I See.....Jobs

[shatto]

The Greater San Francisco Bay Area is pretty much central California, from Monterey in the south to Sacramento in the east.
Millions of people live here and there are many roads connecting the housing developments shopping and business parks in this megalopolis.

I am a courier and regularly traverse the entirety of this geography and, I observe. Businesses we used to deliver to and for are gone as are places I noticed in transit.
Here, businesses like Apple have campuses, Cisco has a campus of more than two dozen multi-story buildings and some of their competitors and suppliers are closed.
We all know about Solyndra who built a factory and immediately closed in bankruptcy. Shops in strip malls, on city streets and in neighborhoods everywhere are closed.
The old Codding Mall in Santa Rosa is remodeling and is half empty, but has the salvation of Sears, and Macy's as strong anchor tenants so they should pull through. Maybe.

As of this writing, America's GDP, the measure of how much business we are doing, is around 1%, nowhere near what is necessary for the economy to grow and thrive again.

But I see work taking place as I travel.

The rail yards at the Port of Oakland, three times that I've seen this year, have been full of stacked lumber indicating that, somewhere someone is building.
Highway 80 in the mountains has been repaved; it was worn to the foundation and was so rough it was damaging trucks as well as cars,
and there are paving projects along the rest of 80 in the Bay Area as well as most of the rest of the freeway system.
The new Bay Bridge seems to have all the parts here and installed, the final steel roadbed pieces were just lifted into place by 'Left Coast Lifter' the giant floating crane
and the concrete connection to the tunnel is coming right along.
All the major hospitals have not just added-on, they have built entire buildings on their sites and there are brand-new hospitals under construction.
Housing tracts, that were 'in the pipeline' when the economy turned south are being built.
There were three cruise ships docked at San Francisco last Wednesday. There seem to be almost as many cargo ships as before.
Semi trucks help clog the Oakland freeways.

But is it just me? All the jobs seem to be union.
What kind of jobs do you see where you are?

[bowtieguy]

not many unions here in florida. september is seasonably slow for us, but we just had our best september ever. like hospitals(we deliver to btw) tho, we are relatively recession proof(maybe resistant is a better description) because we sell and deliver food.

i too see many places closing their doors all over central florida. unfortunately, outside of delivery, vocations dealing w/ food employ relatively low earners(for the most part).

it's been estimated that corp America is holding at least $2 trillion in revenue, delaying spending and hiring largely because of uncertain future tax concerns.

i'm convinced lower and flat taxes(or something similar) are imperative to America's future prosperity(or lack thereof). the loopholes and non-tax payers must be eliminated.

there's A LOT more to do, but it's not pertinent to this thread and would most certainly ignite an ugly political debate!

[shatto]

Nope. I just wonder if what I see is just here.

[bowtieguy]

check the jobless rates by state...http://www.bls.gov/web/laus/laumstrk.htm

your state has the 2nd highest rate. north dakota ain't bad...but the cattle outnumber the people! actually those number are tweaked...they do not include the under employed nor those who have quit looking.

[bobc455]

I don't see them now, but I am hopeful for them in the near future.

For me, the biggest indicator of how well the economy is doing is the manufacturing sector, which has been virtually obliterated by China (with the exception of cars).

I'm hopeful for some manufacturing to return to the US, because there is quite a bit of inflation in China- this is causing inflation on Chinese-made items, and this will make the US somewhat competitive again in certain areas (depending how much the Chinese economy falters).

I think the mass-exodus to China has stopped for the time being, we'll see how quickly it returns.

-BC

[IndyFetch]

I just lost my job last Tuesday. Ugh.

[bowtieguy]

Originally Posted by Fetch

I just lost my job last Tuesday. Ugh.

what do you do/what skills have you?

[IndyFetch]

I have been an analyst and document processor for commercial lending for 4 years. In my prior life, I was a salesman (cars, appliances, lawn & garden, tools, etc.). I managed a restaurant, and I was the sales manager for a Sears store. I finished up my MBA in June. Throughout high school and college, I worked in a graphic arts machine shop and in security.

A little of everything, eh?

I have 24 applications out there. I'm interviewing for a job in 2 hours. Let's see how it goes.

(I didn't mean to hijack the thread).

[tradosaurus]

You need to apply to the federal government. Go on USAJobs.

I've been with the federal government for 8 years after 12 years in the private sector. And I'm not looking back.

[bowtieguy]

mine is the opposite story. i left the public sector...and i'm never looking back.

Fetch, let me know how it goes. my company(food distribution) is consistently growing and hiring. you likely would need to relocate as most of our locations are on the east and west coasts, with a handful in the mid US.