SWFL boasts booming job market for college graduates

Across the country, nearly half of recent college graduates are stuck looking for work, and when they do find jobs, 69% expect lower salaries. But here in Southwest Florida, we are experiencing just the opposite of that trend: Here, there are too many jobs, and not enough people to fill them.

CareerSource of Southwest Florida says the graduates here have been doing well, and the company has been touching base with all universities in the area to make sure students are placed in positions. It says the pandemic may have impacted graduates more in other states with stricter lockdowns, and that’s why national numbers are showing recent graduates struggling to find employment.

“Internships, anything of that sort, it was in a big halt,” said Janeth Castrejon with CareerSource SWFL. “It wasn’t happening. There might have been some virtual internships or volunteering… but it’s not the same. You were not getting the same experience necessary to be ready for that workforce environment. So all of that on a national level for college graduates set them back from landing those jobs.”

For the first time in a long time, CareerSource says technical jobs are the ones that need to filling. Because of the emphasis we place on technology, it says, more businesses want their employees to have skills in that field. The company says SWFL is a job seeker’s market right now. If you want a job and have the skills, there are plenty out there waiting for you, and many employers will go the extra mile to get people to join them.

“It’s time to look outside the box,” Castrejohn said. “Now we see employers in a competition level with each other, providing sign-on bonuses, more benefits than before, because you have to compete for that talent with the open positions that they have.”