Jobs Across the Board: Springfield remains healthy job market

Holly Cuoco, a business services representative at Missouri Career Center, said that during a one-week period in early January, there were 262 new local jobs added to the state’s online jobs site, www.greathires.org, where job titles range from metal building erector and packer-driver-loader to sales account executive, registered nurse, computer programmer and museum director.

With tax season looming, accounting is a hot job sector for the first quarter, and service jobs in the technology sector are likely to stay strong, said Chad Lakin, staffing specialist with Manpower Inc.

Demand in education also is strong, but particularly in special education and high school math and science. In those areas, “you’re going to find there are more opportunities and higher salaries,” said Jack Hunter, director of Missouri State University’s Career Center.

Where the jobs are

A handful of industries dominate the southwest Missouri hiring scene, namely health care, professional services, education, transportation/logistics and construction, but the industry labels don’t necessarily indicate the types of jobs available.

“For example, a health care provider will hire a nurse or somebody with a master’s degree in health care administration, but they’ll also hire an accountant, a marketing person and a retail person,” Hunter said.

Likewise, a higher education employer such as MSU will not only hire instructors and administrators, but also accountants, secretaries, loan officers, architects, groundskeepers and maintenance staff.

As the state’s third largest metropolitan statistical area, Springfield makes a strong showing in the region’s dominant industries, but it also puts its own twist on the jobs picture.

Springfield boasts more than half a dozen large companies that rely on inbound and outbound telemarketing, Cuoco said, fueling a strong customer service sector. She also cited downtown’s Jordan Valley Innovation Center, which is creating a niche in material science, biotechnology and nanotechnology research and development, and, according to JVIC officials, will create another 200 jobs for the city.

Recent development at the Partnership Industrial Center West – Crosstech Construction Products, Green Seed Co. and Seltzer Cos. announced plans in 2007 and negotiations for more tenants are in the pipeline – bode well for the manufacturing/industrial sector, while the concentration of small businesses in the Springfield area creates strong demand for professional services.

While residential construction has slowed with the subprime mortgage debacle, commercial construction is strong throughout the region and there is almost $1 billion in public and private projects planned for Springfield alone, according to previous Springfield Business Journal coverage.

Job seeker strategies

While Springfield is a dynamic job market, it’s also a small one, which means tough competition for job seekers.

Successful applicants, career specialists say, will be those who can go outside their comfort zone, look beyond job titles, and creatively match their skills and experience to the positions available.

“If you want to be fully employed in Springfield, often it’s necessary to find someplace where you can use your skills as opposed to using your degree,” Hunter said.

Manpower’s Lakin agreed, adding that skills are more important than titles, and flexibility is essential to navigating the job market.

Cuoco noted that for those who are new to the job search or are changing careers, the Missouri Career Center, 1514 S. Glenstone Ave., provides job seeker workshops to update résumés and hone interview skills, and presents quarterly Career Morning job expos.

The next Career Morning, scheduled for Feb. 25, is expected to draw more than 20 employers. Information about other services for job seekers at Missouri Career Center is available at www.ozarksjobpath.com.

Missouri Career Center also funds training in growth industries throughout its seven-county region.

For example, Cuoco said, the center supports health care education programs at St. John’s and CoxHealth, MSU, Drury University, Ozarks Technical Community College and Southwest Baptist University, and has previously funded programs such as welder certification to meet specific needs in the manufacturing industry.

Employer challenges

Job seekers, however, are not the only ones being re-educated about the job market.

In addition to the perennial challenge of finding the right people, employers face a new dynamic in the hiring equation from the up-and-coming generation.

“Employers are having to change the way they do things in order to accommodate this new generation of graduates,” Hunter said.

“We’re hearing that this generation is making decisions about where they go to work based on a lot more factors than salary,” he added. “It’s more about where they’re located: Are they within a half-day’s or day’s drive of their family? Is it an area in which they can, if they choose to, have and raise a family effectively? Do they feel safe? Is it a position where they can balance free time with work time?”

For younger workers, often referred to as Millenials, Hunter said willingness to work long hours isn’t a given, and they have different expectations of their work.

“Now, it has to be fun,” he said.