More Doom and Gloom on Area Jobs (Pittsburgh, Washington: employment, universities)

[Johnny C]

Software firm plans $7 million research center in region

Just when we thought it couldn't get any worse, another "high tech" company is going to be bringing 250 or more high paying jobs to the Pittsburgh area. The Southern California based company called "Smith Micro Software" even has the nerve to require 50,000 square feet of office space in Moon township and the North Hills.

Man, I miss the 80's - what's next, a new arena?

[Jrn14]

Don't scare me like that bro!

[Honest Bob]

Just like with Marcellus gas - they might be bringing the jobs, but at the same time, they will also be bringing their own people.

They aren't coming here just for the cheap labor pool. They are coming here for the tax breaks.

If you take a look at what they did to Silicon Valley and Phoenix / Tempe Arizona, you will see that they come, get the tax break, fill their pockets full of money and when the going gets tough - they leave and then the towns that gets used to the easy money falls into a deep depression that is 10 times harder to get out of then the one we are in right now.

[Blackbeauty212]

Most people that complain about Jobs in the Burgh are those with limited skill sets....and I agree the Burgh is pushing out the uneducated/Limited skills...its getting be like SF, Seattle, Boston where the uneducated are going to have an awful hard time in the Burgh....

Gone are days of the limited skills/good paying jobs only thing left are Government type positions (Postal worker, PAT, Garbage)


As well the Burgh is redefining its economy and setting up what types of industries will be the cornerstone i.e IT, Hi-Tech, Engineering, Bio-Med, Medical, Finance, Education, Green, Law outside of those industries you will probably need to relocate....

[Johnny C]

Originally Posted by Honest Bob

Just like with Marcellus gas - they might be bringing the jobs, but at the same time, they will also be bringing their own people.
.

From the article:

"Employees will start work by the end of the year, and the company will target local universities for new hires, said Mr. Smith, a Grove City College graduate."





For Honest Bob, the world must be a very dark and gloomy place, indeed.

[BrianTH]

Speaking of how Pittsburgh is doing employment-wise:

By the second quarter, all but 13 metropolitan areas (Albuquerque, Boise, Colorado Springs, Las Vegas, Little Rock, Memphis, Ogden, Palm Bay, Portland (ME), Providence, Provo, Sacramento, and San Diego) saw employment bounce back from its post-recession low. However, only 10 metropolitan areas (Augusta, Austin, Baltimore, Charleston, El Paso, Honolulu, McAllen, New Orleans, Pittsburgh, and Washington) regained more than a quarter of the jobs they had lost between their pre-recession high and their post-recession low.

Tracking Economic Recession and Recovery in America

If you click all the way through to the Pittsburgh profile, they have more rankings and charts. Out of 100 metros, we are #9 in terms of lowest percentage of job losses in the recession, and we are #15 in recent growth (so we were above average both going down and now coming back up). In fact at this point we are actually ahead of where we were at the same point after the 2001 recession (I'm guessing not a lot of places can say that).

[rhondee]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Speaking of how Pittsburgh is doing employment-wise:



Tracking Economic Recession and Recovery in America

If you click all the way through to the Pittsburgh profile, they have more rankings and charts. Out of 100 metros, we are #9 in terms of lowest percentage of job losses in the recession, and we are #15 in recent growth (so we were above average both going down and now coming back up). In fact at this point we are actually ahead of where we were at the same point after the 2001 recession (I'm guessing not a lot of places can say that).

Thanks for sharing BrianTH! I think that's very good news!

[rhondee]

Originally Posted by Johnny C

Software firm plans $7 million research center in region

Just when we thought it couldn't get any worse, another "high tech" company is going to be bringing 250 or more high paying jobs to the Pittsburgh area. The Southern California based company called "Smith Micro Software" even has the nerve to require 50,000 square feet of office space in Moon township and the North Hills.

Man, I miss the 80's - what's next, a new arena?

LOL!! I know -what's da Burgh coming to anymore, anyway. This piece of news is just as bad as how the weather has been mostly sunshine here for the past 60 days. Man I can't take it anymore! Where did all the gray clouds go?

[BrianTH]

By the way, here is an article explaining that the very reason a company like this would locate in the area is likely the local talent pool (from the same place that tipped me off to the Brookings report, by the way):

Burgh Diaspora - Economic Development From Geographic Mobility

The other thing to keep in mind about this sort of employer is that they tend to outsource lots of stuff--everything from janitorial to legal and so on. Meanwhile, these people spend some of their income in local restaurants, hiring local plumbers, and so forth. So the net increase in local jobs is likely some multiple of the number of people directly employed. Basically, it is rarely a bad thing for local employment to have a firm come in which will be exporting some good or service outside the region--that usually means more income coming into the region, and typically that income will find ways to employ people.

[rhondee]

Originally Posted by Johnny C

From the article:

"Employees will start work by the end of the year, and the company will target local universities for new hires, said Mr. Smith, a Grove City College graduate."





For Honest Bob, the world must be a very dark and gloomy place, indeed.

I swear, Honest Bob is the " Debbie Downer" of CDs Pittsburgh forum!