The job market is going to drive me out of PA I think

It's getting nigh-on-impossible to get full time employment anywhere but at a McJob in Western PA. I'm currently temping (only guaranteed work thru the middle of January) and I just got a rejection letter from the place I took time off work to go test/interview at.

My girlfriend has a bachelor's in psychology and she's about to finish a master's in criminology and she can't get anything better than a direct care job where you damn near need a black belt to handle the wild ass kids. She's fed up and announced she's moving away as soon as she finishes her master's this coming summer. Obviously I'm gonna follow wherever she goes, so thanks Pittsburgh employers. You're about to drive away 2 college educated people because all you want to offer is McJobs and no-bennies-no-future temping

when the job market was good, and don't think it was a mistake.

Western PA is trapped in the dark ages; I just don't get the culture, even though I was raised there. These people haven't moved on from the 70s. They still think only people in western PA have a good work ethic. Employers must love the area, becuase they can pay 80% of the going rate and locals jump on it. It always appeared that no one every lived or spent a significant amount of time in another area, so they think Pittsburg is the greatest city in the world to live.

The politicians in that area suck too, both Dem and Repub.

You and your gf may do better somewhere else...ever notice that a significant portion of the population in that area are not very career motivated? It seems that everyone there just wants the same life: find a job you can deal with for 40 hours/week, then come home and watch TV, and talk about the Steelers all year.

I was born and raised in Evans City/Mars area. They haven't moved on since about 1930. (Before I was born but I heard from my mother).

I don't expect to land a CEO positon with just an AS degree, but some of the jobs you see in the paper are just insulting.

Doesn't help that 95% of the jobs I want to do (PC repair) are in India now...

From this morning's local newsrag......

Forbes: Region bad for business
The magazine's survey ranked Pennsylvania 45th among states in its 'U.S. Economic Freedom Index.' The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre/ Hazleton area was ranked among the worst regions in the state.

snip....

"In coming up with our ratings, we evaluated 143 variables for each state, using the most recent data," the Forbes article read. "This snapshot includes tax rates, state spending, occupational licensing, environmental regulations, income redistribution, right-to-work and prevailing-wage laws, tort laws and the number of government agencies. These we grouped into five sectors - fiscal, regulatory, judicial, size of government and social welfare.

"For each of the 143 variables we ranked states from 1 (most free) to 50 (least free), calculated an average sector ranking and then weighted them to get an overall score. Welfare, fiscal and regulatory matters counted about equally; government size and judicial ratings counted for less."

Pennsylvania came in No. 45, sixth from the bottom. It was followed in the "race for the worst" by Illinois, Rhode Island, Connecticut and California, with New York being the least economically free state in the country.

And within Pennsylvania, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre/Hazleton ranked as the third worst major metropolitan area in which to do business, followed at the bottom by Reading and York.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6605386/

This side of the state is no day at the beach either.

We're ranked worse than Pittsburgh. She moved to State College right after getting her bachelor's degree and landed a job at Minitab software making much more money than Mom with a Master's degree. :(

move to the midstate, Harrisburg area. Cumberland County has the state's lowest unemployment rate, and living here is pretty cheap. When all the interstates intersected some years back, the state recruited in western PA for warehouse workers and truck drivers, and there's lots of fussing because they can't get EVERY Steelers game.

But be careful of looking at those employer-friendly state rankings. That usually means no unions, no corporate taxes, and as close to third world as possible.

It is impossible to even get a job in this area unless you sign up with one of the oodles of temp agencies. Typically the jobs pay around $7 to $8 per hour and of course there are no benefits. If you're really lucky you might get hired but even having a "permanent" job is nothing to be excited about.

It appears to me at least that compsnies move here because of the KOZ designation - "Keystone Opportunity Zone" - that translates into tax breaks for a specific period of years. When that time is up they just close and move elsewhere. It doesn't surprise me that there's a "brain drain" in PA.

and we need some Dems...

http://www.adamsdemocrats.com
http://www.eveningsunhomes.com
http://www.eveningsunjobs.com
http://www.gettysburgtimes.com

We have about 2% Unemployment where I am Councilman - the one Borough with a Dem majority in the area - 6 Dem to 1 Rep on council with a Dem mayor.
http://www.mcsherrystown.net

Home of Boyds Bears - McSherrystown is Corp HQ, Gettysburg has Boyds Bear Country
http://www.boydsstuff.com