Possibly moving to Pittsburgh? (Erie, McCandless Township: home, job market, cinema)

[YesIndeed]

Hi, my family has been thinking about moving to the Pittsburgh area for a while. We currently live in Erie and the job market here is really bad. I know the economy right now doesn't help with that but Erie's had a bad job market for as long as I can remember.
My question is, how is the job market in the Pittsburgh area? We are involved in the medical, restaurant and IT fields. Also have a teenage son who'd be looking for a basic minimum wage job. Kids are also looking into colleges down there.
In Erie it seems you always need to know someone in the company to get in. Is it the same way in the Pittsburgh area or a little easier seeing as many more people are moving into Pittsburgh compared to Erie.
We are looking to live about 25 minutes or so outside of downtown so if you know of any areas that are growing outside of the city, please let me know. We drove down through Wexford and the McCandless Township areas and it seemed like most of the places (mostly minimum wage positions) had hiring signs in the window. You hardly ever see that here in Erie. Is it true that all these places are hiring, because I know places sometimes keep signs up even though they aren't hiring.
Any input from someone who's made a move from Erie to Pittsburgh and can compare on the job opportunities would really be appreciated. Input from anyone else would also be very much appreciated! Thanks so much!

[highway29south]

I can tell you that I personally don't know anyone that has lost their job yet, but there are people in Pittsburgh that have. Pittsburgh doesn't seem as affected by the economy as other places. Could be because of the kinds of industries here, I'm not sure. But health care is huge here and my sister, who is a nurse, has not had any problems getting work through home health care. They are building up where I live so entry level jobs should be easy to get.

I would check out the local newspapers The Tribune Review and The Post Gazette and see what you can find. Also, it does help a lot to know people here if you want a good job but it's not dire that you do. If you do know someone, maybe you could ask for their help connecting you to people that are hiring.

I live west of the city and really like it here. They are building a new shopping area off the Parkway West that will include stores, a new gym, restaurants and a new cinema. Lots of jobs there, I would imagine. We are about 15 to 20 minutes from town, depending on traffic.

Hope this helps!

[Geeo]

If you're into the health care field, you'll find a job in Pittsburgh. If you're an engineer or know technology, a friend of mine who works for Westinghouse says you'll find a job there. Westinghouse is on a hiring binge for their new corporate campus in Cranberry and are hiring a thousand people a year he says. Education, health care, and engineering are big here now, and neither of those professions have been affected much by the recession. A previous poster was right when he said that the Pittsburgh metro economy is holding up much better than the rest of the country.

[TechieTransplant]

Originally Posted by YesIndeed

Hi, my family has been thinking about moving to the Pittsburgh area for a while. We currently live in Erie and the job market here is really bad. I know the economy right now doesn't help with that but Erie's had a bad job market for as long as I can remember.
My question is, how is the job market in the Pittsburgh area? We are involved in the medical, restaurant and IT fields. Also have a teenage son who'd be looking for a basic minimum wage job. Kids are also looking into colleges down there.
In Erie it seems you always need to know someone in the company to get in. Is it the same way in the Pittsburgh area or a little easier seeing as many more people are moving into Pittsburgh compared to Erie.
We are looking to live about 25 minutes or so outside of downtown so if you know of any areas that are growing outside of the city, please let me know. We drove down through Wexford and the McCandless Township areas and it seemed like most of the places (mostly minimum wage positions) had hiring signs in the window. You hardly ever see that here in Erie. Is it true that all these places are hiring, because I know places sometimes keep signs up even though they aren't hiring.
Any input from someone who's made a move from Erie to Pittsburgh and can compare on the job opportunities would really be appreciated. Input from anyone else would also be very much appreciated! Thanks so much!

Hello from a former Erieite! I had lived in the City of Erie and Erie County all of my life until I moved down here in late October of '06. FYI I'll be 39 in a few weeks.

Overall, I think there are more opportunities than in Erie, as far as a more diverse pick of careers. Lots more fields of employment to look in to. But overall, I think companies across the country aren't doing a lot of hiring unless it is out of need (replacing someone who moved on or quit, etc). I look on Monster quite often and I know for certain there were more opportunities when I moved down here throughout 06 and 07 than there are now.

Please feel free to private message me for any help!