Today’s Topic

No one in Southern California is singing “Happy Days Are Here Again,” but there are signs the recession may finally be leveling off and the local economy may be on the way to recovery.

The February unemployment rate in L.A. County, by the best estimates, dropped to 9.7% from 11% in January and the state gained 9,500 jobs. Still, the state reportedly has lost as many as 800,000 jobs since mid-1990.

No one can predict when, or if, the state will ever return to its boom days. But one thing is certain: The job market--locally, nationally and abroad--will never be the same.

In fact, the changing job market was the hot topic at a meeting last week in Detroit of the finance and labor ministers from the world’s seven most industrialized nations.

The Detroit meeting did not result in any change in White House policy or new legislation. But it underscored what is becoming the consensus among experts: The best way to improve job opportunities is to improve education, training and worker skills.

Those conclusions are particularly apt for displaced workers in Southern California. In today’s Community Comment, Mary Anne Rust urges employees to re-evaluate their job options, target dynamic industries and enroll in retraining programs.

Other experts, like Jon Goodman, director of the entrepreneur program at USC, agree. “Unfortunately, huge numbers of people are being displaced,” she says. “When looking for a new job, you need to go for new training, lower your expectations, be willing to compromise and be willing to be committed to lifelong learning.”

Goodman suggests looking at smaller companies with $50 million to $150 million in annual revenue. “There are a lot of those companies in L.A. It takes some homework to find them because they’re not likely to advertise,” she says.

Mike Begun, general manager of Search West, an executive search firm in Westlake Village, suggests that there are signs that job opportunities in Southern California are improving and certain industries remain strong.

“Things are better,” Begun says. “We’re not booming, especially here in California. California is going to lag behind the rest of the country. Obviously the aerospace industry was hard hit. But a lot of other industries--data processing, health care, insurance, banking, chemicals--are doing well.”

There are other, perhaps smaller, signs that things are looking up. Jerry Houser, director of career development at USC, said his school has had a 21% increase in job listings for both full- and part-time jobs in the past year.

But finding a job, the experts agree, ultimately depends on the worker’s skills.

Houser targets two areas that he believes can improve anyone’s chances for employment: a strong ability in verbal and written communications and the ability to collect data accurately.

“Even in technical firms, employers want someone who can work in teams, talk across cultures and communicate with people,” Houser says. “And in this new age of business, you need to be able to collect information, reconfigure it and understand it.”