BostonWorks Poll Shows Local Job Seekers See Little Improvement In Employment Situation

Boston job seekers are not optimistic about a turnaround in the local job market, according to a recent BostonWorks.com poll.

BOSTON, MA -- Wednesday, September 10, 2003 -- Reflective of the recent unemployment numbers released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics last week, Boston job seekers are not optimistic about a turnaround in the local job market, according to a recent BostonWorks.com poll. In the findings, 69% of job seekers feel the employment market has stayed the same or gotten worse while only 31% of job seekers indicated that things are getting better. The poll was conducted on the BostonWorks.com site from August 29, 2003 -- September 5, 2003. A total of 1,859 votes were cast.

Recent economic results, including business and consumer spending reports, have indicated that an economic recovery is underway," said Peter Newton, president of BostonWorks. However, this confidence has not trickled down to the job seeker. These poll results show that the local job seeker does not share the same level of optimism about improvement in the Greater Boston labor market.

The BostonWorks.com poll asked: On Labor Day, 2003, do you feel the job market is finally turning around?"* The results of the poll showed:

·   22% of respondents felt the job market has declined
·   47% of respondents felt there was no change in the job market
·   25% of respondents feel the job market is beginning to improve
·   5% of respondents see a marked upturn in the job market

The job market remains highly competitive. However, at BostonWorks, we are continuing to see a slight increase in the number of job opportunities in the market," continued Newton. As the fall hiring season kicks off, it will be critical for job seekers to use all options available to increase their chances of getting that next job."

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*Note: This BostonWorks poll is not scientific and reflects the opinions only of those Internet users who have chosen to participate.

The Big Help Job Fair at Fenway Park
In an effort to help put Boston back to work, BostonWorks is hosting The Big Help Job Fair at Fenway Park on Wednesday, September 10, 2003, from 1:00 p.m. -- 6:00 p.m. A complete line-up of Bostons leading employers will be on hand looking to fill a wide range of positions from scientists and programmers to teachers and office administrators. The job fair is being offered free of charge to all qualified job seekers. Job seekers must have a college degree (or equivalent) or a minimum of two years work experience to attend. Job seekers are asked to bring copies of their resume and a copy of The Big Help from the September 7th issue of The Boston Sunday Globe.

Fifty leading Massachusetts employers will be exhibiting at the Job Fair, including Antigenics, Comcast, Massachusetts General Hospital, Raytheon, Hertz, Cingular Wireless, Key Corp., American Express Financial Advisors, Boston.com, By Appointment Only, Grand Circle Corp., Colleges of the Fenway, and Converge, among others.

About BostonWorks:
BostonWorks, a division of The Boston Globe, is the leading recruitment services provider in Greater Boston. Combining the power of The Boston Globe and Boston.com, BostonWorks reaches an audience of more than 2.3 million each week. In addition to the Sunday Globe's BostonWorks section, the division offers BostonWorks.com with over 700,000 unique users, 17,000 job listings and 460,000 resumes; industry-specific magazines such as On Call for nurses and allied health professionals; JobSource, a weekly career publication with distribution of over 100,000; and 12 career fairs held in Greater Boston throughout the year.