Is Portland a Great Place to build your Career? (Eugene: job market, construction)

[MtnSurfer]

Originally Posted by Nell Plotts

Historically, from a technology standpoint, Portland has had a hardware focus (think Tektronix) with many graduating from Oregon State University, Oregon Institute of Technology and Oregon Graduate Institute. Software is relatively recent with Microsoft recruiting our talent (out of the mathematics school at the University of Oregon) to Bellingham.

Today several employers needing software engineers have offices in Portland as the talent they need in the Silicon Valley can't afford to live there.

This makes sense in terms of the focus being more on hardware or manufacturing. The Silicon Valley started with more of a hardware focus. That said, it seems like traditional manufacturing/hardware shops are hiring more software folks to write the code for automation, controls, robotics, etc... And part of that involves advancements in distribution, sales and targeted marketing of their products. This includes things like user behavior analytics (UBA) and well as more advanced analytics of sensor data from the products being manufactured. Heck, everything has sensors these days. But what of that data is actually being used to drive smarter decisions?

Since moving to the area I've had a number of recruiters trying to get me to interview at places I never would have thought of before. Did anyone know there is such a thing as WalmatLabs here? And they do some cool stuff. Also HomeDepot and a number of others like that are trying to staff up on their IT/Software side.

Derek

[Leisesturm]

LOL. You cannot all be correct, because none of you agree with one another. Have any of you lived anywhere besides Portland? All of the criticisms being attributed to Portland could fairly be applied to ANY city of comparable size ANYWHERE in the country. Corporate thinking is corporate thinking. Period. It has no regional dialects. Get the most for the least and send most of it to the CEO and Executive Branch, the rest to the shareholders (in stock value) and if any is left, pay the workers. An exaggeration but just barely. Wage growth remains flat despite a boom economy. In fact the economy has BEEN booming for years and is now ready for another recession but you wouldn't know it from looking at wages across the country because they remain stuck where they were since before the last boom ... and the boom before that one.

And that will not change. So live where you like (while you can). It isn't any better anywhere else. Well that isn't quite true. It can be better after a change of location, but 'better' needs to be qualified. It rarely is. Truthfully, the problem might be the open borders that exist between The States. Maybe that should change. Finally we have a visionary in the White House who will close off international competition for our manufacturing jobs. Now what we need is a re-structuring of our interstate commerce laws to prevent the free movement of labor talent across state lines. People might care about Portland more if being born here meant you could never ever leave if you were of value to your employer.

[PNW-type-gal]

I think part of the problem is how you build your career. It USED to be that you found a larger company with room for vertical growth and then climbed the ladder there. Now it is more often done by moving from company to company within a field, and that takes being somewhere that has a number of large companies in one field. That would be the much larger areas of the country that have a lot of corporate headquarters - not Portland.

[pdxMIKEpdx]

This is all great info for engineers and professional types.

What do you recommend for the average guy that didn't get the chance to go to college and be a white collar worker?

Sounds like you might as well stay out of Portland unless you and your family want to live in a tent, I guess.

[MtnSurfer]

Originally Posted by pdxMIKEpdx

This is all great info for engineers and professional types.

What do you recommend for the average guy that didn't get the chance to go to college and be a white collar worker?

Sounds like you might as well stay out of Portland unless you and your family want to live in a tent, I guess.

I see tradesmen (plumbers, electricians, etc..) doing fairly well, some even better than white collar. Our plumber had his helper do the work on our place while on a European vacation.

With all the new construction and home owners do working on their places, it seems like the trades have some good opportunities as well as the larger real estate industry (brokers, loan agents, inspectors, appraisers, etc...). I couldn't believe the price of our recent appraisal for our new home from a required 'green' appraiser. And I used to work in that business.

Derek

[Nell Plotts]

Craftsmen such as diesel mechanics are doing well also. A good diesel mechanic has an array of opportunities.

[StealthRabbit]

CDL / commercial drivers... $20 - $30 / hr + hiring bonus.
Machinists
Bricklayers
Crane operators

Many previous OR commercial drivers cannot pass the random drug screening. Even a small dose of CBD can cause you to fail a CDL drug test.

[ccjarider]

Originally Posted by Leisesturm

LOL. You cannot all be correct, because none of you agree with one another. Have any of you lived anywhere besides Portland? All of the criticisms being attributed to Portland could fairly be applied to ANY city of comparable size ANYWHERE in the country. Corporate thinking is corporate thinking. Period. It has no regional dialects. Get the most for the least and send most of it to the CEO and Executive Branch, the rest to the shareholders (in stock value) and if any is left, pay the workers. An exaggeration but just barely. Wage growth remains flat despite a boom economy. In fact the economy has BEEN booming for years and is now ready for another recession but you wouldn't know it from looking at wages across the country because they remain stuck where they were since before the last boom ... and the boom before that one.

And that will not change. So live where you like (while you can). It isn't any better anywhere else. Well that isn't quite true. It can be better after a change of location, but 'better' needs to be qualified. It rarely is. Truthfully, the problem might be the open borders that exist between The States. Maybe that should change. Finally we have a visionary in the White House who will close off international competition for our manufacturing jobs. Now what we need is a re-structuring of our interstate commerce laws to prevent the free movement of labor talent across state lines. People might care about Portland more if being born here meant you could never ever leave if you were of value to your employer.

Good gawd - if you can fog a mirror with your breath, you can improve your current lot. It just takes a little gumption, risk taking and yes, work ethic. There are so many $ making opportunities out there that one should easily bring in six figures annually with a blue collar work ethic.

A good trades job, a side hustle and even driving or dog walking can make you whatever amount you need to be comfortable. You should consider stop blaming "the man" and be a little more self reflective.

Portland is actually an easy place to make money because overall work ethic is lower here than midwest or east coast. One can be a hero just by showing up.

[pdxMIKEpdx]

One can be a hero just by showing up.

Plus if you can pass the initial employment drug test, you are just about guarenteed a job.

[Nell Plotts]

Not quite, but that is required for many occupations.