opinion on job market in Fla

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tonyou812

tonyou812

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North New Jersey
Can any of you Florida guys tell me what the job market in charlotte county is like. I have just passed my NJ state exam but my wife would really love to move to Florida to be closer to her family. My wife is a Nurse and would really have no problem making the same money down there, but I am concerned as to what i would have to look forward to. I plan on taking the Florida state exam for electrical contractor just to have it. My past experiance is mainly residential and commercial wiring although i consider myself as does my boss a good trouble shooter. Presently I am making 26 bucks an hour. Is this unreasonable? I consider myself to be somewhat intelligent and show up to work everyday on time. And i am always looking to continue my education. Or would it be better/ more profitable to try to get a job with the poco down there. What is the residential/commercial service market like down there?Any advice would be greatly appreciated...
 
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tonyou812 said:
wow i guess the job market in Fla is not so great judging by the lack of response.
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I'll be the first to admit that I looked into it several times. My wife, not unlike yours, wants to live there pretty badly. The job market seems plentiful, and the work fairly attractive. As a result, the wages and the prices contractors bid for certain work seems very low to me. Lots of attractive work = many guys interested in the work = low prices. I have decided to pass.

Not to discourage you at all, but this is what I think I've found in my own checking. The cost of living in FL, for the most part, seems pretty reasonable. You may well be able to work for less and still maintain your standard of living there. Hard to say. I'd recommend that you check on the Bureau of Labor Statistics website and compare your area to the area of FL that you propose to relocate to.
 
Be aware that the housing collapse is nation wide and includes Fl.

I have heard from some very good sources that Fl companies are suffering from this fact.

Roger
 
roger said:
Be aware that the housing collapse is nation wide and includes Fl.
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Indeed. On my recent vacation in southern California, I was amazed to see developed house lots and culdesacs now overgrown with weeds. Only a few years ago, they would have all been sold and built.
 
tonyou812 said:
Can any of you Florida guys tell me what the job market in charlotte county is like. I have just passed my NJ state exam but my wife would really love to move to Florida to be closer to her family. My wife is a Nurse and would really have no problem making the same money down there, but I am concerned as to what i would have to look forward to. I plan on taking the Florida state exam for electrical contractor just to have it. My past experiance is mainly residential and commercial wiring although i consider myself as does my boss a good trouble shooter. Presently I am making 26 bucks an hour. Is this unreasonable? I consider myself to be somewhat intelligent and show up to work everyday on time. And i am always looking to continue my education. Or would it be better/ more profitable to try to get a job with the poco down there. What is the residential/commercial service market like down there?Any advice would be greatly appreciated...
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I live in Charlotte County and work in Lee County. Things are real slow here now. $26.00 in top of the line pay around here. The big building boom of the last two years went bust here about 6 months ago. It has not stoped, just slowed down A LOT. Your wife will not have a problem getting a job as a Nurse. They are in great demand. this is a retirement town. You will need to show some good credentials to get more than entry level pay. No electric jobs listed in todays 08/04/07 paper. 6 collums in the medical field.
 
I too live in Charlotte County. I work in a municipality just north of Charlotte County called North Port in Sarasota County.

To put things into perspective. At the beginning of this year, we had 4 electrical inspectors. We only have 2 left and they are on 30 hours a week. A year ago, we were permitting as many as 400 new homes, 100,000 sq.ft of commercial space, and 10,000+ inspections a month. We are now averaging around 25 new homes, very little commercial and only 3,000 inspections per month.

My jurisdiction alone has nearly 3,000 homes sale and on the market. Homes that were selling for $250,000+ a year ago have been marked down to $160,000. Sarasota County has lead the state in foreclosers so far this year and the City of North Port has the highest rate within the county.

Needless to say, it is bad. As Secretary of the Florida Chapter of the IAEI, I have constant communication with Divisions all over the state. Things aren't any better ANYWHERE else in the state.

While it may be a good time to pick up a decent home really, really, cheap; the job market for electricians or any trade for that matter is very, very, very bad.
 
that's kind of what i figured, we bought a nice piece of property in Cape Haze near Boca Grand and would love to enjoy living and working in Fla while were still relatively young. But i would have a real hard time doing it for 12-15 bucks an hour. I am going to work on getting licensed in Fla. Does anyone know when they give their test down there and what the procedure is for applying for the test being an out of stater? Ive looked on some sites but they don't really tell me what i need to know? Ive got a real feeling that the solar industry is going to be the next big boom, once they make it more affordable for most folks. And what fixed income retiree wouldnt love to save/make money by doing nothing, especially the rich silver hair folks living in the sunshine capital of the world. We just got to wait for these damn engineers to make it more affordable. And when it hits i want to be as knowledgeable and if need be certified to instal it. Any thoughts people?
 
tonyou812 said:
Any thoughts people?
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We need a better storage solution. Then solar and wind power generation will allow you to get off the grid. Until then, the PoCo needs to be able to supply all the power the grid needs even if some are contributing solar/wind power to the grid. You can't always count on solar or wind. You can count on PoCo generation (for now).
 
A good huricane or two can speed up the work demand in FL really quick. I am in Boynton Beach right now and the storms are rolling in, maybe we will get lucky.
 
I believe the cost of living is o.k. for someone who has had a house here for a couple of years or more, if you are moving here expect to pay quite a bit more in taxes since the hikes the last couple of years.

As with Bryan, building dept's are being downsized all over, a few friends are without work!

Commercial seems to be o.k., but nothing like it was in the past.

Besides - you do know it is 95 everyday, and that is the humidity!
 
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