Why is Orlando job market so terrible? (school, cost)

[Pete C]

Originally Posted by seain dublin

PeteC- I noticed you said you walk in the evening, yes if it isn't too humid out it is fine. But I have lived in different parts of the country( mainly Southern CA) and in regards to summer I find more people inside with the A/C on down here than anywhere else.

Even natives of FL call this time of the year the "Florida Winter" as you end being inside because it is just too hot. Whether it is too hot or too cold, you still end up inside.

It is BRUTAL here in the summer, you don't even see kids outside.

It is definitely the Florida Winter...I call it that myself actually. My only point is that I consider this to be more tolerable than a northern winter...the lesser of two evils when living on the east coast. It's not for everyone. My wife thinks its unbearable.

[mrFlaBound]

Originally Posted by seain dublin

Mr. FL Bound(BTW are you ever going to get here...LOL) I run across many people down here who have not been west of the Mississippi, and many who have never been off the Eastern Seaboard. They are very limited in their travels to say FL is "paradise" it may be to them, but they usually know FL and NJ.

lol, I am getting there, slowly... know that thing about research and having savings and a job? I'm taking my sweet time, but I will get there, I also have a wedding to plan and I just finished my masters degree up here in NY

[Parrotrosie]

MrFlBound...we just got here ourselves from PA....come on down..the water is fiiiiine!

[sweetcityluvn]

A. The Economy is terrible right now
B. Florida has one of the worst local economies in the US at the moment (foreclosures and unemployment)
C. People do not make alot of money in Florida in general. Wages do not keep up with the average standard of living.
D. Yes the weather is nice (until heat waves bring in high humidity levels).
E. If you lose your job, do not think the grand state of Florida is going to do anything about it. Employers can do what they want, and there is little Social Security money to go around for aid.
F. There are awesome palm trees here! Seriously though.

The point I am trying to make is that in these economic times its kind of hard to move, especially to Florida. Some nice outside time with the sun, but no money. There are seriously no jobs here at the moment. How can you survive without a good paying job. Do not think a degree is going to save you too. I got my Bachelors in Urban Planning with a minor in Economics a few years back. Right now I make $8.25 a night, doing the night shift at Walgreens...(I can do plenty with $225 a week, with no medical benefits). Love the weather, but I wish I had my life back. The world is all about money, period. Lame Florida....very very lame, but did I mention we have awesome palm trees...lol.

[annerk]

Jobs aren't plentiful, but if you have the right set of skills, education, and experience they are out there, and you can find jobs that pay a living wage. I've had two jobs since moving here four years ago, and both paid well for this area (not for NYC, but does anyone really expect that?) and both offered great benefits. Many of my friends in this area make between $40K and $80K a year, and some friends are making over six figures.

Of course if all you kow how to do is hang drywall, you're not going to find work and when you do it's not going to pay well. And if you've got a college degree but no relevent experience in the field, do an intership to get the experience, because without it, you're not getting hired in your field--and that goes for anywhere, not just central Florida.

Bottom line, it all depends on what skills you have to offer an employer and how in demand those skills are. The more you can offer a prospective employer, the more likely you are to find a good job.

[annerk]

Originally Posted by sweetcityluvn

I got my Bachelors in Urban Planning with a minor in Economics a few years back. Right now I make $8.25 a night, doing the night shift at Walgreens...(I can do plenty with $225 a week, with no medical benefits). Love the weather, but I wish I had my life back. The world is all about money, period. Lame Florida....very very lame, but did I mention we have awesome palm trees...lol.

Have you been looking at the classifieds in APTA's weekly? I've seen at least a dozen for urban/transit planners in the past month. Of course you'd have to relocate, but it's something you should be looking at.

[blueoktober]

Originally Posted by sweetcityluvn

A. The Economy is terrible right now
B. Florida has one of the worst local economies in the US at the moment (foreclosures and unemployment)
C. People do not make alot of money in Florida in general. Wages do not keep up with the average standard of living.
D. Yes the weather is nice (until heat waves bring in high humidity levels).
E. If you lose your job, do not think the grand state of Florida is going to do anything about it. Employers can do what they want, and there is little Social Security money to go around for aid.
F. There are awesome palm trees here! Seriously though.

The point I am trying to make is that in these economic times its kind of hard to move, especially to Florida. Some nice outside time with the sun, but no money. There are seriously no jobs here at the moment. How can you survive without a good paying job. Do not think a degree is going to save you too. I got my Bachelors in Urban Planning with a minor in Economics a few years back. Right now I make $8.25 a night, doing the night shift at Walgreens...(I can do plenty with $225 a week, with no medical benefits). Love the weather, but I wish I had my life back. The world is all about money, period. Lame Florida....very very lame, but did I mention we have awesome palm trees...lol.

Not to be mean, but didn't you research Orlando before you moved here? Orlando, "a few years back" was just farmland and Orange groves...and no hope for ever being an Urban hotspot. Plus, my partner who also majored in Economics as well as GIS is making a great living. In fact, when we left 2 years ago he had 4 companies call him asking if he would move back to Florida. PS: Many companies pay more than $8.25 an hour right now. Call centers alone pay over $10 an hour.

[blueoktober]

Originally Posted by annerk

Jobs aren't plentiful, but if you have the right set of skills, education, and experience they are out there, and you can find jobs that pay a living wage. I've had two jobs since moving here four years ago, and both paid well for this area (not for NYC, but does anyone really expect that?) and both offered great benefits. Many of my friends in this area make between $40K and $80K a year, and some friends are making over six figures.

Of course if all you kow how to do is hang drywall, you're not going to find work and when you do it's not going to pay well. And if you've got a college degree but no relevent experience in the field, do an intership to get the experience, because without it, you're not getting hired in your field--and that goes for anywhere, not just central Florida.

Bottom line, it all depends on what skills you have to offer an employer and how in demand those skills are. The more you can offer a prospective employer, the more likely you are to find a good job.

Excellent post. I am sorry but I take many of these "Orlando doesnt pay crap!" posts in stride as a lot of them just figured Orlando was paradise and they could come here, change some tires and make $50k a year. The truth is, I too know many people making over 50k a year and up to 100k a year right now. My company just hired a Developer for about 75k.

Sure there are a lot of people out of work, but a lot of people who did NO RESEARCH descended upon Orlando making it what it is today. They wanted what they had back home and made Orlando a mess because of it. Traffic, crime, lack of jobs, and NOW they whine about it. The equation is simple. MOVE. If it is so much better elsewhere and you can make more money, get off your butts, stop making excuses and put in the time and energy to MOVE>

The reality is life is no better anywhere else. Misery just loves company.

[mrFlaBound]

Originally Posted by sweetcityluvn

The point I am trying to make is that in these economic times its kind of hard to move, especially to Florida. Some nice outside time with the sun, but no money. There are seriously no jobs here at the moment. How can you survive without a good paying job. Do not think a degree is going to save you too. I got my Bachelors in Urban Planning with a minor in Economics a few years back. Right now I make $8.25 a night, doing the night shift at Walgreens...(I can do plenty with $225 a week, with no medical benefits). Love the weather, but I wish I had my life back. The world is all about money, period. Lame Florida....very very lame, but did I mention we have awesome palm trees...lol.

A degree will save you if you have the right skillset as others have said and there are jobs for certain areas...

sorry you are having a rough go

[sweetcityluvn]

I do not get it, the unemployment rate is the highest it has ever been in decades and all of you are saying that it is easy to get a job that is 40k+ if you have a degree and the "skills." Everyone can have skills. I know as much as any other person in my field and vice versa. Just about getting that lucky foot in the door then building experience. Its who you know, not what you know (well at least that is just my opinion). If businesses in general are making little to no money, how can they afford to hire some new employee at 40k...lol. You got to be dreaming. Its simple economics. People are saving what they got, businesses are making less due to lack of clients / customers, businesses cut services and jobs, more people lose jobs, and the trickle down economy cycle continues. Its funny, I have friends doing okay still and they say the same things that the following posts are saying. If you are still clinging to your well paid job or are in school full time, you are definately blinded by what is happing in America right now, period. I stick to what I say, jobs are hard to come by right now, especially in a right to work state like Florida.