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Civilians go after jobs ... in Iraq
$212,000 salary enough to make some consider work in country at war
December 15, 2007
BY TIM HIGGINS
FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER
The job market in Michigan is so tough that for some even moving to Iraq sounds good.
The pay is high, as much as $212,000 for a yearlong stint.
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So Friday, in the first hour of a Warren job fair for work maintaining military vehicles in Iraq, about 100 people came looking to apply.
"There's no money coming in right now. There are no jobs. There is nothing," J.J. Woodman, 30, of Hazel Park said. "I've been on the computer and driving around for four months -- there's nothing. Everybody wants to make it sound good, but when it comes down to it, nobody is hiring. Everybody is laying off."
The chance of a good-paying job attracted Woodman, and his story was echoed by many as they waited in lines Friday at the Michigan Technical Education Center to apply for such jobs as mechanics, welders, administrative assistants, production controllers and supply technicians.
The U.S. Army TACOM Life Cycle Management Command's Red River Depot in Texarkana, Texas, wants to hire more than 500 people to work in Iraq for one year and one day. About 600 applications were submitted Friday.
The depot has held similar job fairs in the South, but organizers said they thought the Detroit area might be promising with its high population of autoworkers and the lack of jobs.
"We think we can get some great qualified candidates," said Tim Tarczynski of TACOM, which is headquartered in Warren. "The local economy has a lot of people looking for work. If they're committed -- that's the key thing to this -- if they're committed to going to Iraq, we can compensate them. It's seven days a week, 12 hours a day, minimum. Iraq is a dangerous place."
The jobs pay between $136,000 and $212,000 a year and include benefits, such as health and life insurance.
Zhoef Nikola, 23, of Macomb Township saw an ad for the job fair and figured he would check it out. "It's hard to find something," he said. "I've been looking since I got laid off. "I am searching everywhere."
Tim Romain, 40, a laid-off car hauler from Sterling Heights, said his wife told him about the openings.
"The money brought me," Romain said. "The economy is so bad that I am just looking to get back on track. Maybe I can do that in a year."
Romain sees the prospect of earning a six-figure paycheck as a way to pay off his house. While worried about working in a hostile area, he said, "It's a risk I've got to take."
For others, the idea of working abroad sounded appealing.
Glenn Fisher, 35, of Oak Park has a job as a mortgage banker and is studying international business at Oakland Community College. He thought a job in Iraq would look good on his résumé. "It would give me a great experience abroad," he said.
"At first, because I didn't know anything about it, I was concerned about the location," Fisher said. "But they said we go on very large facilities, approximately the size of Metro Airport. It's not like they are putting us in the desert with a tent."
$212,000 salary enough to make some consider work in country at war
December 15, 2007
BY TIM HIGGINS
FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER
The job market in Michigan is so tough that for some even moving to Iraq sounds good.
The pay is high, as much as $212,000 for a yearlong stint.
Advertisement
So Friday, in the first hour of a Warren job fair for work maintaining military vehicles in Iraq, about 100 people came looking to apply.
"There's no money coming in right now. There are no jobs. There is nothing," J.J. Woodman, 30, of Hazel Park said. "I've been on the computer and driving around for four months -- there's nothing. Everybody wants to make it sound good, but when it comes down to it, nobody is hiring. Everybody is laying off."
The chance of a good-paying job attracted Woodman, and his story was echoed by many as they waited in lines Friday at the Michigan Technical Education Center to apply for such jobs as mechanics, welders, administrative assistants, production controllers and supply technicians.
The U.S. Army TACOM Life Cycle Management Command's Red River Depot in Texarkana, Texas, wants to hire more than 500 people to work in Iraq for one year and one day. About 600 applications were submitted Friday.
The depot has held similar job fairs in the South, but organizers said they thought the Detroit area might be promising with its high population of autoworkers and the lack of jobs.
"We think we can get some great qualified candidates," said Tim Tarczynski of TACOM, which is headquartered in Warren. "The local economy has a lot of people looking for work. If they're committed -- that's the key thing to this -- if they're committed to going to Iraq, we can compensate them. It's seven days a week, 12 hours a day, minimum. Iraq is a dangerous place."
The jobs pay between $136,000 and $212,000 a year and include benefits, such as health and life insurance.
Zhoef Nikola, 23, of Macomb Township saw an ad for the job fair and figured he would check it out. "It's hard to find something," he said. "I've been looking since I got laid off. "I am searching everywhere."
Tim Romain, 40, a laid-off car hauler from Sterling Heights, said his wife told him about the openings.
"The money brought me," Romain said. "The economy is so bad that I am just looking to get back on track. Maybe I can do that in a year."
Romain sees the prospect of earning a six-figure paycheck as a way to pay off his house. While worried about working in a hostile area, he said, "It's a risk I've got to take."
For others, the idea of working abroad sounded appealing.
Glenn Fisher, 35, of Oak Park has a job as a mortgage banker and is studying international business at Oakland Community College. He thought a job in Iraq would look good on his résumé. "It would give me a great experience abroad," he said.
"At first, because I didn't know anything about it, I was concerned about the location," Fisher said. "But they said we go on very large facilities, approximately the size of Metro Airport. It's not like they are putting us in the desert with a tent."
$200k a year might even be enough to get me to apply to KBR.
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