Florida Const Jobs?? Help...
 

Due to family issues my wife is wanting to relocate to f.l. I'm a heavy equipment operator, make pretty ok $, and have been very fortunate to not be laid off in recent years. Looking for jobs and the f.l. market looks pretty soft. And the jobs available pay horrible. ANY ADVICE IS APPRECIATED. average pay? Just putting all my lines in the water before I pack up, sell my house, quit my steady job , and get stuck in the sunshine state flipping burgers! Area would be crystal river, Hollywood, Hernando.....idk

I dont want to be a downer, but I think Florida is pretty slow. I have had guys come looking for operator jobs that came back home to Michigan from Florida due to lack of work, after having been there for years. This was last season though, maybe it has started to pick up. I think the only places doing decent for operators right now are out west in in the oil fields or possibly the Middle Atlantic states. Havent heard much out of Texas, but they have jobs sometimes.

was gunna move my concrete constr biz to the clearwater/ tampa area and had builder work lined up on Rt 54 for the same bldr we do work down here for and even as cut throat as it is here i will leave the equipt parked b4 work for Fl rates .good luck hope things work out 4 ya

Construction is tough down here, and like fountianfan said it's cutthroat as you have companies putting bids in just enough to cover expenses which kills competitors if your trying to make a profit lol. Seems to happen more so with the larger firms that are just trying to keep afloat.

To be blunt, construction in FL has all but come to a halt and the Crystal River area you mentioned isn't exactly a hotbed of growth. A major Metropolitan area like Tampa would be better, but that would be a hell of a commute for you. Even so, there's so much competition that the wages wouldn't be anywhere near what you're getting up in Mass.

Condering the insane amount of new homes and condos sitting vacant that may be sitting vacant for a VERY long time I would think construction would be a bad idea in Florida right now.

Quote:
"Nearly 1.6 million houses in Florida are currently vacant, a 63% increase since 2000."
www.totalmortgage.com

I have been looking for work in FL, not construction but engineering.,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, there is not much and what there is doesn't pay.

The strange thing is the cost of living is higher then Indianapolis, even without state income tax.

I have a buddy that lives up in CR,,,,,, not much there at all. Other then a Nuke plant that is being worked on. (repairs)

Ya. What all you guys are saying is kinda what I expected. See ya at my drive thru position at sonic. Maybe spot me a $10 for boat gas? Thanks

Thats why I moved from south Florida to central Texas,
salaries are lower but cost of living higher and there are few jobs
because there is no real industry of any kind besides tourism.. .
(not to mention I live next to the water for 1/10 the cost! )
Was lucky to sell and get the heck outta there right before the crash or I would have been
working at Sonic myself..

Good luck to ya man I wish I could do the same I hate MA it sucks people suck boating sucks weather sucks, I hope u make it happen I'm an electrician and I wish I could relocate or wish I had the balls too. If you don't move hit me up I'm out on the water ever weekend in buzzards bay. Good luck to ya

Love this quote! I'm an electrician also, but in St. Louis...feel the same though.

I am a commercial roofing sales specialist I just got back with my original employer because things are coming out of the crapper...Bradenton, Sarasota is the big mover right now..still just crawling in Naples...

Ya. I'm not the biggest fan of taxachusetts, but not going to f.l. for a rockstar lifestyle. The part ill be headed to has far more horses and hillbillies than boats and boobs!!

Unfortunately, you are right about that. Crystal River is "old Florida," and I don't mean that in a good way, I mean that in a Deliverance kind of way. :D :eek: Their claim to fame is manatee tourism, I'm sure you'll enjoy that.

The good thing is that Tampa is about an hour and a half away.

I forgot to mention that Hillsborough county (Tampa) received a couple billion dollars in stimulus money from the Feds recently, and a good deal of that is going to roadway and transportation improvements. I've noticed that damn near every major road in Tampa is under construction and there's a lot of Earth to be moved. That'll be your best bet for construction work. Maybe living somewhere halfway between CR and Tampa could work out for you.

I wish you the best of luck.

Thanks cig and everybody else too. Tickets booked for June 1. Hers one way. Mine round trip. Maybe ill change careers? Manitee tour guide? Funeral home director? Horse ferrier? Ha :coolcowboy: should be interesting.

PM me if you decide to move down here, i am in construction and we could always use a good operator. The company i work for is state wide.

Pm sent. Thanks Boomer.

Anybody need a good field engineer/ road dog?

I am available.

I have a buddy who has a big commerical construction bus in Tampa and his guys are working in SC just to keep going. On the otherhand here in West Texas they can't find enough people to fill the jobs. I work for a pipeline company and we start kids off at $75,000 and still can't hire enough people to keep up with demand. The down side is that its west Texas, 3-4 hours to decent lakes.

sounds like lots of work in west texas

Don't come to Florida without a lock on a job. I have been here since 1976 and never dreamed I would see anything like this.

I am a licenced GC and Fire Sprinkler Contractor (38 years) and ended up merging my sprinkler business with a strong Fire Alarm Contractor...smartest thing I could have done. The opportunities here are in the service and maintenance business on the commercial side with some spillover to residential.

On the bright side...if you can posture yourself to be ready for the next boom you will do very well. Believe me...it's comming. I talk to property owners and developers as well as Architects and Engineers I know and they have an explosion of work in the pipeline. The deal is that everyone with money is waiting untill after the 2012 election to see if we can get somebody pro business in the White House. When we do...there is so much bottled up desire that this whole state will explode.

This is Florida....everybody in the world that gets a taste of this wants a piece of it. As long as it's 8 degrees in Boston in February and 80 in West Palm Beach...people will spend their money here.

Thanks for the advice. That's what I'm trying to do, hence... my wife one way, me round trip. I do enjoy the sunshine state, but am pretty well rooted here and moving out of nesessity. Idk who the hell knows what will happen. Thanks, good luck to you.......