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Old 07-16-2016, 04:41 PM
 
4 posts, read 7,874 times
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I left Pittsburgh in early 2010 for a better job elsewhere. At the time the city seemed to be riding high with good press and making decent strides to improve itself.


In 2016, I have a desire to return, but I am not sure of the current economy there. On the surface and by word of mouth it has appeared to have stalled. Anybody else able to shed light on this? I was home visiting family for the July 4th weekend. The southside seems to have emptied out a bit. There are a lot more vacancies and rental signs up now than in 2010. Even the southside works seems desolate and very empty now. The east end has cleaned up but still not a whole lot of people out and about as I wouldve expected. Also, what about the troubling spike in crime around town? From what I have been reading the city and allegheny county seem to have become the wild west with gun crimed and herion as a public health crisis?


I'm a Civil engineer. One of my friends still living in Pittsburgh works in computers. He worked remotely in Pittsburgh for a company in DC for nearly 10 years. After losing his job he has been bounced around from company to company in pittsburgh as a temp. He makes a decent amount of money but then after six months they dont renew his contract. He told me to beware that the pittsburgh economy has returned to what it has been pre recession (no growth, very little opportunity and population declines). He also said at least in the tech field they seem to recycle the same talent and the same people jump from company to company.


I have had a lot of recruiters contact me for open postions over the last year for Cleveland, Youngstown, New York City, Tampa, Denver and Louisville. None for Pittsburgh or PA. I have also looked for engineering jobs in Pittsburgh and it seems to be slim pickens.


Is Pittsburgh's economy and job market back to what it was before 2008? Should I even bother with the thought of returning?
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Old 07-16-2016, 04:59 PM
 
Location: Pittsburgh(Mt Washington)
325 posts, read 319,684 times
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The reason for the slight emptiness is because it is summer... The city core almost loses 100,000 people when the colleges leave for summer... Talk to the Yellow Cab drivers, there business takes a big hit in the summer months surprisingly.. One thing I will say is Herion is a epidemic in the surrounding area... It's real bad
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Old 07-16-2016, 05:02 PM
 
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I can't speak to the job market for civil engineers but I can at least say the south side & the east end are both busier now then 2010 nor has there been any crazy crime spike in allegheny county that I'm aware of. I would venture the holiday weekend had more to do with you seeing less people about town as most were doing family stuff & whatnot for the holiday.
The economy most definitely is not the same as 2008 here. Again, maybe it sucks for civil engineers specifically, I have no idea, but as a whole things are light years improved over the prior decade in most areas.

Heroin however is terrible in surrounding counties especially.
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Old 07-16-2016, 06:57 PM
 
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The economy might be in better shape than most think, or so it appears from the construction going on.

Do you gave a preference or area of concentration? I'd be surprised if you looked for employment specifically in this area and did not get a couple of nibbles.

Here's the catch - in this area, in this industry, it's 'who you know' to a LARGE extent. It's ridiculous, as I've found out over the last couple of years while working with people from other companies that know so little - they got their positions from knowing someone.
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Old 07-16-2016, 08:52 PM
 
4 posts, read 7,874 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by szug-bot View Post
The economy might be in better shape than most think, or so it appears from the construction going on.

Do you gave a preference or area of concentration? I'd be surprised if you looked for employment specifically in this area and did not get a couple of nibbles.

Here's the catch - in this area, in this industry, it's 'who you know' to a LARGE extent. It's ridiculous, as I've found out over the last couple of years while working with people from other companies that know so little - they got their positions from knowing someone.
The "catch" you speak of is one of the reasons I left in the first place. Over time I was hoping it would get better. I assume it is still a very insular and risk adverse economy in Pittsburgh? Not much has changed since 2010 in that regard. Probably still the same people and hardly any new blood. You may have answered my question on whether I should try and return or not.

When I lived in Pittsburgh till 2010 my previous jobs starting in 2000 were a city engineer and then working for a private firm in the suburbs. Without going into detail both of those job are completely opposite of where I work now. This current company hires the most qualified people. If we didn't we would be out of business. My current company could not keep it "all in the family" and expect to be national and doing business in all time zones. My hopes were Pittsburgh would evolve from that. But other than a few isolated pockets it's still the same work culture? This friend of that family member and so on. At least that's what I gather from your statement.

It is a shame about the heroin thing. It is a problem here, but on our local news actually highlighted on how my area is trying to avoid going the way that Pittsburgh has in that regard. Hopefully it gets better but those stuck in poverty or isolation seem to abuse more.

How are the salaries in Pittsburgh nowadays? Is it still a "cheap" hiring mentality by businesses? When I worked for the city in the early 2000s we lost raises and our pensions were butchered. I feel bad for the new hires there now. They are contributing to an endless pension money pit with a social security offset. We made less than West Virginia DOT engineers but our benefits were good. When they cut the benefits it was time to move on.

Has there been any new companies other than the few high tech companies in the east end? Prolly my best hope to return would be the energy industry from what I started researching.
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Old 07-17-2016, 01:58 AM
 
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I think you should look around on your own, and not use a job agency. Engineering companies are peculiar , I think, compared to others. It is because needed training is more rare than typical business skills. Over the years, before I settled into job stability, I received one or two interviews based on the work of a placement firm. Since 2010 or so, ZERO - all that have been transpired were based on my responding to job openings, or establishing contact ("cold calling", sort of).

Wages here, as always, are not exhilarating. In this industry, that is a function of the overall local economy. If you want to make money, you have to go to Alberta, Africa, China, or wherever in the US there is above average population growth.

There is a lot more going on here than when you left. Various firms have excelled in green infrastructure technologies. There is more spending to improve streetscapes in the City of Pittsburgh and a few surrounding boroughs. So there is potential to get experience elsewhere than, say, land development. I think people are looking for bridge inspectors, if you have those credentials.

I'll say this - I agree, the talent is better elsewhere. The quality of engineering work here is remarkably poor compared to other metro areas where I have worked. In fact, I can't believe the outright hostility at questioning someone else's general notes, for example - if the English is not grammatically correct, it can make context questionable, and lead to misunderstandings about who is responsible for what, and so on.

Civil engineers here are goofy, and so uneducated about the society they are working to preserve, too.
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Old 07-17-2016, 04:54 AM
 
Location: The canyon (with my pistols and knife)
14,169 posts, read 22,574,016 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RedNewt1 View Post
I have had a lot of recruiters contact me for open postions over the last year for Cleveland, Youngstown, New York City, Tampa, Denver and Louisville. None for Pittsburgh or PA. I have also looked for engineering jobs in Pittsburgh and it seems to be slim pickens.


Is Pittsburgh's economy and job market back to what it was before 2008? Should I even bother with the thought of returning?
On a major employment search engine, I found 32 listings for civil engineers in Pittsburgh. To get an idea of exactly how slim the pickings are in Pittsburgh relative to the other cities you mentioned, I also looked up the number of job listings for civil engineers in Cleveland (seven), Youngstown (three), New York (167), Tampa (19), Denver (40) and Louisville (six). I also looked up Columbus (11) for good measure, since you already mentioned Cleveland and Youngstown, and Columbus isn't that far away either. From what I can tell, the job market for civil engineers in Pittsburgh doesn't really seem to compare unfavorably, since New York and Denver were the only other cities with more listings, so if you really want to move back to Pittsburgh, then why not give it a shot and send out some resumés? If you have that many recruiters reaching out to you, then that's probably a sign that you're highly qualified for any of the jobs listed. Besides, as szug-bot indicated, civil engineers in Pittsburgh are quite incompetent and untalented, so people with your qualifications are badly needed.
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Old 07-17-2016, 06:22 AM
 
4 posts, read 7,874 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Craziaskowboi View Post
On a major employment search engine, I found 32 listings for civil engineers in Pittsburgh. To get an idea of exactly how slim the pickings are in Pittsburgh relative to the other cities you mentioned, I also looked up the number of job listings for civil engineers in Cleveland (seven), Youngstown (three), New York (167), Tampa (19), Denver (40) and Louisville (six). I also looked up Columbus (11) for good measure, since you already mentioned Cleveland and Youngstown, and Columbus isn't that far away either. From what I can tell, the job market for civil engineers in Pittsburgh doesn't really seem to compare unfavorably, since New York and Denver were the only other cities with more listings, so if you really want to move back to Pittsburgh, then why not give it a shot and send out some resumés? If you have that many recruiters reaching out to you, then that's probably a sign that you're highly qualified for any of the jobs listed. Besides, as szug-bot indicated, civil engineers in Pittsburgh are quite incompetent and untalented, so people with your qualifications are badly needed.
Thanks for the imput. I searched 3 of the cities you mentioned on indeed. Pittsburgh has 137 openings, Columbus has 107 and NYC has 892. I'm not sure how many posts are redundant but I will search through them.

The thing that concerns me is the all in the family work culture and the lower pay offered in the burgh. At least that's how it was when I left in 2010. I will apply in a few of the cities above including Pittsburgh and give an update in a month to all of you in regards to current status.

Btw I currently live in Rochester New York. I like it here and love the finger lakes. It would just be nice to come home or closer to home
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Old 07-17-2016, 09:24 AM
 
6,356 posts, read 5,001,873 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RedNewt1 View Post
Thanks for the imput. I searched 3 of the cities you mentioned on indeed. Pittsburgh has 137 openings, Columbus has 107 and NYC has 892. I'm not sure how many posts are redundant but I will search through them.

The thing that concerns me is the all in the family work culture and the lower pay offered in the burgh. At least that's how it was when I left in 2010. I will apply in a few of the cities above including Pittsburgh and give an update in a month to all of you in regards to current status.

Btw I currently live in Rochester New York. I like it here and love the finger lakes. It would just be nice to come home or closer to home

Maybe you can contact your former employer. You said you worked as a municipal engineer - with the City of Pgh? But also, and hopefully this doesn't tangent into a firestorm discussion about pluses/minuses of this are in comparison to Denver, et al, but it's a trade off. If you make less here than you believe you are worth, you may save money in cost of living, and/or have other intangible benefits. I've heard from Americans and Canadians alike that Rochester is crime ridden, so maybe personal safety here is an immediate benefit.

Good luck with your search and decision!
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Old 07-17-2016, 10:01 AM
 
Location: Pittsburgh
1,491 posts, read 1,445,379 times
Reputation: 1067
A woman I know here in the city recently told me that her company can not find enough civil engineers. She said they have an incredibly hard time filling positions, and she is the person hiring, so I would have to believe her. With that one conversation, My impression would be that getting a job as a civil engineer in Pittsburgh should be pretty easy.
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