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Buffalo has the 8th lowest unemployment rate among all US cities with metros above 1 million population. Notice Pittsburgh and Cleveland are also among the 10 lowest unemployment rates. Perhaps it is time to retire the rust-belt stigma and negativity.
genoobie:
People wouldn't be giving up on work if all didn't want a white collar job. The day when Buffalo had a premier system of Vocational High Schools is dead; the wave of "all must go academic" killed it. It is sad...the guys who went to them (and had hard entrance exams to get in) are in their 60s. (I know; my husband is one of them.) While most of his buddies went to blue collar careers, he went to college and taught. As those guys retire from being machinists, phone linesman, electricians, plumbers, mechanics... who do you think is going to be there for the jobs? The kids who get an academic degree? Hardly. We personally make it a point to hire ONLY people to do work who we get thru recommendations from friends: local guys, either from Voc. Ed. or apprenticed to Voc. Ed. guys. That means my HVAC, my plumbing, my roof... etc.... all are done by locals who always were tradesmen. Time to restart those programs again and build up the trades here. [Ever look for a good mechanic in the south? My friend moved down and was told 3 weeks for his car. I can walk into a shop where the son of a friend manages it and get a mechanic in half and hour.]
We moved here from Texas, not knowing what we would do for work. I had heard how bad the job market is here from people online and news articles. My husband spent one week looking for a job. Within that week, he was given an on the spot interview along with 3 job offers. It pays to know a trade(s).
I haven't been as fortunate. The jobs that I find are mostly retail or in the restaurant industry. And those jobs wouldn't be worth driving to ( considering the cost of gas and day care) unless I worked two or three of them.
Since moving here, I've noticed how huge the healthcare industry is. I just stumbled across a facility which pays for people to become a CNA. Granted the pay is not that great, it's better than $0. Becoming an LPN pays considerably more and schooling can be finished in a year.
genoobie:
People wouldn't be giving up on work if all didn't want a white collar job. The day when Buffalo had a premier system of Vocational High Schools is dead; the wave of "all must go academic" killed it. It is sad...the guys who went to them (and had hard entrance exams to get in) are in their 60s. (I know; my husband is one of them.) While most of his buddies went to blue collar careers, he went to college and taught. As those guys retire from being machinists, phone linesman, electricians, plumbers, mechanics... who do you think is going to be there for the jobs? The kids who get an academic degree? Hardly. We personally make it a point to hire ONLY people to do work who we get thru recommendations from friends: local guys, either from Voc. Ed. or apprenticed to Voc. Ed. guys. That means my HVAC, my plumbing, my roof... etc.... all are done by locals who always were tradesmen. Time to restart those programs again and build up the trades here. [Ever look for a good mechanic in the south? My friend moved down and was told 3 weeks for his car. I can walk into a shop where the son of a friend manages it and get a mechanic in half and hour.]
Good mechanics are plentiful in the South. I've never had to wait more than a day, a few hours in most cases.
There are plenty of good jobs in Buffalo in certain fields. If your skills match those fields, finding a job is not too difficult. However, that doesn't always help if your skills are unsuitable to those fields.
I think Buffalo's unemployment being lower than other areas is as much a function of Buffalo's relatively stagnant economy dating back to prior to the 2008 recession, and the relatively high percentage of the workforce in government.
genoobie:
People wouldn't be giving up on work if all didn't want a white collar job. The day when Buffalo had a premier system of Vocational High Schools is dead; the wave of "all must go academic" killed it. It is sad...the guys who went to them (and had hard entrance exams to get in) are in their 60s. (I know; my husband is one of them.) While most of his buddies went to blue collar careers, he went to college and taught. As those guys retire from being machinists, phone linesman, electricians, plumbers, mechanics... who do you think is going to be there for the jobs? The kids who get an academic degree? Hardly. We personally make it a point to hire ONLY people to do work who we get thru recommendations from friends: local guys, either from Voc. Ed. or apprenticed to Voc. Ed. guys. That means my HVAC, my plumbing, my roof... etc.... all are done by locals who always were tradesmen. Time to restart those programs again and build up the trades here. [Ever look for a good mechanic in the south? My friend moved down and was told 3 weeks for his car. I can walk into a shop where the son of a friend manages it and get a mechanic in half and hour.]
Great points about true Vocational education needing to make a comeback into urban school districts. I think McKinley is the only Vocational school that gets respectable results in some aspects.
genoobie:
People wouldn't be giving up on work if all didn't want a white collar job. The day when Buffalo had a premier system of Vocational High Schools is dead; the wave of "all must go academic" killed it. It is sad...the guys who went to them (and had hard entrance exams to get in) are in their 60s. (I know; my husband is one of them.) While most of his buddies went to blue collar careers, he went to college and taught. As those guys retire from being machinists, phone linesman, electricians, plumbers, mechanics... who do you think is going to be there for the jobs? The kids who get an academic degree? Hardly. We personally make it a point to hire ONLY people to do work who we get thru recommendations from friends: local guys, either from Voc. Ed. or apprenticed to Voc. Ed. guys. That means my HVAC, my plumbing, my roof... etc.... all are done by locals who always were tradesmen. Time to restart those programs again and build up the trades here. [Ever look for a good mechanic in the south? My friend moved down and was told 3 weeks for his car. I can walk into a shop where the son of a friend manages it and get a mechanic in half and hour.]
There are more "good ole boys" that can fix a car in the South than ANYWHERE else in the world...now if your freind was rude or yelled at the owner or mechanic, then it probably would be 3 weeks to get that car fixed. Pride is the sin that Southerners commit most.
Watch going after the South...Us redneck transplants do live up North now.
I do agree with the Voc school arguement, Where I'm from we never got rid of voc tech schools. Great programs.
Great points about true Vocational education needing to make a comeback into urban school districts. I think McKinley is the only Vocational school that gets respectable results in some aspects.
It still has had most programs killed. Emerson's culinary is very good. I do not know what is left beyond that.
There are more "good ole boys" that can fix a car in the South than ANYWHERE else in the world...now if your freind was rude or yelled at the owner or mechanic, then it probably would be 3 weeks to get that car fixed. Pride is the sin that Southerners commit most.
Watch going after the South...Us redneck transplants do live up North now.
I do agree with the Voc school arguement, Where I'm from we never got rid of voc tech schools. Great programs.
Should have said it was southwest & a foreign car... this guy has no ability to be rude... he was a Voc Ed guy himself, machinist. He'd never have gotten rude. Major problem will be down the road -- trades not in high numbers which were here are attracting young guys who get better money in areas where few tradesmen... cuts the number here.
Ahh, the stupidity of ivory tower administrators and superintendents who can the Voc Ed
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Good mechanics are plentiful in the South. I've never had to wait more than a day, a few hours in most cases.
Pride is the sin that Southerners commit most.
Watch going after the South...Us redneck transplants do live up North now.
