LABOR DAY State agency wants S.C. unemployed to know ‘lifeboat jobs’ are out there BY BRUCE MILLS For South Carolinians who are unemployed due to COVID-19 or other factors and looking to get back to work, the state’s top employment agency is trying to send a lifeboat. Not literally, but the state Department of Employment and Workforce has spent the last couple months digging through online occupational postings to find the most available jobs - by actual number of current posts this summer - in the state. Agency Labor Market Information Director Brian Nottingham talked to The Sumter Item about the final product, which is the top 29 “lifeboat jobs” in the state. A “lifeboat job” is a relatively new term coined to describe a position that can hold someone over until the economy recovers. Given the jobs are out there currently, each lifeboat job affords a person with an opportunity to earn a paycheck almost immediately, Nottingham said. Also, based on the agency’s research, many of the available career pivots could lead to long-term prospects based on skills acquired in the positions, he added. “The skills you learn in a previous occupation often prepare you for something new, even if you don’t realize it at the time,” Nottingham said. “Similarly, once you find yourself ‘safe from the storm’ in a lifeboat job, you’re acquiring new skills and experiences that, in the future, can set you up to transition into a higher-pay job or start on a brand new career pathway.” During the next few weeks, the agency is distributing information on the various “lifeboat jobs” by industry sector. The first sector is the hospitality and
accommodation industry. After significant layoffs in March and April, various jobs in the sector are growing and available now. Some highlighted “lifeboat jobs” currently are food prep workers (such as fast-food industry workers), janitors and cleaners, waiters/waitresses and food service managers, according to the agency’s research. An uptick in the state’s tourism industry finally in July has led to increased demand for these workers now, Nottingham said. Also, causing more availability now is some workers didn’t return to these jobs this summer as the economy reopened amid the pandemic. Those reasons could be health and safety concerns for themselves and their families, given COVID-19, and possibly the expanded $600 in federal unemployment benefits that people received through July. Currently, some CONTINUE READING ON B2