Job Opportunities Growing in Orlando, Florida
Simply Hired Staff
Orlando, Florida may be synonymous with theme parks and trade shows, but central Florida is now becoming a destination for job seekers. Whether it’s agriculture, construction, or non-profits, the Orlando job market is on the rise.
At the start of each month we at Simply Hired like to take a step back, look at the jobs available on our site, and see what they can tell us about the U.S. economy as a whole. We also look at a specific metro area that saw notable job growth over that month.
This month, we’re highlighting hiring in Orlando, Florida. The U.S. as a whole enjoyed 1.18% month-over-month in September; while jobs in Orlando grew 1.65% during the same period. This increase comes along with some interesting hiring developments around the Orlando area. This is welcomed news for an area in need of job market stimulation since the ending the Space Shuttle program.
The top posting industries in the Orlando metro area were agriculture, construction, and non-profit. While each industry saw growth across the U.S., what’s noteworthy in Orlando is the growth of non-profit jobs.
Orlando’s non-profit jobs grew 22% in September, compared to the national average of 7%. The spike in non-profit hiring Orlando is currently enjoying comes at a time when non-profits are in the news in the central Florida area. Where traditionally non-profits are identified through assistance initiatives–providing clothing, interview help, housing and so forth–recently things have been changing for non-profits in Florida.
As the Orlando Sentinel reported in early September, where once non-profits focused on assisting unemployed persons, today the focus has shifted to providing jobs. Although the assistance approach is not without its merits observers have found providing an actual job is far more transformative in helping unemployed persons then only traditional assistance. As Susan Vidal, executive director of Christian HELP stated, “We can’t continue to just put a Band-Aid on the need.”
Today more and more non-profits in central Florida are using their profits to hire the unemployed. Companies like Goodwill Industries, that have long kept employment as their priority, are expanding their efforts too, 2013 saw a 20% rise in placement for Goodwill, putting some 6,500 Central Florida residents to work. With this positive effect on unemployment in mind, we’ll watch to see if the trend continues through the U.S.
Construction jobs have also been on the rise in the Orlando area. Expect this trend to continue as construction is soon to begin on the Orlando leg of the All Aboard Florida passenger railroad service.
Read the full Employment Outlook report.
