Although I realize your post is a couple years old, please permit me to respond. I don't know where you've been hanging out, but your post is way off base. There are plenty of job opportunities in the Morgantown area besides Mylan. Research is growing exponentially here, and places like NIOSH, Protea, and nearby NASA in Fairmont hire hundreds. Also, FBI forensics identification jobs in Clarksburg are not that far of a commute compared with large city living, and Federal jobs in the prison system and at the Department of Agriculture are plentiful. Contrary to your belief about the local coal industry, it has scarcely missed a beat. Coal jobs in harder to get to southern West Virginia have suffered, but the northern WV mines still produce at near capacity. Much of that coal is being shipped to Asia and other cheap labor countries via Baltimore, but local production remains strong. Tourism and hospitality are also growing fields, and the outdoor amenities offered locally are exceptional while crime is virtually non existent, and construction activity is at a fever pitch with more than $1 billion of new construction going on at the current time. I don't know what field you have for your masters, but work in higher education at a major university is competitive and you generally have to work your way into such positions by starting at the smaller schools, so maybe that is your issue? Also, with a 4% more or less unemployment rate, there isn't a lot of need for social service types in these environs. You'd need to go further south or maybe to a big city to have a better chance of work in those fields. Same goes for work in the local school systems... since it is so desirable to live here, competition is strong for teaching jobs in the primary and secondary areas here. Compared with most places and in many fields though, opportunities are plentiful here. Even the local newspaper has 4 pages of help wanted listings on Sundays, and if you work in the healthcare, sales, or hospitality areas you will have multiple offers quickly.
Paul | Morgantown, WV | Report Abuse