Job openings, jobless rate don't add up
Thursday, July 24, 2008
As Ohio's unemployment rate continues to rise above the national average, employers and job seekers disagree as to whether there is a shortage of jobs.
The unemployment rate in Ohio was most recently calculated at 6.6 percent, higher than the national average of 5.5 percent.
But more than 30,000 open positions are being advertised on Ohio's Statewide Job Matching System, www.scoti.ohio.gov, which is a state-owned resume-matching Web site that pairs job seekers and employers.
"There is a misconception that there aren't enough jobs in Ohio, but there are," said Brian Harter, public information officer for the Job Matching System. "It's just a matter of getting the work force ready for those jobs."
Job seekers feel there are just not enough jobs to go around, often moving out of the state to get jobs.
Matt Massie, manager of career services at Sinclair Community College, said adults are returning to school to ultimately get jobs in high-demand fields like health care.
That is good news to employers like Miami Valley Hospital.
"In certain health professions like radiation, physical training and nursing, there were so many openings that we had to hire recent graduates," said Jill Herman, a recruiter for the hospital. "We had to just bite the bullet and give them extensive orientation training."
Herman said that even when hiring undertrained employees and recent graduates, they are still not able to fill all the open registered nurse and physical training positions.
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