pm Permalink
Jim Urtel Jr

Good for you Peter but this area has marketed itself right out of business! Do you know how many factories are gone from this area. A person shouldnt have to go to school to get a decent job if their a hard worker. I didnt and worked with racehorses my whole life and would love to see your college grads keep up with me 7 days a week sometimes working 12-14 hr days or more if you race out of state that day. You said yourself that there isnt enough work for your trade around here. You think more school for you is going to make more jobs for you? Not in this area its not because there are no jobs here!!! I guess you can move out of state with your trade and be happy though, good for you!! Not whining, just stating the facts.

Dec 14, 2014, 9:06am Permalink
Jack Dorf

If any young person is willing to spend the time to learn a good trade if they are not interested in college they could have a very comfortable living. Work hard show up to work every day on time and do what your told. Skilled toolmakers, CNC programmers, moldmakers, electricians, HVAC etc. all pay very well after you complete your apprenticeship. The problem is a lot of young people these days aren't willing to pay their dues and want big money right away. Granted you will have to drive or live in Monroe or Erie county to make better money. MCC has great programs for skilled trades and over 90% of graduates have jobs before they finish. These types of jobs are in such high demand and employers are having a very difficult time filling their needs and that is forcing up wages.

Dec 14, 2014, 9:50am Permalink
Peter O'Brien

Yes, I have analyzed the market for jobs for the field I am entering. I will have plenty of opportunities. I am completely changing my expertise from electronics repair to computer and networking science. There are some transferable skills but for the most part I need a whole new knowledge base. Not only that, there are plenty of telecommute jobs available to manage networks remotely. Most every corporation needs at least one computer/network technician and that should only increase.

This time last year I was working 12-14 hour minimum days to finish installing the security system in a casino in Ohio. I spent 9 months at in that job and traveled almost every week. Plenty of young people are willing to work hard if there is a reward for it. Unfortunately most jobs offered to people coming out of college are salaried positions, there is no incentive to work more than 40 hours.

Dec 14, 2014, 11:12am Permalink
Jim Urtel Jr

All I know is that it`s a shame that there are no jobs HERE IN THIS AREA! This area used to be booming in factory work and they are all gone! You can only get a temp job at the ones that are left such as Chapin. When its time to be put on full time you are let go and new temps are hired. The bigshot CEO`s with the big time college degrees ran these businesses into the ground and it isnt just Genesee county but Erie and Monroe as well. There isnt going to be that many jobs in your field when all the big businesses are gone! People are leaving this area everyday at alarming rates because they have to in order to survive. If you think the problem can be solved by the young kids going to trade school, you better re-assess your thoughts.

Dec 14, 2014, 11:52am Permalink
John Roach

How many times have you heard trades people say they want to hire, but cannot find people with training?

And Peter makes a point about being willing to do hard work. The guy you did not kitchen floor said that finding someone who would show up to work every day, ready to go, was almost impossible

For decades our schools failed out kids. They pushed the idea that you wanted a "Profession", not a job. White collar, not blue collar. Well, a lot of white collar positions are saturated (Social workers, substance abuse councilors, teachers). Meanwhile, there is a shortage of tool and die workers, welders, generator operators, diesel mechanics and the like.

Dec 14, 2014, 11:59am Permalink
Bea McManis

Small towns will have to hustle to recruit and retain millennials, experts say. The American Planning Association urges local planners to mimic the appeal of city centers by creating “density.” That means keeping the walkable neighborhoods and traditional town centers that millennials say is key to making a community a desirable place to live. Smart-growth advocate James A. Bacon sees opportunities to fight off “brain drain” and attract urban “escapees” who start small businesses, but he worries that towns aren’t taking advantage. “Unfortunately, to date, local economic developers have stuck with the industrial-recruitment strategy that bears less and less fruit,” Bacon writes."
Read more: http://www.ozy.com/.../why-millennials-are-avoiding.../34058

People are moving back to this area, not leaving.
"two main causes for the bump in young people: The Great Recession battered many high-flying cities that had been powerful magnets for the Buffalo Niagara region’s young people. At the same time, the local economy absorbed a much milder blow. So instead of there being more opportunities in other places, there was a three-year period from 2008 to 2010 when the Buffalo Niagara job market was much healthier than once-booming places like Phoenix, Denver, Atlanta, Charlotte, N.C., and Las Vegas.
“It was a case of the grass not being greener in other places,” Keith said"
http://www.buffalonews.com/business/after-years-of-brain-drain-young-pe…

Dec 14, 2014, 1:11pm Permalink
John Roach

Ed, sorry about that. I did not proof read it. What it should have said was that the guy I hired to do my kitchen floor could not find good help.

Dec 14, 2014, 3:10pm Permalink
Ed Hartgrove

Oh, Ok. Thanks, John. Yeah, I guess THAT makes a little more sense. Been scratchin' my head to the point it looks like a target at a BB-gun range (miniature Band-Aids, ya know).

:)

Dec 14, 2014, 3:22pm Permalink

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