Employment in or near the Villages?
 

Hi All,

I'm seriously considering moving to the Villages. My career in Government has become too stressful, and i've come to the realization that it's just not worth the risk to my health. Time to make a change. I've been checking out the Villages from a far for years. I still need to work, so im wondering, generally speaking, how is the job market in and around the Villages? Are there many opportunities (other than construction)?

Thanks in advance!

Teaching, medical, sales associate. The developer has lots of positions open.

Pay seem low here for us, that’s why once retired, and other is a traveler. But if you are just looking for supplement income you could do well

Almost every business has a " Help Wanted " sign, no problem if you want employment here.

Thank you for your reply. I would be interested in full time income. I wouldn't be expecting anywhere near my current income, but would need a "livable wage" until I'm ready to retire (I'm 53, probably retire at 60 or 62).

Thats good to know, thank you.

There are many job openings, but the salaries are not good. I highly suggest you check jobs available and see what salary is offered.

depends on the kind of work you are looking for. the health field is wide open now, & with a degree you'd be able to earn more. shops & restaurants are always looking. idk if it would pay close to your Govt. job, but it is work in a place with very easy living. just entering the Villages will reduce your stress by 10fold. despite the naysayers, it IS the friendliest place, -99% of us are so happy to even be here. we welcome you!!! :wave:

Lots of openings in retail almost all businesses looking for people.

The Villages - Florida's Friendliest Active Adult 55+ Retirement Community

Job postings

OP, you will also need to consider if you are willing to travel, Ocala, Leesburg, etc. You can check the local newspapers on line for help wanted. If you are a handyman, there always seems to be a need for them.

I don't know what you think a "livable wage" but unless you have some kind of special skill (CPA, Doctor, Lawyer etc) you will only make between 10 and 14 dollars per hour here for the majority of jobs. And, that is higher than a few years ago when it was between 8 and 10 dollars per hour.

Nobody uses the newspapers anymore to advertise jobs. Use something like Monster.com, Indeed and countless other websites to see what is available in this area

I'm in the Govt too, so my first question is it Govt work or just your job? Its an important distinction because if its just your job there are tons of remote jobs out there. I was in the DC rat race and switched my position to remote and moved to TV. I took a hit on the locality part of my pay, but my quality of life and stress is way low. I still have ~5 years until retirement, but I honestly may go for 7 years since its working out so well.

I looked into jobs around TV and its pretty depressing. As an example, a cybersecurity engineer TV had an opening for was paying $46-$49k where here in DC the pay would be $130k. Even jobs such as a security guard seem to make $6-$8 less an hour than around TV. I can't honestly say if its the location or what, but the pay gets better down near Tampa.

If your a Fed and want some pointers feel free to DM me and I can point you in the right direction (sorry-don't know anything about state jobs). I don't think I would move to TV unless you had a good paying job as there is none here. You can always find a job, but you'll be working long hours just to scrape by. In my opinion, thats not the kind of life you want.

That's only partially true, the jobs paying $10/14 per hour are there because no one want's them and they cannot fill the positions at that rate. There are tons of jobs here that are paying between $15/20 per hour and higher depending on your background and those employers are able to fill the positions.

What is Your Current Job?
 

Depending on your field of expertise, search on indeed.com and enter "remote" in the Location field. There are some remote workers here and a remote position will likely pay more.

Thank you

Thanks for the kind reply. Much appreciated.

Thank you. Definitely open to traveling form the right situation.

Thanks. $10-$14 per hour won't cut it. :-)

Nice wall street reference. :-) I'm a Federal Civilian (Civil Servant) up in the DC/NOVA area. I'm going to DM you. Thanks so much.

There are a lot of opportunities but that’s hard to answer since we don’t know anything about you. As like anywhere the service industry is beginning for workers. The Villages itself is always looking for part timers in the Parks and Recreation and Entertainment areas. Property management is always looking for full timers as electricians, plumbers and carpenters, even office work if you have that background. I hope that helps.

You must bring all the money you need with you. Jobs here pay nothing and are not livable wages. Especially, if you need to make payments on a home in The Villages.

Then wait elsewhere Working in FL is not the best..

Don't count on that in Florida, the pay is horrible. I am surprised anyone works in this state.

Check out Assisted Living facilities...they are always looking for security and drivers... those two jobs pay more than others. And there are plenty of Assisted living facilities here. Of course the security over night shift pays more.

Yes, come on down and relax. You will find work.

Go to Indeed.com to see many job opportunities near The Villages.

you can live here and commute to a real job in the real world, from Deluna/March bend, there is nearly a straight shot to Orlando, and with some WFH hours, assuming you have that job and skill set, you can do pretty well

W2 guy

No - to answer your question- thanks for asking.

Work has changed in the last few years. Perhaps, you can switch to another federal job that allows remote work?

Jobs at the villages.
The Villages - Florida's Friendliest Active Adult 55+ Retirement Community
Also look at other typical places like indeed.com. Just depends on type of job and the amount of compensation you need.

Mike....don't have a heart attack when you see the salaries offered. Every business is different of course, but in my business there were no sick days ( no work, no pay), very little help ( if any) with health insurance, and longer hours to work than what I was used to. Also....drug testing is mandatory. This is all for full time jobs. The Daily Sun does have job listings to look at, also on-line is a good source.

that's not at all correct. Those professions are paying much higher than that in this area.

Depends what you are looking for and how much money you want. I commute to Orlando everyday, they pay better than Marion/Sumter but it is a 55 min ride. You can find jobs close but if you come from an urban area in the north expect a huge pay difference.

The federal prison in Coleman is looking and in desperate need now. Have you considered this. They have all types of job classifications available, not only security officer positions.

I retired at age 64 this time last year which followed a 44 year R.N. career. The 1st 24 of those years I worked in several private sector hospitals and the last 20 years I worked for the Feds in large VA Hospital primary care clinic in my home state of R.I There were many times during the last 5 or so years prior to my retirement that I wanted to throw in the towel as a result of work stress which peaked in 2020 when I was detailed to work in the covid triage tent. As stressful as that was which thankfully after working three months in that ro!e I was detailed to telework, I knew if I left at that time I would not only reduce my FERS pension not having yet reached my 20 years of service I would have likely ended up back again in equally stressful private sector healthcare employment making a significantly lower salary. I ended up hanging in for the 20 service years which my SCD date was 9/11/21and retired on 9/17 which was actually two years earlier than I originally planned to retire. I have zero regrets in doing what I did because it put me in a better retirement financial place where I did not have to face ever returning to the workforce to make ends meet because that for me would be more stressful than any job I ever had and I was an ER nurse most of the1st 1/2 of my career. Before you throw in the Fed towel do some online searching to see if there are positions open in other agencies you maybe qualified to apply for that may be a less stressful work option for you. I worked with several Fed colleagues along the way that went from high stress GS-12 positions to lower stress GS-9 positions to make their last few years to retirement more tolerable for them and most actually liked the lower paying positions they transitioned to.

When you're doing the numbers, consider who will pay your health care premiums. Medicare won't kick in till you're 65 (and retired) and the Medicare premium is automatically deducted from you Soc Security check. That's IF you are taking Soc Sec at age 65. If you retire before 65, you can continue your fed gov health benefits by paying the insuree (?) cost yourself. Also, you might not be able to keep the same health insurer in FL that you had up north; researching new insurers was time consuming & tricky. ( We had Kaiser HMO in northern VA before moving to TV; Kaiser doesn't exist in FL. I worked for the feds too) Good luck!

I don't understand how a Federal job in the DC area could be stressful. You have job security, good pay, and great benefits. If you quit the Government job and move to The Villages, you will lose a tremendous amount of money. How will you pay for health insurance? A lot of employers in this area do not want to pay for your health insurance. I would suggest that you try to transfer to another Government job, either in DC or to somewhere else in the country. One option is the IRS. They will be offering a huge number of new jobs all over the country. Also, there are websites that will help you find another Government job. Your seniority and other benefits will go with you. Even if you transfer to a lower grade position, you will most likely maintain your current pay. But, I would highly recommend keeping your Government job until you are eligible for retirement. Good luck.

If you haven't looked into it see if you can work remotely and stay with the government. My mom was a fed gov worker for her entire career and would always tell me all you need to do is get in low and you have a better chance to advance in other areas. Of course there were hiring freezes later going on and all that but since you're already in I'd check what you can do to remain with the government. Working remotely greatly takes a lot of stress out of the equation for me with what I do. One of the best decisions I made.