March 29, 2024

Florida's Job Market

Florida job outlook: 2019

Amy Martinez | 7/26/2019

Two Workers, Two Stories

Jarvia Walker
ADP Payroll Solutions
Maitland

In November 2017, Orlando-area resident Walker lost her job as a human resources consultant after her employer, Siemens, outsourced her work to Costa Rica. With three months of severance, she began looking for another job, she says. “I didn’t want to wait around.”

The job search didn’t go as planned, however. Walker, who has a master’s degree from the University of Toledo, attended nearly a dozen job fairs and applied for multiple job openings before seeking help from Career- Source Central Florida.

Early on, she suspected her age, 65, might be a problem. “I had a couple of interviews at different places, but I met resistance,” she says. “I’m at an age where most people are retiring.”

In February — more than a year after being laid off — Walker found work at ADP Payroll Solutions in Maitland. Walker’s experience suggests that even in a tight labor market, the ease with which a job seeker is able to find work still depends on the industry, the job and “who you know,” she says, noting that her CareerSource adviser had a lot to do with her getting hired.

Nathan Mendenhall
Digital Resource
West Palm Beach

Mendenhall, a Facebook advertising manager, began working at Digital Resource in May after a personal connection on LinkedIn suggested he look at the company’s job openings. Mendenhall, who has been working in digital marketing since graduating from Florida Atlantic University in 2009, got a 7% pay increase with the new job. “The opportunity came to me,” he says. “The job market for this career is very hot right now.”

Employers Perspective

Shay Berman
Founder
Digital Resource
West Palm Beach

Since its first hire in 2016, internet marketing agency Digital Resource has grown to more than 40 employees in downtown West Palm Beach. Founder Shay Berman now plans to hire another 60 employees in the next three to five years. “We’re growing by about 15 people a year,” he says. “Our average age is 25.”

Founded in 2014, Digital Resource helps businesses with social media marketing, search engine optimization, website design, online advertising and video content creation. Its annual revenue doubled from $2 million in 2017 to $4.3 million in 2018 and is projected to hit $7 million this year. “There are two to three new clients coming in every day, so that’s definitely a lot of work to handle,” Berman says.

He says he uses a number of sources to find job candidates, including local colleges, websites such as Indeed and a professional recruiting firm.

“Half of our job seekers come to us. The other half we go after,” he says. “We appeal to them through our culture and our non-aggressive management. It’s empowering for people to know they can come in, do a great job and either be where they’re at or go above and beyond and be recognized.”

 

Read more in Florida Trend's August issue.

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