This summer, the guy mixing your drink at the bar might just have a master’s degree.
With unemployment in North Carolina near 11 percent, competition for any job — including seasonal summer jobs traditionally filled by college or high school students — is intense.
Skyland resident Jerome Williams, 38, says he’s looking for a job in bookkeeping, but he’s certainly not above taking a seasonal job to make ends meet. A six-year Navy veteran who most recently worked at two local manufacturing plants, Williams has been out of work only a week and is convinced he’ll find another job quickly.
“I don’t get flustered for nothing,” he said with a smile as he emerged from the Asheville office of the N.C. Employment Security Commission on Tuesday afternoon. “You have to be willing to do just about anything, as long as it’s open. A lot of people are all right with just drawing (an unemployment) check, but I can’t do that — I’ve got to have some work.”
But he’ll likely find that fewer jobs, including seasonal ones, are available.
“We’ve not even had the first seasonal or summer job listing come through, and that’s definitely unusual,” said Rick Elingburg, director of the Asheville ESC office. “We mentioned that in our weekly staff meeting, and we said college students and high school students would be competing with folks with higher education, for any and all jobs.”
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