Despite this year's decrease of jobs in the private sector, the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce's 2009 Job Report reports that the number of government jobs increased, including a rise in the number of employment opportunities at the University.\nSince 2008 there has been a decrease of 1,054 jobs in the private sector and a simultaneous increase of 627 government jobs, said Bryan Thomas, chairman of the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce.\nThe cuts in private sector employment opportunities have hurt a number of local businesses, he said, adding that service, retail, construction and manufacturing jobs particularly have declined.\n"In the past 10 years leisure and hospitality jobs have increased in addition to local and state government jobs which include some, but not all, of the professors at U.Va., and some, but not all of the medical staff," Thomas said.\nSusan Carkeek, University vice president and chief human resources officer, said there was an uptick of several hundred job openings, which is "modest" but not "unexpected." To prevent future layoffs, Carkeek said the University is taking several precautions.\n"The major initiative has been to fill as many positions [as possible] by internal promotion," giving current employees the opportunity for promotions and salary increases, she said. "Before any position is posted it goes through fairly rigorous evaluation to see if we should even refill it ... By evaluating all vacancies that way, we avoid layoffs".\nMoving forward, both Carkeek and Thomas said they expect positive trends for both the Charlottesville and University job markets. Carkeek noted that the University in particular benefits from increased student enrollment and increased positions in the research field.\n"There is always a need for health care," she said, noting that this persistent demand equates to stable employment at the University Medical Center.\nDespite the decrease in available private sector jobs, Thomas similarly remained positive about the state of Charlottesville's economy.\n"Even though our numbers are down, if you look at Charlottesville and our area in relation to other similar areas, we have fared much better in the nation," he said.\nThomas also said the Chamber of Commerce anticipates an opening of 800 jobs in late 2010, a potential increase that he said could be attributed to the soon-to-be-completed construction of a government Joint-Use Intelligence Analysis Facility in the area.
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