It really depends what type of work you are looking for. I was laid off from an engineering job over a year ago and could not find anything in the Utica area. I have been commuting to Syracuse for over a year now. As someone else mentioned, there are jobs at Griffis but mostly software engineers from what I have seen.

I live close to Rome, NY and there is plenty or work on the Griffiss Tecnology base, also work in Utica, and Syracuse, depends upon what you do for a living, let me know if I can assist you in any way. Rita

Growing up in Oswego county up there, I was thinking there sure isn't much up there, but even this shocked me:
"Currently the largest non-governmental, non-healthcare product of Oneida County is gambling. Turning Stone Casino Resort is an enterprise of the Oneida Indian Nation of New York, and the largest private employer in Oneida County." from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oneida_County,_New_York#Economy

That said, you can easily commute to Syracuse or Rome/Utica from Oneida county so check hot jobs, monster, etc for the area.