Career Advice & News Center

Military and other federal, state and local agencies are looking for network engineers and other tech workers in North Carolina, and along with the healthcare industry, those openings represent the green shoots of recovery that are otherwise hard to find in the state.

The unemployment rate in the Research Triangle of Raleigh-Durham and Charlotte is down half a percent from July, according to August statistics cited by the Triangle Business Journal. It represents a steady decline in joblessness in the area, as well as in the majority of North Carolina as a whole.

Some 7,000 positions were created last month, the first time in months that the net change has been positive, even as "many [markets] are undergoing wrenching contractions in the size of their labor forces," John Quintero, principal of an economic research firm, told the news provider. The chief force behind the hiring is government agencies.

In fact, the government is likely to be the largest source of potential positions for the foreseeable future, with nearly 300,000 "mission critical" positions that need to be filled in the next several years across the U.S., notes CNN employment expert Clark Howard. A similar number of positions will open due to normal staff turnover from career switches and retirement.

Both public agencies and private firms have put an emphasis on green business practices, so network engineers that can reduce electrical consumption could find work limiting inefficiencies, according to Howard. The growth of solar panel installation companies may also require network administration and design to facilitate cooperation between offices.