PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — You’ve heard it before: there are more jobs open in Florida than there are people unemployed. But are those jobs sticking around?
There are two things that have kept server Tiffany Paul in the restaurant business for the last seven years.
"I've found my niche. I love tacos and tequila," said Paul, a server at El Camino in Delray Beach.
And lucky for her, in Palm Beach County she has job security. Over the next seven years, statistics gathered by the state project a 38% growth for cooks and restaurant jobs, and a 22% increase in positions for servers.
"One of the things about Palm Beach County, it’s an exciting time for growth in those two markets. We feel like there’s a pent up demand for greater food, great energetic restaurants," said Francis Lake, the vice president of operations at El Camino.
The modern Mexican fare and soul food restaurant, which already has locations in Delray Beach and Fort Lauderdale, is joining other restaurants that have continued their plans for expansion even after a pandemic.
El Camino is one of the restaurants contributing to the job growth in Palm Beach County. About 400 jobs will be open up between two new locations in West Palm Beach and Boca Raton.
But with the growth, there’s also a decline. Over the next seven years, jobs for parking enforcement workers, word processors, and typists are decreasing.
"We found the some jobs aren’t going to be coming back from COVID," said Tom Veesntra with Career Source.
Veesntra said, in many of those cases, employers have found support through automation and robotics.
But the most in demand jobs in Palm Beach County right now and the foreseeable future are in health care.
"Will be a huge, probably number one or number two, in demand in the county for many years going forward," Veesntra said.
And in order to expand that pipeline of talent for the most in demand jobs, Palm Beach State College has created money-back guarantee programs.
The college guarantees students who complete certain programs in health care, trade, and manufacturing, among other fields get their money back if they don’t find a job within six months.
If you'd like to take a look at a breakdown of job growth nationally,click here.