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Jobs abound in New Orleans, housing is obstacle
17 Oct 2005 01:30:46 GMT
Source: Reuters

NEW ORLEANS, Oct 16 (Reuters) - If you were seeking work in New Orleans in the months before Hurricane Katrina hit, chances are you had to fight to get an employer's attention. Now all you need to do is show up and perhaps pass a drug test.

Workers have become a precious commodity in the Mardi Gras capital as it flickers back to life seven weeks after Katrina came ashore, submerging entire neighborhoods in a ferocious tidal surge.

Signs advertising jobs dot the landscape of this devastated city, even in areas that bore the brunt of Katrina's fury. In St. Bernard Parish, a working-class district that suffered extensive flooding, companies search high and low for help.

At a job fair on Sunday, one of many held in the city in recent weeks, Paul Day was among those in the hunt for workers.

"We've got jobs for people," said Day, a trainer with Fluor Corp. <FLR.N>, a California-based engineering firm that has been contracted by the federal government to help rebuild New Orleans and other parts of the Gulf Coast.

"If they can pass the drug screen, they'll get work," said Day, as he manned a booth at the fair. He said a few dozen people had come by in the past two days to inquire about working for the company.

He and other prospective employers said the lack of available housing in the city was a major obstacle for those looking for jobs. The hurricane damaged thousands of homes and many remain uninhabitable.

The city is working on a plan to house people in makeshift trailer parks, hotels and even on unused military bases, but it concedes it is counting on the private sector to ease the crunch by offering workers temporary accommodation.

Although Katrina destroyed hundreds of businesses in New Orleans, prompting tens of thousands to file for unemployment benefits, it opened up opportunities for others.

Construction firms, many of them with contracts provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, are among those attempting to fill what officials concede is a gaping hole in the local economy.

Hotels, restaurants and bars, in turn, are scrambling to serve the newcomers and going to great lengths to find workers. Some are offering bonuses of $1,000 or more to job applicants who agree to stay for a year.

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, who ordered the city's 450,000 residents to evacuate last month, has been encouraging people to return to the city. At a rally last week in Metairie, a New Orleans suburb, he told job seekers they could expect to make "serious money" if they came home.

You could make a killing as a construction worker there now



well, not that tradespeople weren't always in high demand everywhere anyway

I'm betting an engineer with a solid background in DR/BC would make a killing working with companies who had no plan prior to Katrina and are now looking to implement one.

Yeah bigtime wages there right now.

Burger King is paying a 6 THOUSAND dollar signing bonus to anyone that signs a contract for a year. 6 grand for a freakin fry cook.

I have a friend right now taking advantage of the jacked wages. He says though, that its still a nightmare. Like living in a warzone. He's staying at a friend's cause he still doesnt have electricity. Passes a crashed helicopter on the side of the road everyday.

6 thousand fucking dollars to make whoppers? God damn I can cook burgers for a month for that.

i had a friend who went down after the slew of hurricanes in florida last year, he ended up getting screwed because there was all of this emergency work and then the pay didn't come for months or longer, for contractors or salesmen (he sold roofs) it might be easy money but it won't necessarily be quick.... now flipping burgers is of course a different situation

hmm I wonder if any die shops have openings.

You work tool+die min?

yep

Lots of opportunistic folks are going to get rich in the rebuilding process. My GF's cousin is a storm chaser and is down there right now, raking in the cash. He is stinkin rich but the idea of cashing in on others misfortunes is disgusting to me.

look if they need workers they need workers toss. If they needed a network ttroubleshooter down there and were to offer the right amount of pay, plus moving expenses I would take them up on it. Money is money and frankly any step up the finance ladder is fine...I dont care as long as I have a roof over my head and my family is fed.

They WANT you to cash in. It is better for Burger King to pay a 6 grand signing bonus than to not have employees. I guess it really depends on what kind of job it was. No one is comin back to the city for their Burger King job heheh.

The city needs people to come back and start working in the worst way. The high wages will help.

problem is once they get these high wages started I forsee them laying off to get the bottom dollar and higher monkeys to replace.

Been there done that. just be forewarned that this could happen.

Yeah I see it as temporary at best. My good friend is going to work down there til december-ish, then he is out, moving to Seattle permanently.

I don't know. It just seems somewhat predatory. I wonder how much I could make down there?

I understand your point toss. problem is if they dont do this noone will come down there. No place to stay, alot of a low incomers left to Texas and are most likely not coming back. They need to create incentive for people to come there

One of the girls at work's husband left last week for two months to do construction, he was offered $4000 a week. A WEEK.

Minrott wrote:yep

Cool. My father has been doing that since he finished with the Army in 1964. I wish like hell that I could do that job. Ever since they got the whole cad/cam Wire EDM set-up where he works, he no longer has to use the drafting table.

Best of all they put the machine in the room next to his office and not sure if it's true or not but said the machine had to stay cool so his office got air conditioned too.

Ever heard of Madix?

hehe, yeah, the edm room where I work is always a pleasant 68 degrees. Bit chilly actually. Never heard of Madix.

That machine is really cool. I saw some demos on it where they made a pink panther out of steel and some other cool shit.

Madix is a store fixture manufacturer that supplies Winn-Dixie, Wal-Mart, a bunch of others. He designs dies and heads up their toolroom there. Easiest fucking job I have ever seen and sweet money too. The cost of living there is a joke which makes it even sweeter.

I could have apprenticed under him but manufacturing, steelworking, etc just bores the shit out of me. Well, that and the shit can get reeeeeeallly fucking complicated.

Yes jobs are EVERY-FUGGING-WHERE in NOLA right now. B K is paying 6 grand bonus ($500 a month) and they are paying $8/hour for something that was getting $5+change 3 months ago because any dumbass can go get a job as a general laborer for $15 an hour (12/6 week so it actually adds up to much more) no one is working in fast food because there is too much money in clean up right now.

I heard an estimate of 22 million tons of debris will be removed from Orleans parish alone....man that is some serious trash...

Yeah I saw a thing last night, a hundred acres in a landfill are just refridgerators with spoiled food in them. It was fucking eerie looking.

And an estimated 100,000 abandoned cars have to be destroyed.