San Antonio offers one of the best labor environments in the United States — over the past five years, the San Antonio employment market has increased, on average, 6% per year. Not only is it located in the employment-friendly state of Texas, but it is one of the most rapidly expanding urban centers in the South. Careers in San Antonio are abundant, well-paid, and allow for an enviably high quality of life. San Antonio employment has expanded so quickly in the last five years that many companies have begun offering large bonuses to job-seekers willing to relocate there. As one of the new “boomtowns” cropping up in former industrial-based centers of employment, San Antonio is enjoying an employment renaissance that promises to continue for years to come.
According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, as of May 2009, San Antonio had the 2nd-lowest unemployment rate of any metropolitan area of over 1 million people. Such a low unemployment rate can be attributed to the break-neck pace at which San Antonio’s urban core is expanding. San Antonio employment is booming in a number of very important, very permanent industries: health services, local government, and hospitality and leisure. San Antonio has one of the most vibrant healthcare industries in the state of Texas: its concentration of specialist surgeons puts it in the top five among other Texas cities. It is also becoming a hub for specialist surgeries throughout Central Texas, with a larger international airport than nearby Austin and easier access by car via a thorough network of highways. The local and state governments are also expanding their presence in San Antonio as the city grows, providing jobs for teachers, business professionals, and lawmakers alike. Five Fortune 500 companies call San Antonio home, employing thousands of workers in highly-paid, upwardly-mobile positions. The city’s expansion is so ubiquitous that construction projects, on average, must wait 3 months before breaking ground as the city’s contractors all have backlogs. The hospitality and leisure industry is also taking root in San Antonio as more hotels open alongside the city’s famous Riverwalk. San Antonio has always been a tourism destination for Texans looking to take a long weekend: the nearby Alamo is visited by nearly 2 million vacationers per year. Also located in San Antonio are Six Flags: Fiesta Texas, one of Six Flags’ landmark amusement parks, and Seaworld San Antonio. These attractions bring millions of dollars in tourism income to the city each year and provide thousands of jobs to the local workforce. San Antonio is also the closest city to the nearby Prime Outlet malls — a shopper’s paradise which draws thousands of visitors each year, some from international locations.
There are many people in San Antonio that focus specifically on San Antonio employment and job matching. In fact, San Antonio has one of the most active job placement markets in the country, and third party recruiters are often able to fill corporate positions within a few mere days of them opening. Job seekers from out of state would be well served by retaining a third party recruiter because of the knowledge they have of the local San Antonio employment market, their connections with local employers, and their expertise in matching clients to appropriate positions, saving everyone time and money. Listed below are some the largest third party recruiting agencies in San Antonio:
-Alamo Workforce (www.alamoworksource.org)
-Adecco Employment Services (http://www.adecco.com)
-Business Staffing Inc (http://www.business-staffing.com/)
-Bcms Staffing (http://www.bcms.org/)
-Partners Two Inc
Even a local can save himself from the headaches of personal job hunt by using a third party recruitment agency to help with his San Antonio employment search. Third party recruitment agencies offer the flexibility of a large database of job opportunities as well as expertise in job matching and personal contacts with large corporations.
The quality of life offered by San Antonio is one of the highest in Texas, offering immediate and abundant availability of housing, consumer goods, well-ranked education and leisure activities. San Antonio employment can provide a lifestyle unparalleled with many cities San Antonio’s size. The availability of consumer goods in San Antonio is practically limitless: San Antonio citizens have easy access to every brand of car within the city limits as well as the full range of luxury home furnishings, clothes, electronics equipment, and nightlife. Add to this the relatively low cost of both housing and renting — the average home in San Antonio is 10% cheaper than in nearby Austin, per square foot — San Antonio employment can provide a level of lifestyle comparable to much larger cities for much less money. San Antonio is well-known throughout Texas a shopper’s paradise, boasting more malls than any other city in Central Texas and often leading the region in the adoption in new fashion and lifestyle trends. San Antonio also hosts a number of world-class nightclubs and music venues and has become a stop-of-choice for many nationally-touring music acts looking to add another Texas destination to their tour itinerary. In fact, nightclubs and restaurants abound in San Antonio: one cannot walk a block in San Antonio’s “River District” without seeing a restaurant — most without outdoor seating that can be utilized year-round — or a nightclub. But San Antonio isn’t all fun and games. San Antonio is home to some of the state’s largest universities, including the University of Texas at San Antonio, University of the Incarnate Word, Our Lady of the Lake University, Trinity University, St. Mary’s University, and Wayland Baptist University. San Antonio has emerged as one of Texas’ premiere centers of scholarship, and the myriad universities that reside in San Antonio count thousands of San Antonio citizens on their payrolls. Education is a major component of San Antonio employment — both directly, by providing jobs, and indirectly, by providing a workforce which contributes to San Antonio employment after graduating.
San Antonio employment has grown at a dizzying pace over the past decade. The city, located in the heart of Texas’ hill country, continues to attract new members of its workforce with its high standard of living, its venerable academic institutions, and its booming economy. San Antonio employment is surely an outgrowth of the characteristics of the city that make it such a desirable place to live. San Antonio employment looks poised to expand even further in the decade to come as word gets out about the city and its treasures.
