Are Bad Economic Times Good for Pittsburgh?

Interesting premise in this P-G article. Could the stability of the local job and real estate markets bring some talent back to town?

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08361/937758-294.stm

Pittsburgh workforce getting younger

If you've been following the real demographic trends locally and not buying into inaccurate, negative media hype, then this should come as no surprise.

The Trib reports that the median age of working Pittsburghers dropped from 40.5 in 2005 to 39.3 in 2007, according to figures released today by the Census Bureau. Here is a link to the article.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/mostread/s_589592.html

Young People Can't Find a Job in Pittsburgh? Wrong!

Great news for new college graduates in the region. According to CollegeGrad.com, three local companies are among the top 100 nationally in 2007 for entry-level hiring. The complete list is here.

So who are these local companies where you young folks should apply? PNC, 84 Lumber and Education Management Corporation (EDMC). 84 Lumber is projected to hire 1,700 new graduates; PNC- 1350; and EDMC- 625. Obviously, all of these positions being filled are not local. But according to last Friday's Pittsburgh Business Times, 60% of PNC's new grad hires will be local and about 400 of EDMC's will be.

In addition, there are many other companies on the list who have a local presence and will be hiring new grads in the Pittsburgh area.

While we're on the subject, I have to address an issue for young people setting out to interview soon. My wife is a manager in her company and she has recently been interviewing/sifting through resumes (95% of whom are new grads) deciding who she is going to hire. You wouldn't believe the horror stories she has about clueless new grads and their interviewing skills. Let me give you a few tips:

1. Wear a suit! Whether you're male or female doesn't matter. EVERYONE should wear a suit. And khakis do not count and are not acceptable.

2. Answer the question! I don't care how idiotic a question you are asked in an interview, DON'T refuse to answer it (as one of my wife's recent, young interviewees did).

3. Remove personal interests from your resume. Honestly, no one cares that your hobbies include being the biggest Harry Potter fan in the world. In fact, it will creep most people out.

4. Your resume must be PERFECT! Punctuation and grammar MUST be 100% perfect. Running it through a spell-check doesn't count. Look it over in detail and have other people look at it too.

5. Don't say what your REAL goals are! If you're applying for a job that is not related to your field and that you don't plan on making a career, KEEP THAT TO YOURSELF. Am I telling you to lie? Yes, if you want to get hired. No one wants to hire someone who is going to quit in four months after they find a job in their field. Let me clarify- I am not telling you to lie about your accomplishments and credentials, just your intentions.

Good luck, young bucks! I hope you find a good job and stay in the region.

Population Loss to Subside- Then What Will You Find to Bitch About?

I apologize that this news is a couple days old, but I didn't start this blog until today, and I had to get in some comments on this because it's my biggest pet peeve.

I will actually give the two major local dailies a little credit for reporting on this (but not much because anyone with a little bit of motivation and investigative skills could have been reporting on this for years like I have...but I digress).

Anyway, both the P-G and the Trib have articles about predictions by Pitt economic and demographic researcher Christopher Briem (he has a great blog) that the ongoing population loss in the region has almost run its course and that we are poised for slight population growth in the relatively near future.

You mean it's no going to go on forever?!? Well, you would never know that from the incessant coverage the issue gets. And as the title of this post asks, "What negative item will the local media and the Yinzers find to obsess about now?"

I have written for several years in various local publications that the common perceptions about the region's population loss are incorrect. And that's because of misguided focus and lazy reporting by local media.

The thing that local media focus on the most is the loss of young people. But that has almost nothing whatsoever to do with our population loss. As Mr. Briem pointed out as far back as 2002 in a Post-Gazette article, Pittsburgh retains young adults at a batter rate than Cleveland, Philadelphia, Detroit and even Miami, to name a few. A year later in 2003, a Pittsburgh Trib article pointed out that the city retains its young professionals at a higher rate than Columbus, Seattle, Raleigh, Atlanta and Washington, D.C. So why don't the Pittsburgh media report on the REAL reasons for the population loss? Answer: Because they want to feed on Pittsburghers' low self image of the city by accentuating the negative.

So what are the real reasons for the population loss? Two things: more deaths than births, and not enough international in-migration. More deaths than births is a result of a higher than average senior population, which has actually been declining rapidly due to the fact that they are dying off. Essentially, here is what is happening right now: old white people are dying, the black population is steady, the local Asian community is seeing growth (about 4,000 people in the last six years) and the local Hispanic community is seeing growth (about 1,000 people added in the last six years). But despite the gains in international in-migration, there is not enough to offset the "natural" population decline. The states of California and New York actually have extremely high out-migration rates but they have population gains because of a high number of immigrants coming in from other countries.

Anyway, as is the point of this whole blog, I'm trying to uncover the positive nuggets of information that local media (both print and broadcast) leave unsaid, and correct misguided assumptions and misperceptions among Yinzers, media and politicians.