Leading Question

Without a doubt. The slight rise in unemployment is bringing in more applicants, and with a higher level of professionalism and experience than employers say they’ve seen in the past few years, when the rate hovered around 3 percent or even lower in Southwest Florida.

Statewide, unemployment rose from 3.2 percent in September 2006 to 4 percent a year later. The rates were higher in Lee County, with 5.2 percent; Collier, with 5.3 percent; and Charlotte, with 5.9 percent. The national figure was 4.7 percent.

 

"We’ve seen a dramatic change. From our point of view, we were kind of in an unhealthy position as companies because the unemployment rate was way too low," says Peter Seif, president of Synergy Networks in Fort Myers. "We had a very difficult time getting qualified sales professionals and other positions that we were hiring for at the time."

A year ago, Synergy Networks would receive five applicants, at most, for a position. Typically half of the interviews were no-shows. Now, when Seif places an ad on Web sites such as www
­.careerbuilder.com, he receives 20 to 30 resumes from job-seekers in and outside of Southwest Florida. And every applicant shows up for the interview.

Candidates who wouldn’t have been available a year ago are on the job hunt now, says Bank of Naples president Bob Guididas. He snapped up a new senior lending official, for example, because of downsizing elsewhere. "It has certainly made it easier to hire employees," Guididas says. "I was looking to fill the senior lending position for quite some time. It would have involved a headhunter and big fee."

Many job seekers are victims of the slow housing market. Seif says they comprise about 60 percent of Synergy’s job candidates.

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