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I had wondered how you are doing! Your story is one of good planning and I am so glad it has worked out for you (even tho there is that commute right now) I am glad you found a good arrangement here and I hope you all can move to CLT fulltime soon.
It's nice to see you posting! Hope you have a pleasant weekend.
I had (still have) a job when I moved here. Things were fine up until the last six months or so. I'm a court reporter, and when legal work has dried up, that is BAD. Usually when the economy goes south, people start suing each other, so the legal field does great. Not right now. It seems like it's starting to show signs of life again, but for the past six months, I've been commuting down to Columbia, SC for work. And it's not just me -- every reporting firm I've talked to lately has said the same thing.
I had (still have) a job when I moved here. Things were fine up until the last six months or so. I'm a court reporter, and when legal work has dried up, that is BAD. Usually when the economy goes south, people start suing each other, so the legal field does great. Not right now. It seems like it's starting to show signs of life again, but for the past six months, I've been commuting down to Columbia, SC for work. And it's not just me -- every reporting firm I've talked to lately has said the same thing.
Yes, that is the experience my friends are having. Have cousins who are attorneys and friends who are paralegals. One of my friends was in a HUGE well known lawfirm here (attorney) and they have laid off literally dozens of attorneys and last month, laid my friend off, too! Who would have guessed that would happen at a very robust law firm.
I hope you are right and things are picking up. I heard an economist on TV this week say that it won't get markedly better til 2013 here in this region. I sure the heck hope he is wrong.
You quoted my post! Anyone would assume it was directed to me!
I started this thread to warn folks who were coming here w/o jobs that this was not a good time to come here as our economy was going downhill. This thread was started over a year ago, when our unemployment rate was around 7%. We have all heard some really sad stories since last year, with more folks having been laid off and people out of work now for a year or longer.
It was my opinion 12 months ago - and remains my opinion - that anyone who moves here expecting to quickly land a job is taking a big chance. As I have said before, perhaps I am more risk averse than others, but again, that is my opinion.
Correct -I did quote your post, but I didn't mean my post to be directed at you in particular.I should have just posted without quoting.Apologies.
Correct -I did quote your post, but I didn't mean my post to be directed at you in particular.I should have just posted without quoting.Apologies.
Thanx for clarifying.
Again, this thread is a year old. Anyone reading it now should get some sense of how the situation here has worsened in the last 12 months. It was bad enuff to warn folks about coming without a job in October, 2008. Now, it is really essential that people carefully examine their expectations about moving here without employment.
I continually see posts saying "But it will be different in my field." If you can move and it isn't going to present a big financial investment - and you have a hefty savings account to rely on while doing a job search - my hope would be that it will work out w/o too much of a financial hit. It is not that we aren't welcoming here, and it surely isn't that folks are being deceptive about the job market here, as has been suggested during the last year. I have seen it mentioned that things cannot possibly be that much worse here than in other regions of the country - and that forum members just don't A. want outsiders here and/or B. they don't want the competition for the jobs that are available.
First, only 1/3 of Charlotte residents are natives, so forget that misconception that we don't like newcomers. And as for competition - that is everywhere. I should also mention that many people who have been out of work a year here in CLT are now looking for work outside the region/state. They have come to terms with the lack of job openings and so have to do something. The state/feds can't keep extending unemployment benefits forever! At some point, the compensation is gonna run out and people are fully aware of that.
If you are planning on coming here w/ a spouse's job transfer and you are assuming you will find a job quickly, please re-think this f/ the angle that you should rent an apartment (maybe for only six months) that you can afford relying only on the spouse's income. This way, no financial stress if it takes a while to land the job you need.
The info I have posted is not an unwelcoming message - but rather, a warning to be realistic and have a contingency plan if you do move here without employment. We are all hoping that things will turn around soon so our friends, neighbors and family members can start bringing home a paycheck - and so newcomers who want to move to Charlotte can happily settle in with a job - and enjoy living here.
I'v been away from a computer for the past week and just returned late last nite. Catching up on reading and have only two things to add to this thread:
1) Even in a third world country where 85% of the people live on remittances, the lowest person on the food chain is aware of the problems we are having with UE in the U.S.
2) Why in heaven's name would anybody coming on to this forum seeking advise be offended if one should warn them about the UE in CLT?? How can anyone find this to be anything OTHER than useful information?? Period. End of discussion.
Re: One poster mentioned that people have internet and they can check unemploy. stats. Well, if that's case you can also check a) "what's the weather like in Jan?? Duh....Google. b) what's the distance from downtown (" oh excuse me you call it "Uptown) to Concord? duh Google map. And on and on.
My point...what's wrong with giving information that 99.9 % of the pop. are REALLY looking for and getting it from the "horse's mouth"???
Man is it cold here. Can't get the 92F out of my system.lol
Jobs here are very hard to find. One of my wife's friends (who is college educated and with over 20 years experience is out of work, benefits have run out and finally has lost his apartment due to lack of funds, so now I have a "quest" to feed and provide a roof over his head.) Yes, times are tough here. The large complex, City Center is just about complete and all there are no other big projects that construction workers can go to, so they are going to be unemployed and collecting benefits. The state will be going into the red soon and may have to borrow money from the government. City Center had about 10000 jobs offered and about 200,000 people filled out job applications.
Las Vegas is known for the tourist trade (sin city). Businesses are reluctant to locate here due cause of that, however, some businesses locate to other areas such as Henderson.
In my opinion, the local people are nice. There are many many stores that are run as a small business, but with unemployment running at about 15% to 25% chances are that you simply are not going to find anything that pays a living wage....(I'm glad that I'm retired and almost debt free!)
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Targen
Jobs here are very hard to find. One of my wife's friends (who is college educated and with over 20 years experience is out of work, benefits have run out and finally has lost his apartment due to lack of funds, so now I have a "quest" to feed and provide a roof over his head.) Yes, times are tough here. The large complex, City Center is just about complete and all there are no other big projects that construction workers can go to, so they are going to be unemployed and collecting benefits. The state will be going into the red soon and may have to borrow money from the government. City Center had about 10000 jobs offered and about 200,000 people filled out job applications.
Las Vegas is known for the tourist trade (sin city). Businesses are reluctant to locate here due cause of that, however, some businesses locate to other areas such as Henderson.
In my opinion, the local people are nice. There are many many stores that are run as a small business, but with unemployment running at about 15% to 25% chances are that you simply are not going to find anything that pays a living wage....(I'm glad that I'm retired and almost debt free!)
I posted about construction of a power plant in Cleveland County a few days ago. It's going to take approximately 18 months & they will be hiring about 600 people. Is that not big enough? There are loads of apartments around here, as well as houses for rent, if someone wanted the jobs but didn't want to drive from Charlotte.
Correct -I did quote your post, but I didn't mean my post to be directed at you in particular.I should have just posted without quoting.Apologies.
Susan, you are playing games with us. You have said that you live in the U.K. You also mentioned some time back that you lived in New Jersey. Now you are here? I bet you know nothing about Newcastle. Or, I bet I know the place better than you. Be honest. We are forgiving, understandable people. Just be honest.
Jobs here are very hard to find. One of my wife's friends (who is college educated and with over 20 years experience is out of work, benefits have run out and finally has lost his apartment due to lack of funds, so now I have a "quest" to feed and provide a roof over his head.) Yes, times are tough here. The large complex, City Center is just about complete and all there are no other big projects that construction workers can go to, so they are going to be unemployed and collecting benefits. The state will be going into the red soon and may have to borrow money from the government. City Center had about 10000 jobs offered and about 200,000 people filled out job applications.
Las Vegas is known for the tourist trade (sin city). Businesses are reluctant to locate here due cause of that, however, some businesses locate to other areas such as Henderson.
In my opinion, the local people are nice. There are many many stores that are run as a small business, but with unemployment running at about 15% to 25% chances are that you simply are not going to find anything that pays a living wage....(I'm glad that I'm retired and almost debt free!)
I believe the state unemployment compensation fund ran out at the first of the year, lol! The state is heavily in debt and in the red already. The compensation checks are being paid with federal $$$$.
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