The Office of Emergency Preparedness released an online training module last week that all University employees are expected to complete, in response to an executive order from Virginia Gov.
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. Since 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. The 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. "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. Susan 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. "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.
