Evening star., 1923-10-18
SPLENDID DEMAND
NOTED FOR LABOR
More Jobs Than Men Is Win
ter Prospect in Many Great
Industrial CenterS.
BY J. G. ROYLE.
,eclal Dispatch to The star.

Special Dispatch to The star.
NEW YORK, October 1S.-There is
every indication today that there will
continue to be more jobs open in the
great industrial and manufacturing
ceuters like Pittsburgh. Cleveland
and Detroit than men who want them.
Jobs are very plentiful. and in some
sections the shortage of adult labor
and it's increased cost is causing en-
ployers to substitute children.
Good times empty the schools
hard times tu them was the way
Charles Reisfar, jr., director Of at
tendance at the Pittsburgh schools,
summed up the situation in q dispatch
received by the writer today.
Big Jobs stu Unfinished.
\ large amount of construction is
still unfinished in Pennsylvania, ohio
and Michigan aud hundreds of thou
sands of dollars worth of road work
Ire drawing on the labor supply, but
Ill of this kind of work, which Will
mploy large numbers, Is of minor i'm
portance compared with the number
which will find their names on the
manufacturing plant pay rolls.
The Ford company probably VIII
continue throughout the winter with
about 100000 men at work in its De-
troit plants, compared with 10000 q
year ago The Cadillac, Packard,
Buick and practically all the other
larger automobile manufacturing rae
tories plan to operate with undimln-
lShed forces, and this winter for the
1irst time in years bids fair to mark
the elimination of SeaSoSal variation
III the automobile industry. Employ
ment in Detroit could fall off rs per
cent and still be above the HsureS
Nfa.sT 81
that after January L there Will be an
increase III employment in the auto
mobile plants until April. with the
average for the winter 33 1s per cent
greater than d year ago.
Demand Exceeds supply.
The demand for unskilled labor in
the Pittsburgh district far exceeds the
supply. Employment departments of
the steel mills say scarcity Of labor
is the cause of mills being partly
idle. In some plants boys Just out OF
high school are sought to fill jobs for
merly held by experienced men, and
are paid so to so cents an hour. The
same scarcity is found in the build
ing trades, and contractors cannot get
men enough TO rush jobs through be-
fore cold weather.
In the Cleveland district there has
been a slight curtailment in some OF
the steel, lumber, printing and chem
zeal plants, but this has been bal
anced by Improvement in sautomobile,
textile and clothing manufacture and
by the migration south of thousands
of workers. As q result, wages are
on the increase.
Idle Men Quickly Hired.
Employment in the northwest is at
an exceptional level, and sufficient
men are not available for every line.
There Is special demand for woods
men and farmhands. The copper
miners laid off in the Butte district
have readily been absorbed into other
industries and the farmers are still
clamoring for help. In California
labor, which has been in keen demand
all summer, will be kept actively en-
gagged on numerous hydro electric,
railroad and highway projects.
The hydro electric companies Will
continue the $3,000,00o worth of work
started last spring. requiring both
skilled and unskilled workers. The
Southern Pacific railroad will push
three big construction projects, one
being the Natron cutoff another the
strengthening of the line through the
Tehachapi mountain and the third
construction of lines near Nogales,
AriZ.
There have been no decreases in
wages OF the coast, and building
operations this winter will employ
all the labor available. Factories are
In the market for hands, and many
lumber camps will run full force in
an effort to supply the expected de-
mand from the orient and domestic
markets. Winter road building Will
aggregate over sS,0e0,000 in Califor-
mia alone.
Plenty of Work In West.
Unemployment is forgotten
phrase around Seattle, although it is
expected unskilled men will drift in
as the weather curtails outdoor work.
To counteract this, however, there is
q heavy demand for unskilled labor
In the orchards and on the farms. In
the big industries, especially logging
demand all iall and winter for both
skilled and unskilled men, and 1t Is
probable the premium on skilled
tinGa indefinitely.
only an unusually sever winter will
slow up employment in the inter
mountain west. Building is booming
and there are plenty of new projects
in prospect. In the Denver section
the Burlington road is completing its
million-dollar shops. Lumber yards
and planning mills are running full
blast. Demand for mining machinery
and structural iron and steel Is keep
ing foundries, machine shops and
pattern shops fully occupied. Cities
are planning big paving projects, and
the boring of the Moffat tunnel
through James peak, IN Colorado, will
care for any surplus common labor
released from the farms, beet fields