After three decades of working in Pennsylvania, metallurgical engineer Ken Albano found his best opportunity for a new job was not in Pittsburgh but in Houston, Texas.

	Stacy Innerst, Post-Gazette Click illustration for larger image. Related article Surveys point to better job climates for executives, graduates

That doesn't surprise Right Management Consultants, an outplacement and organizational consulting firm that finds many of its clients in upper salary ranges frequently must leave Pittsburgh for the right job.

Yet outplacement and job search firms here say the employment climate in the region is beginning to improve, particularly for white-collar job seekers, including new college graduates and mid-level professionals.

"Hiring is definitely up,'' said Susan Sisk, principal owner of Tops Staffing. "I am seeing it across the board the last couple of months, more in white collar than in blue collar. But I am seeing heavy increases in both."

In the blue collar sector, Sisk said she has had success placing well-paid mechanics who have lost jobs at a shrinking US Airways because their skills are transferable to other industries.

"These guys are muddy, people you can pretty much stick anywhere,'' she said. "It's easy to translate the jobs they did at US Airways into a manufacturing environment. They can do a lot."

But on the highest end of pay scales, Right Management estimates that 65 percent or more of its clients who are looking for executive positions that pay $100,000 or more end up leaving Pittsburgh to get them -- though the experience elsewhere isn't all that different. Such jobs are relatively rare no matter the locale -- only 8.3 percent of U.S. taxpayers earned $100,000 or more in 2002, the most recent data available.

"We generally believe the economy is picking up based on outplacement statistics. It is still, however, a tough job market when you are looking to replace significant income," said Rick Swegan, vice president of client services in Pittsburgh for Right Management. "I think you are seeing more flattening of organizations with fewer opportunities at the top."

The average length of time it takes for executives to land new jobs started to decline last year after rising in 2003, according to statistics compiled by Right Management from its client experience. Last year, it took an average of 3.75 months for lower and mid-level managers in Right's program to find work in Pittsburgh, vs. 5.5 months in 2003.

The average for senior executives dropped to 6.1 months last year from 8 months a year earlier, Right said. Local data was unavailable for the higher level "key executives," because none were in the Right program last year, but the national job search average for them fell to 8.4 months from 22 in 2003.

Donna Korenich, president of Three Rivers Career Management, said her firm, which focuses professional employees, is seeing a similar improvement in the job market.

"More of our clients are getting jobs faster -- and that really includes almost all of the sectors -- manufacturing, sales and marketing, which had been very slow,'' she said. "After the first of the year, things really started to improve."

As one might infer from its name, Three Rivers deals mostly with local clients who want to stay in Pittsburgh. And for those seeking top jobs that pay six figures or more, the local opportunities are still rare, Korenich said.

A 30-year veteran of the former Bethlehem Steel, Albano last year amicably left a small railroad products company in Pittsburgh, where he was a vice president, after the economic downturn pushed the family-owned business to change directions.

After seven months of looking for something new, Albano, 54, got three offers within a two-week period. The best one took him to Houston as general manager of an Ameri-Forge Group business unit.

He blames diminished opportunities in Pittsburgh on continued downsizing of manufacturing and the metals industry, competition from imports and other regions of the country that are perceived to be friendlier to business.

"You don't need to do an exhaustive study to understand what has happened to manufacturing in Western Pennsylvania. Just drive through the region,'' Albano said, ticking off a list of steel mills and factories that are no longer in business. "For somebody like me who has worked in heavy industry, the opportunities simply are limited."

Celeste Calfe, executive vice president of Bizet Human Asset Management, an outplacement firm, said it's true that higher-level executives take longer to find new positions than others lower on the corporate ladder.

But, she said, they can often afford to take their time. Senior executives may receive up to 15 months of outplacement services and an equal amount of severance payments, plus unemployment compensation in Pennsylvania.

"You have to consider that senior level executives are getting very attractive severance packages," she said. "That gives them a little longer to do their search. They're not feeling the pressure."

Calfe said senior executives who use Bizet's services are finding work in anywhere from six months to a year -- half the time it took a year or two ago. Staying in Pittsburgh usually takes longer than relocating.

''If you are willing to go out of state, you can cut your search time pretty much in half,'' she said.

Charlie Beck, director of Priority Two, a nonprofit employment assistance group that meets at the North Way Christian Church in Pine, said he is seeing more older white-collar workers in need of job-search help.

"If you are in manufacturing in Pittsburgh and you were downsized, you're in trouble. You probably are going to have to leave Pittsburgh to find a similar job,'' Beck said, adding that older information technology workers with specific skills are similarly in tough straits.

"The other thing is if you are a white-collar worker and you're 40 and you lose a job, the chances are that the next one is only going to last 18 months to three years, and that is a big change,'' Beck said. "As you get to be 50 and 55, it gets harder and harder to find that job."