Workers in Demand As Economy Grows; Labor Shortage Is Boom's Downside
For much of the last half-decade, the story line for Southern Maryland's economy has been simple: Growth, and how to manage it. People have flocked to the region, creating fertile ground for companies of every sort.</br></br>Now, add this line to the story: There are scores of new jobs, but with unemployment rates nearing the lowest level in decades, it can take time to fill them.</br></br>Southern Maryland's roaring economy has significantly intensified demand for workers, fostering a climate in which prospective employees in some industries can command higher salaries or move to another job.</br></br>"People all over are having these problems. It's real," said Janet Cook, executive director of St. Mary's County's Chamber of Commerce, which recently lost an office manager to a better-paying job at a high-tech firm.</br></br>The Southern Maryland experience so far relects that of the larger region. While much of the nation is braced for job layoffs as the economy slows, the deep reliance of metropolitan Washington's economy on the federal government appears so far to have shielded it from most of the fallout of any downturn, experts say.