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Workforce expansion is one aspect. However we need to drill down -- expansion of non-productive sectors or productive, or expansion of those sectors with low wages, or high wages.
CT has a highly educated and trained workforce. Finding employment as bureaucrats, drivers, or hotel porters (no disrespect to these professions) -- that's not what we're looking for in CT.
Expansion in Govt employment also expands long-term liabilities, which is a double-whammy bad.
Based on the current job figures the Top 4 Growth Sectors are:
Construction 4.3%
Leisure & Hospitality 3.7%
Professional & Business Services 3.3%
Educational & Health Services 2.9%
If I had to take a guess I would say 75% of the above sectors pay a liveable wage (construction, Prof & Health). Seeing leisure at the #2 spot is not a great thing, but it is not the worst in the world. The other 3 sectors off set it. So, maybe CT is doing better than we all thought.
..except for this little tidbit.
Financial Activities which includes insurance is tanking. With a 0.05% YOY increase in jobs THIS sector is supposed to be CT (i.e. The Insurance Capital of the Worlds and Hedge fund Capital FFC) bread basket. But, since 2010 we have lost more than 5,000 jobs and since 1990 lost 24,500 just in this sector alone.
This begs the question, are the high paying jobs being replaced by low paying jobs? A job is a job in number talk, but sure seems like we have a lot more daycare workers than financial advisers these days in CT.
EDIT: Another source, "The fastest growing areas on a percentage basis were the categories that include temp agencies, arts and entertainment, and private education. In raw numbers, the biggest gains were in health care and social assistance, temp agencies and restaurants and hotels." (http://www.courant.com/business/hc-c...316-story.html)
Last edited by Mr_250; 03-17-2015 at 06:26 AM..
Reason: New Source
This is not Alabama where one can live on minimum wage. CT and its COL is built around high-paying jobs. So replacing a $ 90k job with a $ 30k job is disadvantageous for the economy, although it may appear that one job = another job.
Although construction had the highest %, when construction for example employs 50,000 people, while hospitality employs 100,000 folks, 1% difference still means that hospitality added 500 more jobs than construction.
Like I said, month-to-month, or even YOY we skew the true numbers. I am sure most people, when they think about CT, they don't just think next month, or next year. If they do, they're not thinking very well.
Especially for folks in the 20s like yourself, you think ahead, at least 10 years, since you will start a family and have kids eventually.
I would not be too worried about the types of jobs being created. If we were replacing well paying jobs with low paying jobs, it would be reflected in our median income levels and that has not changed. Also the reason that sectors such as Leisure and Construction grew more is that they were hit harder by the recession than others. Still finance (particularly insurance)is an industry that gets impacted by a recession later than others and also comes out of it later. That is the nature of Connecticut's economy. Jay
Here is some good news. Novatex is expanding here in Connecticut. The long time Connecticut company that was once part of Pitney Bowes has opened a new mega-center in Windsor where they expect to add 200 jobs to the existing 325 jobs they have here in the state. Jay
Here is some good news. Novatex is expanding here in Connecticut. The long time Connecticut company that was once part of Pitney Bowes has opened a new mega-center in Windsor where they expect to add 200 jobs (in five years) to the existing 325 jobs they have here in the state. Jay
While it makes for a nice front page story, nothing is gained. From what it sounds like is that this company had two locations in Windsor and they are consolidating into one. They were already in Windsor now they are just moving employees down the street. So, Malloy is now giving money to companies who move down the street? As far we know, they weren't threatening to leave.
FYI, Pitney Bowes sold it's headquaters in Stamford and was planning to move until "Pitney Bowes, which announced earlier this month that it would be keeping its headquarters in Connecticut, will receive a $15 million loan at a 2 percent interest rate for 10 years. The company will be eligible to have the loan forgiven if it retains 1,600 jobs and creates 200 new full-time jobs by 2019." (CT News Junkie | Two Tech Companies, Pitney Bowes Get Money From Bond Commission)
While it makes for a nice front page story, nothing is gained. From what it sounds like is that this company had two locations in Windsor and they are consolidating into one. They were already in Windsor now they are just moving employees down the street. So, Malloy is now giving money to companies who move down the street? As far we know, they weren't threatening to leave.
FYI, Pitney Bowes sold it's headquaters in Stamford and was planning to move until "Pitney Bowes, which announced earlier this month that it would be keeping its headquarters in Connecticut, will receive a $15 million loan at a 2 percent interest rate for 10 years. The company will be eligible to have the loan forgiven if it retains 1,600 jobs and creates 200 new full-time jobs by 2019." (CT News Junkie | Two Tech Companies, Pitney Bowes Get Money From Bond Commission)
Yes they are consolidating into one new facility but also adding 200 jobs. This company was part of Pitney Bowes but is now separate. What is wrong with that? Would you rather they move to another state where they would get a similar or better offer. I don't like the fact that the state has to do things like this but every state is doing it. Virginia and other states have actively pursued Connecticut companies for years now by offering them incentives to move to their state. If Connecticut does not play the game we will lose whether we like it or not. Sadly it is part of big business today.
As for Pitney Bowes, I am not sure they ever formally said they were leaving Connecticut, just that they were selling their headquarters building and looking to move from it. Another example of a bean counter saying they could save what is nothing more than a few pennies by moving to a non-descript bland office building. UTC is doing the same thing by moving from Hartford to Farmington. Kind of sad that this is the strategy a major corporation worth billions is following. Jay
Yes they are consolidating into one new facility but also adding 200 jobs. This company was part of Pitney Bowes but is now separate. What is wrong with that? Would you rather they move to another state where they would get a similar or better offer. I don't like the fact that the state has to do things like this but every state is doing it. Virginia and other states have actively pursued Connecticut companies for years now by offering them incentives to move to their state. If Connecticut does not play the game we will lose whether we like it or not. Sadly it is part of big business today.
Adding 200 jobs in 5-years. Can you please tell me how the State of CT is going to track that? It also says adding, not retaining, 200 jobs. While I do not like that we keep giving away money to companies I understand it is part of the game. Many of the 200 jobs are low skill non-college degree jobs (if we are basing the future jobs on what they have openings for right now). If Malloy really wanted to make an impact he would have said "Consolidate 3 or 4 facilities into CT." Novitex has 9,000 employees world wide, less than 4% are in CT and 50% of those people are in the Corporate headquarters. While its nice to see the highest paid people here, if they had faith, why not bring more people here from other facilities. My guess, it didn't make sense in the pocketbook. Why don't they want to move more people to CT? I would be for that, but giving $5M to move down the street is dumb. Promising 200 jobs is BS, they will move people around to make it look like they hired 200 people.
No jobs were created, just repositioned. No impact. "I'll glady pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today."
Quote:
As for Pitney Bowes, I am not sure they ever formally said they were leaving Connecticut, just that they were selling their headquarters building and looking to move from it. Another example of a bean counter saying they could save what is nothing more than a few pennies by moving to a non-descript bland office building. UTC is doing the same thing by moving from Hartford to Farmington. Kind of sad that this is the strategy a major corporation worth billions is following. Jay
Seems like common Knowledge, if one sells their HQ they have owned since 1966, chances are they want out. I wouldn't sell my house to rent an apartment. I sell because I want to move. They were going to leave the State (http://www.ctpost.com/news/article/P...rd-4997572.php).
Adding 200 jobs in 5-years. Can you please tell me how the State of CT is going to track that? It also says adding, not retaining, 200 jobs. While I do not like that we keep giving away money to companies I understand it is part of the game. Many of the 200 jobs are low skill non-college degree jobs (if we are basing the future jobs on what they have openings for right now). If Malloy really wanted to make an impact he would have said "Consolidate 3 or 4 facilities into CT." Novitex has 9,000 employees world wide, less than 4% are in CT and 50% of those people are in the Corporate headquarters. While its nice to see the highest paid people here, if they had faith, why not bring more people here from other facilities. My guess, it didn't make sense in the pocketbook. Why don't they want to move more people to CT? I would be for that, but giving $5M to move down the street is dumb. Promising 200 jobs is BS, they will move people around to make it look like they hired 200 people.
No jobs were created, just repositioned. No impact. "I'll glady pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today."
Seems like common Knowledge, if one sells their HQ they have owned since 1966, chances are they want out. I wouldn't sell my house to rent an apartment. I sell because I want to move. They were going to leave the State (Pitney Bowes will stick to Stamford - Connecticut Post).
So you think the state should only be interested in creating jobs that pay a lot and ignore jobs for the middle class? The state needs to retain and expand ALL levels of jobs, not just those of the wealthy. That is what keeps and creates a well balanced economy. Sure we like having a lot of high paying jobs and we are lucky to have a lot of those but we need more middle and lower paying jobs as well.
All companies must report employment levels to the Department of Labor. They must certify that they have a certain number of people working whether they get aid from the state or not. This is part of a companies tax records as well and how the state tracks employment in the state. IF the numbers are not met the state will notify them that they have to pay back the money they owe. Sometimes this works out well for the state, sometimes it does not.
As I said, it seems to be a trend of major corporations to shed their real estate. Whether Pitney Bowes was ready to really leave or not is hard to say. I am sure they were playing the Westchester County verses Fairfield County game that others have done. Fortunately Connecticut has been able to win that a couple of times in recent years. Most recently Starwood moved to Stamford by playing that game. Sad but it is the way they do business today. Jay
Three sectors are doing well in employing people:
1- Education & Health
2- Transportation & utilities
3- Govt
Four Sectors which should have been at the top are those who make things, build things, and manage the money.
1- Construction
2- Manufacturing
3- IT
4- Finance
See this chart about CT's employment trend vs national.
Looking at month-to-month data is like losing the forest amongst the trees. Long-term, decades -- tell us really what, who and where we are.
Yes... hence why I said IF we can get anywhere near the growth we got in January for a longer period of time, it's going to be very good for the long term. Of course there's the issue of the quality of jobs, but that doesn't really have to do with the chart you posted.
So you think the state should only be interested in creating jobs that pay a lot and ignore jobs for the middle class? The state needs to retain and expand ALL levels of jobs, not just those of the wealthy. That is what keeps and creates a well balanced economy. Sure we like having a lot of high paying jobs and we are lucky to have a lot of those but we need more middle and lower paying jobs as well.
I'm for all types of jobs. Just feels like Malloy and his little Developmental Department are wasting money on businesses that don't need it. Not saying this company, but other this applies too. Giving money to those companies when they have their mind made up is a total waste. It's like not accepting someone's resignation. They are already gone mentally. Money will keep only keep them here physically for a short term. I feel like CT is doing that. While businesses are on their way out, here comes Malloy with his check. It's a short term fix. We should nip it in the butt BEFORE the resignation letter comes.
Take that $5m and set up incubators around Colleges and Universities, in down towns and along the shore. Hire businesses owners or consultants to teach and answer questions. Team up with accounting firms to help with loans and cash flow issues. Lower some, not all, taxes and regulation. Make running/owning a business an adventure. Younger people take more risk because they less to loss. Embrace and foster growth, not just fund it.
A company who just got bought for $400m doesn't need $5m. The college kids in the dorm room working on their business plan need it.
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As far we know, they weren't threatening to leave. 
