Where are the Workers?

By Mike Sykes, Senior Counselor/Business Services Representative, Ontario County Workforce Development

Where are the workers?” That is the question being asked by businesses more than any other. Discussions of effective recruitment and retention practices are common as everyone searches for a way to maintain adequate staffing levels. In this tight, post-Covid labor market, the answers are multifaceted and often not as simple as we would like. In every sector of the economy, businesses are struggling to recruit new employees to fill vacancies while simultaneously striving to retain existing employees. This begs the question: What can businesses do to effectively maintain adequate staffing levels?

Recruitment can be difficult and just getting the attention of job seekers seems to be a battle in and of itself as many businesses connected with Ontario County Workforce Development report very low response rates to job postings. Even if applications are received from seemingly qualified candidates, the hiring process has become an uphill battle. The ghosting phenomenon has replaced the outdated recruitment paradigm of “post a job, schedule interviews, select the best candidate, and set a start date for employment.” One local business reported a 50% attrition rate for every step of the recruitment process; half offered an interview will show up, half will answer the call with a job offer, and half of the candidates given a start date actually show up on the first day.

It's not all doom and gloom though, and businesses can take action to increase their chances of obtaining well-qualified applicants. To be successful, businesses must actively seek out new candidates utilizing various recruitment methods, including tried and true approaches like job fair participation, signage, and job postings, as well as maintaining an online presence on social media platforms and recruiting websites, and assuring their own website is intuitive.

Advertising by multiple means is critical. By offering and advertising the benefits most sought after by job seekers, a business can entice the most qualified candidates. A September 26, 2022 article in the Rochester Business Journal discussed the benefits most sought after by job seekers. The article concluded that employees are seeking work/life balance as much as they are seeking good pay and health benefits, and businesses benefit from tailoring benefits available to the demographic pool they are focusing recruitment efforts toward. As a Workforce Development professional, I can say that younger workers are focusing on the starting wage before anything else due to cost-of-living concerns. Businesses willing to explore alternative populations have found that modifying previous qualifications for employment, such as marijuana policies and conviction histories, may help bring in capable candidates previously prohibited from employment. One of the most sought-after benefits popularized by necessity during Covid is “work from home” or remote work. Many candidates in the labor pool actively seek this employment option and those who already have it seem unwilling to part with it, sometimes leaving employment rather than returning to the office.

With the labor market heavily favoring job seekers, employees are more willing to seek out positions elsewhere for higher pay or benefits not offered at their current place of employment. Once new employees have been onboarded, businesses must keep the pay and benefits competitive or risk ultimately losing the employees they have invested so much in recruiting. The payroll company Paychex completed a retention survey in May of 2022 that found health insurance and retirement benefits were the top-ranked benefits for helping retain employees long-term.

While frivolous perks, such as stocked snack stations and inoffice ping pong tables and lounges have been popularized by the tech sector, many businesses can retain their top talent by providing the resources to continue career development. Continued job training focused on skill building, crosstraining, and promotional options may ensure that employees choose to stay because they do not need to look elsewhere for career development opportunities.

Competition for job seekers is fierce and maintaining necessary staffing levels often requires increasing resources and creativity to attract the attention of potential candidates. However, some businesses may struggle to balance the ability to offer or afford perks and benefits with the need to recruit and retain in a highly competitive marketplace. While there is no easy solution for the shortage of qualified candidates, businesses willing to devote more resources toward employee recruitment and retention will increase their chances of obtaining and retaining top talent.