Recruiters are having a hard time filling specialized and technical positions in New York City. The problem is transportation. Damage in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy affected tunnels, trains, and tracks, making it harder than ever for workers to travel to work in Manhattan or through it to other parts of New York City.
At first, most employers in the area put their hiring plans aside to try to get through the initial storm cleanup. But now that some companies are trying to restart their hiring, they are finding it hard to recruit candidates who live some distance away.
Candidates in places like New Jersey, Long Island, or Brooklyn are understandably reluctant to consider work in Manhattan with the current flawed transportation system. Just getting to a job interview requires a commitment of a whole day, and if you get the job? The additional hour of commute time each way is a strong deterrent, even for a job that otherwise seems like a solid career move. Workers who have any other options are better off waiting until spring or summer, when the transportation system comes back, before considering such a move.
Some of the new jobs will be filled by workers who live close enough to the workplace to not be so affected by the transportation breakdowns. Ideally, more of the vacant jobs would be filled this way. A partially qualified candidate from the neighborhood might be trained to meet a job requirement in less time than it would take an employer to wait for the transportation system to be fully functional again.
