Published August 2003

Financial industry seen
as hot job market of future

By John Wolcott
SCBJ Editor

As the national and regional economies show early signs of recovery, a Seattle consultant on staffing predicts future “hot market” jobs will be focused in the mortgage and finance marketplace.

“I believe the strongest, healthiest market for young people will be in the home mortgage industry, not just in refinancing but financial jobs in general,” said Bob Senatore, who also covers Snohomish County job markets in his role as executive vice president of COMFORCE, a national leader in temporary and permanent staffing for health care, information technology, financial and other outsourcing industries.

Closely following the employment market trends in the Northwest, he believes people are far more likely in the future to have five to six mini-careers in their working lifetime rather than one or two as in past generations.

“Careers will be of shorter duration than in the past, a trend spurred by the dynamics of the dot-com era and societal changes that encourage entrepreneurism and multiple careers,” he said.

“One of the best things going for us in Snohomish and King County is that we have a tremendous abundance of those 25 years old and younger with college degrees, the largest segment in the country,” he said. “They are the ones who will be starting their own businesses (as they move through their careers), adding to the area’s economy.”

Senatore said he sees sectors other than aerospace, despite its still-strong presence, as being the leading job sectors. Jobs in Snohomish County will be dependent on the overflow of business growth from King County in coming years and from the growth of financial markets, he said.

“This will become a post-Boeing era in which aerospace will not be the major player in the economy. Instead, look for careers to grow over the next decade in technology, with Microsoft playing a leading role, and the financing industry. Major growth will come from Washington Mutual and Wells Fargo, for instance, as financial industries,” he said.

The current refinancing activity in the mortgage industry is not a “bubble” that will burst, he said, since economic and population growth will continue to make it a strong market and job-generating sector.

Without the traditional dominance of Boeing, Seattle will need to become more important as a financial center, Senatore said.

“Certainly technology is second on the list, including medical and information technology. These are among the industries that have no borders geographically and can be developed as well from Snohomish County as King County or elsewhere,” he said.

The greatest phenomenon lately in unemployment is that so many midlife job changes are being forced by layoffs and early retirements, he said, putting highly paid and highly qualified people out of work.

“The job market is improving, but many more experienced workers are now searching for work than before,” he said.

Another trend he sees growing is job seeking by lifestyle preference.

“We’re in the temp business, along with some permanent hires, too, and we see that in finance, for instance, many temp positions allow more flexibility of work periods, similar to the temp staffing we’ve seen in nursing for years. And, if you’re a good loan officer, you can set up to work at home, without traveling to Seattle, and still make a very good living with a better lifestyle,” he said.

As the temp trend has grown, he said, many companies such as COMFORCE have set up their own portable insurance benefits for temp employees who they place regularly. These are employees who enjoy flexible work schedules and continuing challenges in working for different employers for short periods rather than one company for long periods, Senatore said.

“Some people really like that,” he said. “We’ve been a leader in placing temp workers with Boeing and in engineering roles; now we’re largely moving into the financial and mortgage arena” as trends shift.

“As the financial sector grows in Seattle, it will draw more and more venture capital firms back to the area. Also, as the economy grows, it bodes well for attractive communities in Snohomish County such as Monroe, Snohomish and other towns that are becoming recognized as great places to live,” he said.

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