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There are jobs out there for qualified people and plenty of them. I recently switched jobs to get into a new industry and had tons of jobs to apply for and was given two very attractive offers with the first two interviews I went on.
My wife has had multiple offers from organizations trying to lure her away from her current position.
While the Phoenix job market isn't perfect, there are jobs out there. I think many people fail to make themselves competitive and blame not getting a job on factors that have nothing to do with the real reason they struggle to find work. I have friends that do not have the education required to get a good job that spend every weekend running around and taking their boat to the lakes or going to expensive football games and concerts. They then whine that they can't get an interview for a job.
I'm not commenting on you specifically as I know nothing about you, just making a general comment.
You raise a good point. All we hear is how bad the local job market is with the assumption the local talent is qualified. The harsh reality is the local talent is often unqualified for many of these positions, and these companies are forced to hiring elsewhere to fill them.
If I see that commercial that says to plan on moonlighting as well as 40 hrs a week I'm gonna go crazy! Most jobs are requiring your open schedule and flexibility but are not offering enough to pay 1 bed/1 bath apt, car, ins. My only luxury is cable and Cox will not go a penny below the retail rate and I call them twice a month only to be told I don't qualify. They will only say being a new customer and "other things" are qualifiers.
Looking forward to pointers to better things.
The reality is many young people need to move elsewhere where the cost of living is lower and job opportunities exist. That is what many educated immigrants do. They don't move here expecting to live in southern California right away. They will move to North Dakota if it means getting experience in a field that will enable them to build their resume and afford to live. There are young people that will live off credit cards and amass debt just so they can be hipsters and live in Seattle or San Diego while they spend years looking for work. It makes no sense to me. If you can't afford to live there, then you need to move. They are too "cool" to live in a place like Oklahoma City, god forbid, but it's cool to live in SF and be a waiter in hipster restaurant even it means you are amassing thousands in credit card debt and will be declaring bankruptcy soon.
Last edited by azriverfan.; 10-30-2014 at 10:54 PM..
One of the top stories on a popular Valley news website today stated that Phoenix had the highest number of construction jobs lost over the past year (ending September 30, 2014). The economy is not coming back anytime soon. We are not doing anything different than we did in the past to incite any change now or in the future. Phoenix is in extreme debt and it is really starting to show. Just look at infrastructure for example. There is graffiti everywhere that is not being cleaned up and street lights and street signs are burnt out and/or nearly unreadable, remaining that way for months upon months on end. The recession tore this area up and to think things are improving at a commendable rate is laughable.
Large scale private investments in this area have failed or have yet to materialize. The Sapphire glass plant? Failure. The Pin structure that was supposed to open in downtown Phoenix by the Super Bowl. Failure. The old Hotel Monroe in downtown Phoenix that was supposed to be renovated and reopened as a hotel by the Super Bowl. Failure. The hotel that was supposed to be constructed by the Luhrs building in downtown Phoenix starting this summer. Failure. The USA Basketball development in Tempe that was supposed to start construction at least six months ago. Failure. The multi billion dollar Intel facility in Chandler that remains vacant. Failure. It's just really hard to see things in this area picking up any time soon when nearly every large scale private development proposed in the area over the past year has just been a complete miss. The only thing that is moving forward is the Marina Heights/State Farm development along the south shore of Tempe Town Lake.
I know my posts on the topic are exceedingly negative, but this idea that the Valley is in the midst of a comeback is clearly a huge farce.
One of the top stories on a popular Valley news website today stated that Phoenix had the highest number of construction jobs lost over the past year (ending September 30, 2014). The economy is not coming back anytime soon. We are not doing anything different than we did in the past to incite any change now or in the future. Phoenix is in extreme debt and it is really starting to show. Just look at infrastructure for example. There is graffiti everywhere that is not being cleaned up and street lights and street signs are burnt out and/or nearly unreadable, remaining that way for months upon months on end. The recession tore this area up and to think things are improving at a commendable rate is laughable.
Large scale private investments in this area have failed or have yet to materialize. The Sapphire glass plant? Failure. The Pin structure that was supposed to open in downtown Phoenix by the Super Bowl. Failure. The old Hotel Monroe in downtown Phoenix that was supposed to be renovated and reopened as a hotel by the Super Bowl. Failure. The hotel that was supposed to be constructed by the Luhrs building in downtown Phoenix starting this summer. Failure. The USA Basketball development in Tempe that was supposed to start construction at least six months ago. Failure. The multi billion dollar Intel facility in Chandler that remains vacant. Failure. It's just really hard to see things in this area picking up any time soon when nearly every large scale private development proposed in the area over the past year has just been a complete miss. The only thing that is moving forward is the Marina Heights/State Farm development along the south shore of Tempe Town Lake.
I know my posts on the topic are exceedingly negative, but this idea that the Valley is in the midst of a comeback is clearly a huge farce.
You paint a very painful, but reality filled picture. We should be concerned that these big projects never took off and find a way to break the trend. Regardless, people are still moving here.
You paint a very painful, but reality filled picture. We should be concerned that these big projects never took off and find a way to break the trend. Regardless, people are still moving here.
People are moving here, but most of our cities are no longer the fastest growing in the country (with the exception of Goodyear and Gilbert). We should be concerned that the rate of people moving here is far outpacing job growth. During the boom years, our job growth was just a positive. Now, job growth is pretty paltry, especially in white collar sectors.
You have to wonder why other large metropolitan areas in the Sunbelt are doing so much better than Phoenix. Houston's population and economy (white collar included) is taking off like a rocket. Atlanta's economy is doing the same. Even Los Angeles has greatly recovered. What's going on here? Why would many here rather bury their heads in the sand and pretend everything's fine when it's clearly not?
One of the top stories on a popular Valley news website today stated that Phoenix had the highest number of construction jobs lost over the past year (ending September 30, 2014). The economy is not coming back anytime soon. We are not doing anything different than we did in the past to incite any change now or in the future. Phoenix is in extreme debt and it is really starting to show. Just look at infrastructure for example. There is graffiti everywhere that is not being cleaned up and street lights and street signs are burnt out and/or nearly unreadable, remaining that way for months upon months on end. The recession tore this area up and to think things are improving at a commendable rate is laughable.
Large scale private investments in this area have failed or have yet to materialize. The Sapphire glass plant? Failure. The Pin structure that was supposed to open in downtown Phoenix by the Super Bowl. Failure. The old Hotel Monroe in downtown Phoenix that was supposed to be renovated and reopened as a hotel by the Super Bowl. Failure. The hotel that was supposed to be constructed by the Luhrs building in downtown Phoenix starting this summer. Failure. The USA Basketball development in Tempe that was supposed to start construction at least six months ago. Failure. The multi billion dollar Intel facility in Chandler that remains vacant. Failure. It's just really hard to see things in this area picking up any time soon when nearly every large scale private development proposed in the area over the past year has just been a complete miss. The only thing that is moving forward is the Marina Heights/State Farm development along the south shore of Tempe Town Lake.
I know my posts on the topic are exceedingly negative, but this idea that the Valley is in the midst of a comeback is clearly a huge farce.
This is spot on. Apple was one of the bright spots and now that project is dead. Downtowns around the country are spotted with construction cranes and experiencing tons of construction. Not Phoenix. There's just a few buildings going up.
The reality is many young people need to move elsewhere where the cost of living is lower and job opportunities exist. That is what many educated immigrants do. They don't move here expecting to live in southern California right away. They will move to North Dakota if it means getting experience in a field that will enable them to build their resume and afford to live. There are young people that will live off credit cards and amass debt just so they can be hipsters and live in Seattle or San Diego while they spend years looking for work. It makes no sense to me. If you can't afford to live there, then you need to move. They are too "cool" to live in a place like Oklahoma City, god forbid, but it's cool to live in SF and be a waiter in hipster restaurant even it means you are amassing thousands in credit card debt and will be declaring bankruptcy soon.
It's a precarious balance. Places like North Dakota don't have much expect oil patches and $20 an hour jobs at Walmart. But places like Manhattan are now too expensive for a lot of people to consider.
The NY Times ran an interesting article about how younger (not directly out of college, maybe early 30s with some experience but not tons) were moving to OK City and Rust Best cities experiencing renaissances like those in Ohio. It's cheaper and easier to make a mark because there's not as much competition.
But early in people's careers, they have to think about social connections and the value they bring. If you move to the middle of nowhere, who are your peers? If you want to be the best in your field, you're going to suck it up and pay NYC, LA or San Fran rents because the connections you make and the companies that are headquartered there can make a huge difference in your career. So what if you have to share a room? A lot of people want to experience living in big, world-class cities and that is worth more than space to them.
A lot of times places have low cost of living precisely because there aren't job opportunities. Supply and demand. There's a reason why millions of people continue to live in LA even though its horribly expensive, the air quality sucks and traffic is abominable.
That comes into play not only with peers, but with mentors. Where are the successful people? If you're in Phoenix you don't necessarily have access to a lot of established people to learn from. Phoenix Metro is really a huge small town. It doesn't act like a big city, IMHO.
Until we get a slew of big Fortune 500s to start to develop those intricate networks and ecosystems, it will stay the same. Cheap rent comes at a price.
It's a precarious balance. Places like North Dakota don't have much expect oil patches and $20 an hour jobs at Walmart. But places like Manhattan are now too expensive for a lot of people to consider.
The NY Times ran an interesting article about how younger (not directly out of college, maybe early 30s with some experience but not tons) were moving to OK City and Rust Best cities experiencing renaissances like those in Ohio. It's cheaper and easier to make a mark because there's not as much competition.
But early in people's careers, they have to think about social connections and the value they bring. If you move to the middle of nowhere, who are your peers? If you want to be the best in your field, you're going to suck it up and pay NYC, LA or San Fran rents because the connections you make and the companies that are headquartered there can make a huge difference in your career. So what if you have to share a room? A lot of people want to experience living in big, world-class cities and that is worth more than space to them.
A lot of times places have low cost of living precisely because there aren't job opportunities. Supply and demand. There's a reason why millions of people continue to live in LA even though its horribly expensive, the air quality sucks and traffic is abominable.
That comes into play not only with peers, but with mentors. Where are the successful people? If you're in Phoenix you don't necessarily have access to a lot of established people to learn from. Phoenix Metro is really a huge small town. It doesn't act like a big city, IMHO.
Until we get a slew of big Fortune 500s to start to develop those intricate networks and ecosystems, it will stay the same. Cheap rent comes at a price.
Very well explained. As an example in my company we opened two offices in coastal California because we were looking for some cutting edge IT people and any one we found refused to move to Phoenix. That's how we ended up with two satellite offices over there. Hm, how does that make me look
People are moving here, but most of our cities are no longer the fastest growing in the country (with the exception of Goodyear and Gilbert). We should be concerned that the rate of people moving here is far outpacing job growth. During the boom years, our job growth was just a positive. Now, job growth is pretty paltry, especially in white collar sectors.
You have to wonder why other large metropolitan areas in the Sunbelt are doing so much better than Phoenix. Houston's population and economy (white collar included) is taking off like a rocket. Atlanta's economy is doing the same. Even Los Angeles has greatly recovered. What's going on here? Why would many here rather bury their heads in the sand and pretend everything's fine when it's clearly not?
I agree with a lot of what you are saying. The growth in the 1990's was far different than in the 2000's. In the 90's, we truly developed and expanded our engineering and hardware industry. Boeing, Motorolla and Honeywell had a larger presence. We had a GM testing ground. America West Airlines was expanding. Several small software and e-commerce companies emerged here. Even Google arrived here in the early 2000's. Things looked promising. The growth in the 2000's was artificial in my opinion. It was based nearly entirely on construction and low interest rates. But I remember back then my friends would respond to the crazy growth by asking a very salient question: "Yeah but where are the jobs" A lot of people wanted to live here but if you were educated and had hopes of getting a white collar job where you could early 6 figure salaries, there were no opportunities in Phoenix. A lot of talented people in the area left.
I don't think everything is as dire as you suggest. At the same time, there is a clearly a lack of urgency by our city leaders and business community. They prefer to be distracted by trivial social issues like 1062 and even 1070 than focus on the real issue at hand.....where are the jobs!!!
And yes, a lot of people are moving here for cheap housing without bothering to think about employment, or how they will sustain themselves. Then when they arrive, the become dependent upon the state because they can't gain real employment. We have to stop relying upon growth as an industry. Phoenix realistically needs to contract and fix its inherent problems. People would be better served leaving the state so that they can support themselves and gain employment elsewhere rather than sticking around because they like the weather and city. For example, Tesla wanted to come here. You are competing for a multi billion dollar plant and your state leaders prefer to play good ole boy politics and keep the local dealerships happy than enable Tesla to directly sell cars here which would have helped entice them to stay or consider us for a second site.
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