Upstate NY tech Jobs? (Rochester, Syracuse: houses, job outlook, colleges)

[Win]

Hello all!

I was hoping someone could give me some information on the tech job industry in upstate NY? We're in sunny (translate - bloody hot) Los Angeles right now and are planning to move ... we have no idea where though (the world is quite literally our oyster . We will be taking a nice long road trip mid-September and will be visiting a few states (NH, MI, NY) and will be looking around the upstate NY area (specifically, Rochester). My husband is a Principle Software Engineer/Manager and has had a lot of interest from the NY City area, but we don't want to move to/work in the city. Sooo ... Does anyone know if there is tech industry work in the upstate NY area?


Thanks!

[Ex-Ithacan]

I know Lockheed Martin has recently opened a plant in Owego (near Binghamton). I believe there are quite a few positons there. I've heard the Albany area is starting to get a lot of tech jobs also. Unfortunately, much of upstate is not quite out of the doldrums yet. But I'm sure you can find something, and generally the cost of living (outside of taxes) is much cheaper than downstate. Good luck on your search.

[Win]

Interesting. Thank you very much for the lead. I'll look into that

[acnemaster]

AMD just announced they are building a new chip factory in albany. The capital district has tons of high tech jobs. I would say the albany county housing and job markets are the best in upstate due to the fact that so many people work for the state.
http://www.techvalley.org/
check out this site.

[Win]

Thanks a mil for the link!!

[winnie]

Lockheed Martin also has a plant in Syracuse NY off transistor parkway.

A SERIOUS caution about LM though - they do layoffs and it is more frequent than most people would think. Anytime you have defense contracts driving your business you are prone to manpower issues. Aircraft mechanics that I know of usually are looking for jobs within 5 years after being hired or facing a layoff. It gets tiring. You also usually do better getting a job for them if you have some form of military training that is comparable to the contract they are working on.

Otherwise, there are numerous colleges you can teach at if that is something up your alley? There is a lot of "stuff" up in that area, I just never noticed who the big employers were. Sorry I couldn't be of more help- but I did want to point out the issues with working for LM.

Have you looked at other state/government work??

[Win]

Thanks for the advice on LM, Winnie. I'll forward that on to my husband. He used to teach at the college level so that would always be a possibility as well. And no, haven't looked into government work ... Lots to think about. Thanks again!

[benande]

The hi-tech job outlook in Rochester is not very good right now. Both Kodak and Xerox have been downsizing for several years. Xerox is planning more layoffs in the third and fourth quarters (search Google news for more details). Many businesses (like small tool and die shops, restaurants, retail, etc) that supported the larger companies directly or indirectly have closed in recent years. I know several professional people who were laid off and have been looking for work for over a year without much luck. Some are now working at Home Depot making $10 an hour. Yes, the houses are cheap, but the taxes are very high. Sorry, it's difficult to recommend Rochester right now.

[I'minformed2]

Xerox is planning layoffs OUTSIDE of the Rochester area. It's not as difficult for me to recomend Rochester right now and I am in fact moving back to the area soon. It all depends on what field your in. Medical research and biotech is actually doing quite well in Upstate NY and especially rochester right now. Mechanical engineering would be a different situation (for the time being anyways).

[benande]

Rochester is NOT excluded from layoffs. Everyone I know in management, engineering, manufacturing, sales, and field service is worried.