Friday, June 27, 2008

Help Wanted


The news hits you like a ton of bricks-- Geisinger is laying off 400 people who work at its hospital in Wilkes-Barre, the former Mercy Hospital. A job is a huge part of our lives, and my heart breaks when I see people pink slipped. Not fun. Not by a long shot. Geisinger says the layoffs are necessary and justified as they consolidate health care in the Wyoming Valley.


We have an aging population. You would think jobs in the health care industry are safe. Guess again.


Is there any occupation that is recession proof, layoff proof, solid, guaranteed never to go away?


My mind was drawn toward computers. If you can fix them, it looks good. All other functions have the tremendous potential to be outsourced.


We might be drilling for more oil. There's work if you want to live in the Alaskan wilderness or on a rig in the ocean or the Gulf of Mexico.


In spite of the souring economy, I always see a lot of cars at Mohegan Sun. How long can that last?


Law enforcement, corrections and courts look safe, maybe. Parts of our area are growing-- rapidly, and so is crime. I'm sure there's an even bigger demand for law enforcement and corrections jobs in the sun belt, where the population is exploding.


Government is a mixed bag. There have been some attempts, albeit extremely limited, to control the size of local, county, and state governments, but there's always a job out there for someone who gets "cozy" with the right person, especially an elected person. Some good does come from the "make room for my little friend" stuff floating around out there. The Maalox, Tums and Rolaids people have to make more product to soothe my stomach when I hear about it.

Want a safe job? Manufacture antacid. I have a feeling there will be a huge demand in the months to come.