Need a Job? Move to Iowa!

Great story in the NYTimes today that bubbled up to me on Twitter via the #dmtweetup crew. This time last year I wrote a post here asking “Where are all the cool jobs?“. In it I wrote of the “brain drain” that Iowa faces as its smart, young, talented workforce jump ship to head to the “cool” cities. Well this brain drain, among other reasones, has created a SURPLUS (you read it right) of jobs for skilled, knowledge workers in Iowa … even in a recession. The market has completely flipped to where employers are scrambling to attract the young, smart, and talented and giving incentives for “cool jobs”.

As Iowa Job Surplus Grows, Workers Call the Shots - NYTimes.com

“As rising unemployment and layoffs beset workers around the country, Iowa faces a different problem: a surplus of jobs. Or to put it another way: a shortage of workers. A survey of companies by Iowa Workforce Development, a state agency, found as many as 48,000 job vacancies, in industries including financial services — Des Moines trails only Hartford as the nation’s insurance capital — health care and skilled manufacturing. One estimate projects the job surplus to reach 198,000 by 2014, with vacancies increasingly in professional positions. Greater Des Moines alone faces a shortfall of 60,000 workers in the next decade.

The state provides a small, advance view of what some economists predict will be a broader shortage of skilled workers in the next 20 or 30 years, as tens of millions of baby boomers retire from the workplace, and the economy produces more new jobs than workers. Potential consequences include slower economic growth and competitiveness, as well as higher wages for skilled workers and greater inequality”

Don’t worry - once you get here you will find Iowa has a lot of cool tech people and saavy business minds.

Technorati Tags: iowa, business, des moines

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Addicted to Work

While I was too busy to blog over the last six months I contemplated this thought over and over again. Being a web worker as well as falling into the GenY category I spend a lot of time on the web - for work and for play. Often times the line between these two are blurred. What’s worse is I’ll find myself shifting back and forth between the two in my 12 hour a day shift at the computer. On the weekend, simple web browsing somehow turns into a four hour long hack-a-thon. I’ve become addicted to my work.

Almost any train of thought I have is redirected down the path of critical and analytical thinking… which inevitably leads to an *idea* and a couple of hours of work for due diligence. This painstaking process has lead me to be strung out, burnt out, and overly tired and an ever increasing project load. But this does not stop me, for I am addicted to my work.

My schedule often includes 12 hours a day at my computer working on a dozen different projects. My weekends are a mix between a lot of work and a little play. I cannot seem to break out of the habit, because I am addicted to work.

The last couple weekends I have not had a chance to get to work because I’ve just been too busy with that “other stuff”. Holiday weekends, bachelor parties in Vegas, and some good Iowa weather have helped me break away from the glare of too many LCDs at my desk. Although I couldn’t quite get my brain away I still came back to my computer refreshed. It felt good, although I am afraid I am still addicted to my work.

But now that I’ve acknowledged “I have a problem”, I can begin to cope. After this realization occurred I read two great articles that cemented my newfound awareness. The first one I read was from Norm Brodsky in the most recent issue of Inc. Magazine called “Street Smarts: Get Lost“…
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