By MONICA HATCHER
MARSHA HALPER / MIAMI HERALD STAFF
Employers are hiring, but South Florida Workforce has seen an increase in the surplus of workers seeking job placement assistance.
Rick Beasley is executive director of South Florida Workforce, an employment agency with a mission to provide "high-quality employment and training solutions to job seekers, workers, and employers to foster regional economic growth."
Audio | Interview with Rick Beasley
The economic downturn is putting a new spotlight on South Florida Workforce, one of 24 employment agencies that receives state and federal funding for training and placing workers. The agency covers Miami-Dade and Monroe counties with an operating budget of $60 million.
The implosion of Florida's once booming housing market is partly to blame, shedding thousands of jobs in construction, real estate and finance.
The state led the nation last month in the number of jobs lost, while its unemployment rate surged to 6.1 percent, its highest level since 1995, according to recent government statistics.
While the problems aren't quite as dire in South Florida -- the unemployment rate in Miami Dade County, adjusted seasonally, was 5.2 percent in July; in Broward, it was 5.8 percent -- Rick Beasley, executive director of the South Florida Workforce Investment Board told The Miami Herald he has seen an increase in the number of workers seeking job placement assistance through its 13 One Stop Career Centers.
Still, he said, there are plenty of jobs available to employees who know how to competitively market themselves within growth sectors.
Q: Florida led the nation in job losses the last three months. Has there been an influx of people to your career centers looking for work? How do your current job placement rates compare with last year's?
A: We've had a number of folks who have come in looking for employment, although we haven't had any numbers showing there was a 10 to 15 percent increase over the previous month or year.
Right now, in terms of our numbers, we don't go by rates, but by the number of placements. Compared to last year, we're down a little bit. Last year, we placed about 25,000 people. This year we're at about 23,000. That might be because of the number of jobs that are not available, or different factors.
Q: In what fields are you seeing the most employer demand for jobs? What kinds of jobs are workers demanding?
A: We put out a press release last week pointing out that in construction there were a number of job losses. However, you are still seeing that, in the areas of education and health services, jobs are still being added to the economy. In our job bank, we typically have jobs in the areas of education, health services, as well as hospitality. You are still going to see strong demand in those areas.
We're seeing more individuals in construction coming in as well as low-wage paying workers, some manufacturers that are laying off folks, but mainly from construction and manufacturing.
Q: What are the biggest challenges facing employees looking for work? What challenges are employers facing?
A: If I were to give advice to folks looking for employment it is to ensure their résumé tells all the work history they have and tells the skills they have acquired on the job. Also, they should ensure they are work-ready and have the work readiness skills and the employability skills that are attractive to employers because employers are still hiring. There is more demand so more folks out there are competing for those jobs. Whereas before we had a shortage of workers, now we have a surplus of workers. Right now, what you want to be able to do is to indicate to an employer that you are a perfect fit for that company, that you can fit in to that culture, that you can fit in and be work ready and have the essential skills to help that employer be profitable.
Some of the challenges employers are looking at is finding employees who have work readiness skills. That has always been the biggest challenge and one of the things we continue to hear from employers is finding that person who can fit in into the employment culture of the organization, who can get along with others, who can show up for work, who can be a productive individual on the job. Those are the biggest challenges that we are hearing from employers.
Q: South Florida has one of the highest inflation rates in the country, adding pressure to employees who perhaps were already having a hard time making ends meet. Are people looking for second jobs or better paying jobs?
A: We are finding a whole range of people coming into the center. Typically, there is a stereotype that people coming to South Florida Career Centers or One-Stops are on welfare. That is not the case. Among people coming in are those who have [doctorate degrees] and are looking for better jobs, those who are still trying to find their first job, recent college graduates and even high school graduates. Plus, you are looking at those individuals who are looking for a second or third job because of the high cost of living here. You see a wide range of individuals, not just one market or individual profile.
Q: What does the region need to do from an employers standpoint to spur job growth?
A: I would love for employers to work with our agency to identify the essential skills [of their] employees. By allowing us to assist employers upgrade the skill sets of their existing workers, we can increase productivity.
Two, increasing the skills sets of incumbent workers affords the workers promotional opportunities and allows job seekers to come in at the entry level.
Three, working with not only government but not-for-profits allows the business community to take advantage of incentive programs to expand business growth. There are a number of programs we offer either using our Employed Worker Training [program] or [on-the-job-training program] to help employers hire more folks for jobs by reducing their labor costs.
There are several things employers can do at this time, even if they are laying folks off because of the economy. They can continue to work with our agency to help those workers find other employment. We had a wonderful event with an employer who utilized our R.E.A.C.T. [Reemployment and Emergency Assistance Coordination Team] program. I think they were laying off 60 individuals. We did a customized job fair for employers who were looking for those individuals and skill sets and on that one day got 26 of the 60 placed. Those are the services we offer. So, even if you are laying off, use our services to help those displaced workers find employment. It's good corporate citizenship.
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