Anybody else have trouble finding work?

[oresident]

Originally Posted by Magnulus

Crippling on the city. So many people in Orlando have long commute times and find it hard to get by without a car contributes to lower-income workers having less money. This situation will only get worse as the price of oil (and therefore gas) continues to rise, which it will, there will be little or nothing in the way of reprieves.

Eventually Orlando might end up like Naples, finding it hard to get lower-income workers (particularly government infrastructure workers such as teachers, police, etc.) to live there becaues of housing costs. It would be relatively easy to create more lower-income housing, by loosening alot of the zoning laws preventing small residential lots, mixed-use zoning (apartments above businesses), and multi-family unit from being place near businesses. Orlando, however, is firmly entrenched in the strict segregation of uses via zoning. In short, zoning in itself can put limits on growth. That's not necessarily a bad thing but it might lock the metro area into a dead end- if something isn't growing there isn't anything to stop it from dying. If the economics or politics of fossil fuels were to change, for instance, Orlando could be trapped into having a ghost-town future due to infrastructure inefficiencies.

Developers didn't help the situation because they overbuilt, and this was facilitated by politicians; developers mostly built the wrong kind of housing in the wrong areas. Out here in Oviedo I can go out to Old Lockwood and east Orange county and see alot of developements that are stalled or vacant. These houses are larger and don't really meet the needs of the Orlando area- they are so far out I can't imagine many people would want to live that far from work, they aren't near any major "corridors".

It's hard to predict the future. I wouldn't be so confident that gas prices rising would lead to a bad situation here. It might be the opposite. If suddenly people are trapped in their local neighborhoods, maybe those neighborhoods will start supporting themselves, putting in a walkable convenient store, etc. Usually when a situation becomes strained humans respond by adapting. The gradual rearrangement of resources would probably be a good thing.

At the same time, a fair number of people might not be able to afford things and leave, as you say. But that too may be a good thing: A lot of people are here for the wrong reasons and can't really afford to be here, causing a very stressed out, overcrowded situation for some. If a lot of those people leave, the remaining people will have more solid roots and the city may be more livable.

Also, sprawl here could end up doing the opposite of what you say because it means that there is relatively low centralization of businesses. Therefore, not everyone needs to live in the same place to be near work. There could be some reshuffling as people move closer to their work, but because of the decentralization, that could actually work out well.

cs

[bigtallredhead]

Originally Posted by bdpop

Low income residents cannot afford to move. Why? Because they are low income and have no money left over to put away in order to move. They are going to end up in public housing and this is going to eventually cause more drain on public assistance.

A lot of low income people do at least intermittently have at least enough savings to move away, even if not to find a new place, -but they might stay at a cheap mo tell once they arrive at their destination until they find some sort of work. Often, they take the greyhound buss. Some have an old truck. Or some just have people that they know who will help them move when they could not on there own. There are many people who are willing to go for jobs that most would not consider and of coarse they often DO have to commute much farther then you say you are willing to.

Magnulus: -Have you though of looking at jobs further away/commuting, and then saving some money until you can move away? Maybe if should either go back to school, or focus on getting some kind of blue collar vocational certificate. A lot of skilled blue collar jobs pay fairy well, -certainly better then most service jobs. Plumbing, electrical work, carpet cleaning, Garbage collector (seriously they make good money) a lot of installation and repair jobs in general.

Also do try to meat people and start networking if you can-!!

You really need to be a bit more flexible, and see that as a temporary thing hopefully. -Best of luck-!!! -Emil.

[NINJARICK]

I lost my job in june of this year and prior to that I had two other jobs one of which I lasted 9 years. My field is medical debt collections. I never had a problem getting interviews or landing good paying jobs. But ever since I lost my latest position and with this present economy I can't even get the jobs I don't want. Whats worse is that I find most prospective Employers (and this is including HR departsments,Vice Presidents,Ceo's etc.) are just downright rude and misleading. I was sent to a big corporation by my recruitment counselor he talked me up like I was the best collector in the world. He gave me some interview tips before the big interview . I was made to feel by the AVP of the prospective Job that I was gonna be called back for a third interview. Instead they changed their mind and all they could say is I talked a lot about myself. Well duh what are you supposed to do when your asked tell me something about yourself. I've been on numerous other interviews as well where I was told I was in the running but once again they went with someone else. I have over 9 years in my field ,I'm mature well dressed and very upbeat and personable. But the only offer I was given paid less than the unemployment that I'm currently getting. I own a home am married and have a 10 year old boy I've never had such a hard time looking for work. I live on long island in case anyone was wondering.

[WANative]

Originally Posted by NINJARICK

I lost my job in june of this year and prior to that I had two other jobs one of which I lasted 9 years. My field is medical debt collections. I never had a problem getting interviews or landing good paying jobs. But ever since I lost my latest position and with this present economy I can't even get the jobs I don't want. Whats worse is that I find most prospective Employers (and this is including HR departsments,Vice Presidents,Ceo's etc.) are just downright rude and misleading. I was sent to a big corporation by my recruitment counselor he talked me up like I was the best collector in the world. He gave me some interview tips before the big interview . I was made to feel by the AVP of the prospective Job that I was gonna be called back for a third interview. Instead they changed their mind and all they could say is I talked a lot about myself. Well duh what are you supposed to do when your asked tell me something about yourself. I've been on numerous other interviews as well where I was told I was in the running but once again they went with someone else. I have over 9 years in my field ,I'm mature well dressed and very upbeat and personable. But the only offer I was given paid less than the unemployment that I'm currently getting. I own a home am married and have a 10 year old boy I've never had such a hard time looking for work. I live on long island in case anyone was wondering.

Ninja--its like that all over the place!! I have over 20 years of experience in management, sales and lending and it took me over 6 months to land my current job (in the past the longest I was ever unemployed was 1 month). The unemployment rates right now are staggering and companies are getting overwhelmed by the number of applications they are receiving.
Good luck!!

[VaNative]

Originally Posted by WANative

Ninja--its like that all over the place!! I have over 20 years of experience in management, sales and lending and it took me over 6 months to land my current job (in the past the longest I was ever unemployed was 1 month). The unemployment rates right now are staggering and companies are getting overwhelmed by the number of applications they are receiving.
Good luck!!

They had a story on the news Friday night that Florida's unemployment rate is the highest it's been in 13 years. It's tough and really frustrating right now.

[compelled to reply]

I don't really understand this. I made more than 7 dollars an hour when I was in high school. I wasn't in Orlando though, I was working in the corporate mecca of Davie, Florida. I don't even yet have a college degree (yet), yet I can somehow manage to make enough money to live in a "nice" area, on my own, without debt. The bottom line is that if you are sharp, you have a good attitude, and you stop applying exclusively at retail stores, you should be able to find decent full time employment, although I will be the first to admit it is getting harder and that it has always been harder in Orlando compared to most other places.

[Tashlover]

Originally Posted by compelled to reply

I don't really understand this. I made more than 7 dollars an hour when I was in high school. I wasn't in Orlando though, I was working in the corporate mecca of Davie, Florida. I don't even yet have a college degree (yet), yet I can somehow manage to make enough money to live in a "nice" area, on my own, without debt. The bottom line is that if you are sharp, you have a good attitude, and you stop applying exclusively at retail stores, you should be able to find decent full time employment, although I will be the first to admit it is getting harder and that it has always been harder in Orlando compared to most other places.

I posted in this thread two years ago. At the time, I was making $11 per hour plus commission in telesales. I gave the advice about attending job fairs to look for job opportunities.

The very next month after I posted in here, I went to a job fair and landed a job working at Sprint. My base starting salary was 40k plus commission. I make more in commission than I do with my base salary but the point is I do not have my college degree and yes the job market in Orlando is tough, but it's not impenetrable.

My husband was laid off for a few months. He has a bachelor's degree but he complained about finding job opportunities in this tough market. I don't do pity parties well so I encouraged him to think outside of the box and hit the pavement. He was bored so he began volunteering with a local charitable organization in his spare time. Within 2 weeks, he was offered a job.

I have been with Sprint and the economic forecast for my industry has me concerned enough that I've dusted off my resume just in case.

[FLPropertyPreservation]

man how things have worsened since this original post.

i gave up looking for work and started my own business.

not making as much as when i was gainfully employed by a large company but as i continue to grow my business i'm definately getting closer!

[g0gat0rs]

Its rough out there. My buddy who owns mcdonalds say he gets applicants with masters and even phds applying for entry level positions. Any job is a good job these days: