Our booths have been full of people who are looking for work,” said Phyllis Marty, chief executive officer of the agency that helps people in Alachua and Bradford counties find jobs and employers find workers.
But a UF business professor says he suspects that many of these people are switching careers and avoiding going back into the low-paying, high-stress jobs, many of which have gone unfilled during the pandemic.
Now is a good time to find a job, with plenty of openings and companies in many cases offering better pay and benefits than before the pandemic, Marty said.
For example, McDonald’s jobs that paid $8 an hour before the pandemic now pay $12, she said. Nordstrom Distribution Center in Gainesville is offering entry-level jobs at $18 an hour with benefits.