![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0136eb-20260505-the-exterior-of-careerlink-outside-of-former-penn-railroad-station-600.jpg\")
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The entrance to PA CareerLink’s Suburban Station location in Center City, Philadelphia. <\/p>\n
Samantha Fields\/Marketplace<\/p>\n
In the last year, more than 17,000 people have walked into an old Art Deco office building in the center of Philadelphia, just down the street from City Hall, looking for help finding work. Inside on the second floor is one of four publicly-funded job centers in the city. In the mornings, there\u2019s often a line at the check-in desk.<\/p>\n
Dawn Thomas-Hayward, the communications director at Philadelphia Works, the city\u2019s nonprofit workforce development board, said people come here for all sorts of reasons, \u201cto see their workforce advisor, to go use the computer resource center, do job search, get resume help, get into trainings.\u201d<\/p>\n
This is one of four such centers around the city. All are open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. five days a week for anyone to walk in. <\/p>\n
James Anderson first walked in five or six years ago, soon after he got out of prison in his mid-50s.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was incarcerated, tired of that circle, in and out,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I thought, \u2018Maybe I’ll just start looking into some of the resources that’s available and see where it can lead me.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
He told his advisor at the time that he was interested in vocational training, and they got him into a program to get his commercial driver\u2019s license. \u201cThey funded everything, like really helped me get that opportunity to get into a new future,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
But without much on-the-job experience, Anderson has found it hard to land steady, full-time work at a good company. Right now, he\u2019s only working one day a week, and not as a driver. That\u2019s why he\u2019s back at CareerLink, hoping they can help him find something again. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s been challenging trying to get a job where you could say, \u2018Whew, thank you, God,\u2019 you know what I mean. \u2018I\u2019m good now, ain\u2019t got to stress,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cThat kind of work, it’s been challenging for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s challenging for a lot of people to find work right now. Elizabeth Giddings sees that every day in her job as a CareerLink workforce advisor, where she works one-on-one with people to help them find a job or get into an apprenticeship or training program. <\/p>\n
![\"People](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/8a25ec-20260505-people-on-computers-600.jpg\")
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People come to CareerLink to \u201cgo use the computer resource center, do job search, get resume help,” and more, said Dawn Thomas-Hayward, the communications director of Philadelphia Works, the city\u2019s nonprofit workforce development board.<\/p>\n
Samantha Fields\/Marketplace<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I do an orientation for the individuals to get a workforce advisor, the room is packed,\u201d Giddings said. \u201cSo I know the economy is pretty bad.\u201d<\/p>\n
And those one-on-one appointments people can make with her or another advisor are booked until June. <\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of people are just becoming laid off<\/a>,\u201d Giddings said. \u201cAnd I see individuals that come in that have been laid off since last year<\/a>, the early part of the spring, and they still have not obtained employment.\u201d<\/p>\n Philadelphia\u2019s unemployment rate has risen, from 4.5% in December to 5.3% in January<\/a>, the most recent month for which city data is available. That is a whole percentage point higher than the state<\/a> and national average<\/a>. By contrast, the unemployment rate in Pittsburgh<\/a> \u2014 Pennsylvania\u2019s second largest city \u2014 is lower than both the state and national average, at 4.1%.<\/p>\n A recruitment calendar on a whiteboard.<\/p>\n Samantha Fields\/Marketplace<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the challenges we face as a city is our adult literacy rate,\u201d said Patrick Clancy, president and CEO of Philadelphia Works. \u201cWe are severely challenged, with some of our adults unable to pass a sixth- or eighth-grade reading and math test.\u201d<\/p>\n More than two-thirds of adults in Philadelphia are reading at or below an eighth-grade level, according to Achieve Now<\/a>, a local literacy nonprofit. Almost 40% struggle to fill out a job application. <\/p>\n About 70% of those who come into Philadelphia\u2019s CareerLink centers find a job.<\/p>\n Samantha Fields\/Marketplace<\/p>\n The city is also the second-poorest in the country, after Houston<\/a>, and poverty creates a lot of barriers to employment. <\/p>\n \u201cWithout stable housing, going to work is really a challenge,\u201d Clancy said. The same is true if you can\u2019t afford transportation, food, or childcare<\/a>.<\/p>\n On top of that, the labor market in the city is stagnant right now, much like it is nationwide<\/a>. All of the uncertainty<\/a> and higher costs around tariffs<\/a> have made many employers hesitant to hire for a while<\/a>, according to Clancy, and now the war in Iran and higher oil prices<\/a> are adding to that.<\/p>\n \u201cThe sooner we can have more confidence in the economy<\/a>, then I think employers will feel that way too,\u201d he said. \u201cBut at this point, I think we’re still in that sort of hesitant mode.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/5b19e0-20260505-a-recruitment-calendar-on-a-whiteboard-600.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Pamphlets](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/74d579-20260505-pamphlets-and-brochures-at-careerlink-600.jpg\")
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