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September 6, 2009
This September - a year after Wall Street's catastrophic meltdown - has brought more dire news for local job seekers: Companies are still laying off more workers than they are hiring.
Long Island's job market peaked in August of last year, eight months after the federal market did, and began a steady descent into some of the highest job losses here since the defense downsizing of the 1990s.
The Island is losing jobs at a rate of 36,000 a year, according to state Labor Department data. The losses are propelled, in large part, by the depressed housing market and the slowdown in consumer spending. The Island's current 7.4 percent unemployment rate is at a 16-year high.
For many job seekers here, the worst job market in a generation requires a new playbook.
Yes, some employers are still hiring amid a grim scenario of record layoffs. But with their emphasis on productivity and cost savings, companies increasingly want employees who can apply their know-how immediately, without additional training.
"They are looking for someone who can come in with a solid skill set that is transferrable," said Fred Burke, executive director of career services at Hofstra University.
The hottest jobs on Long Island are in growing areas such as engineering, information technology and accounting - some of the Island's higher-paying jobs. They have fared better than stone-cold areas such as finance, construction, manufacturing and retail, which are more directly related to the mortgage meltdown or the pullback in consumer spending.
Some lower-wage jobs, such as home health care, continue to rise in number throughout the recession as well.
The key to hot jobs
But among the fewer job opportunities for higher wages, skilled workers have the edge. Joanie Ruge, a senior vice president for Adecco, said her company now gets fewer requests for general unskilled workers, especially in construction and manufacturing. Instead, local clients want skilled and educated job seekers.
"There's really been a big shift over the last two years to a labor market that is requiring [applicants] to have the skills and education," said Ruge, who works at the staffing company's North American headquarters in Melville. "It certainly makes a strong case for people to stay in school or go back to school."
Pearl Kamer, chief economist for the Long Island Association, agrees. "The time when [employers] would take on someone and say, 'We will train you,' is long past," she said.
The road to high-paying jobs is increasingly through education and skills, even in manufacturing, which has become increasingly high tech.
Hiring to remain slow
To be sure, the Island has lost many high-paying jobs during the severe contraction. And the college-educated nationwide have also faced a tougher time in this recession. Even though they have the lowest unemployment rate, 4.7 percent, compared with 9.7 percent nationwide and 15.6 percent for non-high school graduates, the jobless rate for workers with at least a bachelor's degree rose more than 50 percent in the past year.
Overall, hiring will remain slow for some time, Kamer predicts. "The fact that businesses have learned to produce more with fewer workers suggests that hiring could remain sluggish well into the recovery period," she wrote in a report.
And Long Island will have to look to a new economic driver for growth because consumer spending will be depressed for some time, she said. Technology and skilled workers will play increasing roles across all economic sectors, she said.
In the meantime, some sectors have ample opportunities for workers with the right resume, Ruge said. "In other areas, like health care and hospitality and engineering, there is really a strong demand for people that have education and skills for those jobs," she said.
But Gary Huth, the state Labor Department's principal economist for Long Island, cautioned that job seekers should be aware of what they are up against when they gravitate to growth industries amid the recession.
"You end up having a lot of competition for the jobs available in that sector," he said.
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