What's New
November 8, 2008
Good Jobs in a Bad Economy
Reported by: Elex Michaelson
National unemployment rates in October hit 6.5 percent. That's a significant increase in one month from September--when the rate was 6.1 percent.
Unemployment hasn't been this high since the recession conditions 14 years ago.
The South Metro Career Center at 4389 Imperial Ave San Diego, CA 92113 has seen a dramatic increase of customers lately. They've served 1,474 people since August. They are a free service to taxpayers that aids in job retraining and career counseling.
Evangelina Arroyo, who serves as an employment program representative at the center, says there are jobs if people know where to look. "The decline in one area means there is going to be a need in another... we have to focus on where there is a need. And the need is going to focus on the fact that technology has been a part of everyone's job."
She continued, "The most important thing is to have a strong marketable resume, that's the element that has been the most challenging for most customers coming in."
Most of her clients are middle-aged (40% are between 41-54) and she said many fear the computer. The center offers free computer classes and guidance on resumes.
Many coming in are wives looking to become a part of the workplace for the first time. Often, she said, their spouses have seen a lessening in pay, and the wives are looking to pick up the slack.
Arroyo said sometimes those women are especially uncomfortable completing a resume--but they shouldn't be. She advises them to ask themselves, "If you've never worked, what have you been doing? Have you been at home taking care of the bills? Are you taking care of the accountability at home. Have you been taking care of the business? Those are skills that are going to be used in your next job and we just basically need to write them down."
Right now, she said the best fields in San Diego specifically are:
- Technology
- Healthcare
- Finance
She continued that many of those fields are specialized, so prospective employees need to carefully read job descriptions and then look to improve their skills at nearby career centers.
Another emerging field is green technology. As part of the $700 billion bailout plan, Congress all passed significant tax credits for solar energy--an industry dominated by California businesses.
One of them is Clean Power Systems in San Diego. They are finishing up a 7-acre solar panel project in Valley Center, which helped double the size of their workforce.
VP Tim Bosworth said solar has gone from obscure to popular in a very short time. "The day I heard President Bush actually utter the word 'solar' was one of the best days of my life because now I knew, now it was going to be mainstream. People were going to be serious about it, thinking about it."
He said many of his employees had worked in construction and solar technology, but were looking for work when those industries slowed down. "We put twenty people to work who had just been laid off from another industry and they are highly talented and skilled people. Obviously, its not going to cure the whole thing, but its going to put a lot of people to work in the next few years."
He continued, "The talented people that would be working normally are out of work, fortunately for us its a good thing, for everyone else I feel bad about it. As far as this industry, I think its a great thing and we'll get some talent in here that I doubt will go back to what they did before."
With intensive government investment from Congress and President Elect Obama, Bosworth thinks solar energy will "soon be competitive with the electrical industry nationwide."
And he said, there are added benefits of working in a "green" industry as well. "The more we do this, the more I start feeling we might actually make a difference, and its becoming more and more of a good feeling."
At least some industries still see the sun shining on them.
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