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Sarasota Man Hits Streets Looking For Work

Sarasota Herald-Tribune photo by E. SKYLAR LITHERLAND

Sarasota resident Michael Witt holds up a sign to passing traffic at U.S. 41 and Webber on Friday. "I think it's very poignant for people," said Witt, who has been looking for work for two months. "I get a lot of nods."

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Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Published: December 20, 2008

SARASOTA - Michael Witt shaves his face and puts on his best job interview outfit, a navy blue double-breasted suit and yellow tie printed with palm trees.

At 7:45 a.m., his leather shoes planted just inches from Tamiami Trail, he raises his red-lettered appeal: "Awesome employee needs work! 941-350-3200."

"It's come to this," Witt said Friday. "I can't get a job no matter what I've tried, so I'm standing with a sign on a damn street corner."

Witt, 45, lost his job selling real estate two months ago. He was earning $50,000. A year before that, he brought in more than $100,000.

Now, like hundreds of thousands of Floridians, Witt is desperate for work. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday that Florida's jobless rate increased to 7.3 percent in November, the highest in 15 years. Manatee, Charlotte and Sarasota counties were all higher than the state average, with Charlotte nearing 10 percent.

Within the overall unemployment numbers, workers such as Witt represent a growing segment of job seekers who are struggling to find work on par with their qualifications. A year ago, high-wage earners in professional industries would wait six to eight months for a similar job placement, said Sally Hill, spokesman for the regional Suncoast Workforce Board. Now it takes months longer.

Professional and business industries including real estate have lost the second-highest percentage of jobs in this region in the last 12 months. Between Sarasota, Bradenton and Venice, about 5,400 jobs in that industry alone have been lost, a nearly 8 percent drop.

The likely cause is that many of those professions, such as real estate or engineering, even law, were tied to the building industry locally, which has seen a 15 percent drop in employment over last year.

"When housing was booming a lot of people switched careers because they could make a lot of money," said Sean Snaith, director of University of Central Florida's Institute for Economic Competitiveness.

"Now the cuts are getting deeper. It's not the short order cook who decided to be a Realtor at its peak who is losing his job, it's people who have been in the industry as a career who are losing their jobs."

Witt has a bachelor's degree in history from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn., and 20 years of work experience, most of it in real estate, construction or management.

His references, if not awesome, are sparkling. His former bosses and personal friends describe him using words like "very bright" "go-getter" and "talented."

Barry Seidel, who owned the brokerage company where Witt recently worked, said he and his wife were "depressed all day" when they heard Witt was on the street corner.

"It's a shame that a person of his intellectual level would have to do that," Seidel said. "This is a guy who should have had a job in a day, or not have to have left at all."

When Witt lost his job two months ago, he said he tried all the usual routes to get a new one. Monster.com, Craigslist, newspaper classifieds. He even joined Facebook, hoping online networking might produce a lead.

He turned to the friends and contacts he made during the past 12 years working in Sarasota.

All expressed sympathy, but none offered a job.

Witt has two to three months of savings before he runs out of money to make his mortgage and car payments.

The particular predicament of formerly high-paid workers such as Witt is that not any job will do. Taking a service or food sector job for "$8 an hour" won't pay his bills.

"I would need three of those," he said.

He doesn't have the money or desire to go back to school for a job in health care, the only other industry hiring.

So on Wednesday morning, tired of sitting in front of his computer, tired of going on long drives hoping an idea would jump out at him, he spelled out his pitch on white poster board and went out to face the morning rush.

He chose a corner across from Southside Elementary School because the cars were forced to drive slowly through a school zone and would be more likely to see him. SNN News 6 caught him on camera and he was broadcast on CNN.

He received about 25 calls on his cell phone, most from well-wishers and one offering a commission-only telephone sales job. It involved selling $285 jars of wrinkle cream.

A woman named Ruby has called twice for clarification on the sign. She thinks he is looking to hire people.

"Because, I mean, jobs are so plentiful that we stand on street corners trying to give them away these days, don't we?" Witt said, standing on the corner Friday.

A man in a Lexus drinking a Starbucks coffee drove past. He honked and gave a thumbs up.

Witt said he plans to keep holding the sign on a regular, but not daily, basis.

"It's exhausting mentally," he said. "You just see the incredulous looks on people's faces, like what are you doing? You just want to say, 'Hello! I'm here because nothing else is working.' It's not like I woke up and said, this is what I want to do today."

Maybe an employer will be driving by one morning and give him credit for thinking outside the box, he said.

"I'm not going to find a job the traditional way."

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