As part of the United States' largest city (and the most populated of the five boroughs which make up New York City), Brooklyn is one of the better places to be if you're looking for work. Whether you're a new arrival to New York or if you were born and raised in the borough, there are many different places to work in Brooklyn, including positions in a variety of industries. No matter what you do, you can probably do it here - and if you're lucky, you may not even have to commute to Manhattan to get to work.
While more than half of the borough's residents work in Manhattan, Queens, Staten Island or The Bronx, a surprisingly large percentage of Brooklyn residents actually do work in Brooklyn: nearly 45%. Perhaps it shouldn't be so surprising, given that Brooklyn is the only borough of New York City other than Manhattan to have its own downtown area (Brooklyn was an independent city until around the turn of the last century, by which time its own downtown business district was already well established) and many residents who work at jobs in Brooklyn work downtown. Downtown Brooklyn happens to be the largest business district in the city outside of Manhattan, edging out districts like Long Island City and Flushing in the borough of Queens.
In the downtown area, you can find employment in Brooklyn with many companies who also have a presence in Manhattan, with back office operations being performed in Brooklyn due to the lower rent compares to midtown or downtown Manhattan. Close by, in the DUMBO (an acronym for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass, rather than a reference to the cartoon elephant, in case anyone was wondering), there has been strong growth in new media companies who have moved into the area's rehabilitated factory and warehouse lofts - the buildings which used to be the center of Brooklyn's shipping industry. While there are still Brooklyn jobs in this sector, much of the shipping which goes on in the borough has since relocated to the Red Hook area, south and west of downtown. The Brooklyn Naval Yard is also close by and this area, once the home to one of the largest shipbuilding operations in the nation is now the site of many technology, media and entertainment companies. In this area alone, there are over 200 different employers and more than 4,000 jobs in Brooklyn.
Even though Brooklyn (and New York City in general) is not the manufacturing giant it once was, there are still a substantial number of Brooklyn residents who work in manufacturing. Pfizer maintains a manufacturing facility in the borough and there are many smaller facilities which produce everything from clothing and furniture made from salvaged building materials, food and beverages to electronics.
Construction is another industry which employs a large number of New York City residents who work in Brooklyn. As you probably know if you live in the borough or have spent any amount of time exploring its streets, there is always something new being built, with brand new office buildings and apartments sitting side by side with brick and brownstone row houses, some dating as far back as the Dutch colonial era of the 1700s. There is a near continual flurry of construction going on, even in the midst of a nationwide construction slump, so this sector is certainly one place to concentrate on if you're looking for Brooklyn jobs.
With so many different things to do and see, comfortable neighborhoods and excellent public transit via the New York City subway and bus system, jobs in Brooklyn are a desirable commodity indeed. While many people will probably always need to take the subway over the Manhattan and Williamsburg bridges or through tunnels under the East River each weekday to get to work, with a little searching and a proactive approach, you could be one of the very fortunate New Yorkers who happens to both live and work in Brooklyn. There are a lot of jobs to choose from - and it all starts with knowing where to look for the best Brooklyn employment.
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