BY LYNN ASCRIZZI

Staff Writer

School budget cuts. Belt-tightening at local hospitals. The housing market in a tailspin. Sagging and lagging payrolls.

Once-secure jobs in education, health care, real estate and manufacturing have been turning sour. Is there no "sure thing" in jobs anymore?

Take public school teaching, always perceived as a stable career. This spring, scores of central Maine school teachers have lost their jobs. Most recently, five teachers were slated to lose their positions earlier this month under the proposed budget at School Administrative District 9 in Farmington.

"As far as people losing positions, the only thing that has come close to the cuts happening now, was in the early '90s.

"That's the last time it's been really like that," said SAD 9 assistant superintendent Susan Pratt.

She was referring to Maine's deep recession in 1990, when banks failed, housing prices fell sharply, layoffs rose and the economy shifted into reverse.

Cuts in SAD 9 affected several people in nonteaching jobs, too, including seven in maintenance and transportation, who are being terminated, she said.

No one can deny that glowering storm clouds hang over the economic landscape in the state and elsewhere.

But although the local job scene is decidedly not fun, if you take the long view, experts say, it's not all as scary as it looks. As corny as it sounds, when one job closes another will open.

In-demand jobs

"You're meeting people out of work, and it's tough out there. You feel it every day. The economy is sluggish," said Adam C. Fisher, director of public affairs for the Maine Department of Labor.

"But things are changing. People should be, or can be hopeful there are other jobs out there. People keep finding new work," he said.

Fisher cited "High Wage, In-Demand Jobs," a comprehensive list of occupations currently posted under "Recent Updates" at http://www.state.me.us/labor/lmis/.

The 126 jobs categories posted are wide and varied -- from truck drivers to medical laboratory technologists, from chefs and head cooks to computer software engineers -- all of which are expected to have openings for years to come. Many of the occupations listed show strong growth potential, and their annual number of openings and median wages are also listed.

"A generation ago, people hoped to find an organization or industry they could stay in all their lives; today, you might move five or six times. If you've lost a job there are a lot of options out there," Fisher said.

He pointed job seekers in the direction of the Augusta Career Center in Augusta, that helps job seekers polish resumes, learn about the interviewing process, get re-employment assistance and much more. (http://www.mainecareercenter.com/careercenters/augusta.shtml)

And, age is not a hindrance to getting hired, he added.

"For some companies, hiring older workers is better. They're more stable and, get along with people better," he said.

School teaching has made the state's "In-Demand" list but shows only a 2.9 percent growth rate. A rapid decline in student enrollments, not school district consolidations, underlies its slow growth, said David Connerty-Marin, communications director for the state Department of Education in Augusta.

"We've had a 10,000 drop in enrolled students, statewide, in the past three years," he said. Currently, there are 190,000 student from K-12 enrolled in Maine public schools.

"We expect the drop in enrollments to continue for a number of years to come. The high school graduating class this year is 16,000; it's higher than the 13,000 students coming into the first grade. Children of Baby Boomers are not having as many kids. It's the end of a wave."

Public school enrollments will bottom out to 178,000 kids in 2012 and 2013, Connerty-Marin predicts.

Nonetheless, John Challenger of Challenger Gray & Christmas, Inc., of Chicago, Ill., an outplacement consulting firm, is bullish on the future of teaching.

"Teaching is a strong, stable area to build a career in," he said. "There are always going to be young people to educate. More and more people are looking at life-long learning. Companies give training and education; a lot of educating is being done by employers. . . . A lot of retirements are coming up in education, which will create more openings," he said.

Job freeze is melting

In the past two weeks, Debbie Munroe, general manager of the corporate office for Atwork Personnel in Lincolnville, is seeing the winter ice melting from seasonal occupations like construction and the tourist industry. The only obstacle to a job is having a valid driver's license and transportation, she said.

And, construction jobs only phase back in winter; they're never out totally, she said.

"It's blue collar all the way. There are so many hands-on trades looking for people. I've got lots of job orders from construction companies looking for people who can use a hammer and read a tape measure. And, they'll train them."

Landscaping, construction, motel housekeeping, restaurants, accountants and bookkeepers are areas of work needing workers, she said. And, payroll is cutting 300 to 400 checks per week. Atwork has the state contract for highway "flaggers," and she is seeing a leap in that area too, she said.

"Flaggers get paid decent wages. I don't pay less than $8.50 per hour," she said. There are four Atwork offices in Maine, she said, one of which is in Skowhegan.

It takes effort

At the white-collar level, William "Bill" Schissler, director of career services at Thomas College in Waterville finds that human effort oils the squeaking wheels of progress.

"Students who applied themselves initially to work on a plan are finding work; students who waited until graduation to start looking, are running into difficulty," he said.

According to his first survey returns, some of the 65 seniors who graduated from Thomas in early May already have found the following jobs in Maine: Customer service supervisor at Old Navy retail store in Augusta; part-time police officer; computer programmer at Uncle Henry's online; financial advisor trainee at Golden Pond, a wealth management firm in Waterville and two manager trainees for Enterprise Car Rental in the Portland area.

"It's about effort. If you do a good job and market yourself properly, with a cover letter and resume, you'll find work," he said.

Be flexible, he advised.

"Nationally, about 80 percent of graduates will not be working in a field related to their major. Most people average 11 jobs between the ages of 18 and 35," he said.

Challenger echoed the sentiment.

"There is no lifetime tenure anymore. Adapt and move," he said.

The health-care industry is not all doom and gloom, either, said Glenn Mills, director of economic research for the state Department of Labor.

"The aging Baby Boomer generation is driving strong growth and demand in health care. Longer-term trends show there is wide-ranging job growth in health care -- from doctors, chiropractors, dentists and osteopaths, to nursing and residential care," Mills said.

State employment estimates show an increase of 700 hospital jobs statewide in 2008. Although growth in that sector was 800 jobs in April 2007, in an industry with 30,000 jobs, 100 jobs less is "nothing significant," he said.

Lynn Ascrizzi -- 861-9245

lascrizzi@centralmaine.com