The State of our Region's Workforce: Survey Results

The State of our Region’s Workforce – Survey Results Fall, 2020

The State of our Region’s Workforce – Survey Results | Fall, 2020

This fall Dawson requested data regarding the current state of the workforce in Central Ohio from more than 2,000 of our clients, business partners, and community contacts. We realized a unique opportunity to garnish insight and share findings that represent the current HR landscape of our region.

Survey participants were from a wide variety of industries and from companies of all sizes.

INDUSTRIES REPRESENTED Business and Financial

22%

Advertising, Marketing, Creative, Entertainment, & Media 16% Office & Administrative and Customer Service Support 10% Legal 9% Architecture and Engineering

8%

Education and Training

8%

Manufacturing, Transportation & Distribution

7%

Insurance and Real Estate

5%

Healthcare 4% Sales 4% IT, Computer and Mathematical Occupations

3%

Construction 2% Other 2%

SIZE OF COMPANY 1 – 99 employees

35%

100 – 249 employees

28%

250 – 499 employees

15%

500+ employees 33%

Key Takeaways:

THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 ▶ 50% of the companies represented in the survey saw a negative effect in employment needs ▶ 24% were forced to lay-off or furlough internal staff, in addition to another 5% that cut hours HIRING DURING A PANDEMIC ▶ 27% plan to hire more over the next six months ▶ 78% report they have experienced hiring challenges, and finding qualified talent tops the list.

REMOTE WORKFORCE ▶ Nearly 50% of companies surveyed currently have the majority of their staff working remote, compared to 7% prepandemic. ▶ Post-pandemic, more than 70% will have the majority of their staff working in-office. ▶ Of the companies that have returned to work, more than 60% have gradually moved towards full capacity by either staggering return dates or schedules. ▶ Communication was a common theme for companies, but half saw it as an obstacle of working remote while the other half noted that communication was something they were most proud of handling.

RETURN TO WORK The biggest obstacle employers are facing returning to work is providing a safe work environment, while employees are challenged with child care and personal health concerns.

The State of our Region’s Workforce – Survey Results

How has COVID-19 impacted your company’s employment needs?

Large negative effect

6%

Moderate negative effect

44%

Little or no effect

41%

Moderate positive effect

7%

Large positive effect

2%

What short-term and longer-term changes has your employer made in response to the COVID-19 pandemic?

Reducing non-employee costs (travel ban, cuts in training, entertainment, etc.)

24%

Terminating/laying-off some internal staff

13%

Accelerating adoptions of new technologies

11%

Temporarily furloughing some internal staff

10%

Increasing sales/marketing efforts

10%

Reducing internal staff salaries/bonuses

9%

Focusing on protecting key accounts

6%

Expanding market focus to new geographies or sectors

5%

Reducing hours of internal staff

4%

Applying for additional borrowing

3%

Outsourcing operational functions

3%

Getting rid of less profitable accounts or business

2%

What HR tools have you added since the pandemic?

Teleconference tools

48%

Chat tools 20% File sharing 12% Cloud editing tools

7%

Note-taking tools

6%

Documentation 4% Project management tools

3%

Other 1%

THE TOP 5 GREATEST CHALLENGES OF REMOTE WORKING:

1. Employee morale 2. Communication 3. Technology 4. Productivity 5. Onboarding & Hiring

How will your current workforce change over the next six months?

Of the 27% that will hire more:

27% Hire more 25% Won’t change 14% Decrease staff

70% Full-time 23% Contingent 7% Part-time

HIRING CHALLENGES: 78% of companies surveyed reported they have exprienced hiring challenges.

Of those 78%, the top hiring challenges are: 47% Finding qualified talent 32% Budget constraints 12% Positive onboarding experience What share of staff is working remotely? % of Staff Working Remote

2019

Current

PostPandemic

0%

39%

4%

14%

1-24%

45%

18%

27%

25-49%

4%

18%

30%

50-74%

5%

14%

25%

75-100%

7%

46%

4%

What has your company communicated about return to work?

Allow only a portion of employees to come back initially and gradually move toward full capacity

40% x

Stagger work schedules initially and gradually move toward full capacity

22% x

We never left

15%

Have no plans to return to work

15%

Allow all employees to come back at once

8%

What is the biggest obstacle in transitioning back to work?

Safe work environment

36%

Child care 31% Personal health concerns

24%

Other 7% Elder care 2%

What are companies most proud of in handling pandemic related issues?

The most common themes centered on: ▶ Communication ▶ Transparency ▶ Adopting to work-from-home ▶ No layoffs or furloughs OTHER NOTEWORTHY ACCOMPLISHMENTS:

As the pandemic resets many work trends, do you foresee any of the following becoming a new trend at your workplace?

Agility and responsiveness 75% (quickly pivot, safety plan, system support, etc.)

Expanded social safety 48% (enhanced sick leave, financial assistance, adjusted hours, child care provisions) Expanded data collections 18% (technology to monitor employee engagement and well-being, track productivity, etc.)

Increase in organization complexity (geographic diversification, investments in secondary markets, joint ventures, subsidiaries, divisions)

16%

Separation of critical skills and roles

6%

Overcoming the Challenges of our Current Workforce Environment

If finding qualified talent is one of your top hiring challenges, reach out to your Dawson Business Development Manager to discuss how our customized workforce solutions may be able to assist your organization.

Hiring & onboarding is a challenge for companies still working remote. Dawson has experienced higher retention rates with remote workforce if training or orientation is done in person. Dawson’s corporate office and new training center in Reynoldsburg can serve as off-site training facilities if your offices are closed.

Communication can make or break a company. If you need help developing remote workforce policies or guidance for return to work policies, our HR experts can provide the support you need.

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT TEAM Jeff Miller

Katrina Roby

President jmiller@dawsoncareers.com (614) 255-1404

Business Development Manager kroby@dawsoncareers.com (614) 255-1334

Matt Backiewicz

Mary Noel Moore

Vice President of Sales and Business Development mbackiewicz@dawsoncareers.com (614) 255-7309

Business Development Manager mmoore@dawsoncareers.com (614) 255-7394

Nancy Luce

Travis Highley

Vice President of Dawson MSP nluce@dawsonhealthcare.com (614) 544-2642

Business Development Manager thighley@dawsoncareers.com (614) 255-1366

Phil Freeman Vice President pfreeman@dawsoncareers.com (614) 255-1350

INDUSTRY EXPERTS Emily Marshall

Lindy Mounts

Professional Division Manager emarshall@dawsoncareers.com (614) 255-7313

Warehouse & Distribution Division Manager lmounts@dawsonworks.com (614) 255-7311

Steve Chieffo

Lindsey Taylor

Creative Business Development Manager schieffo@dawsoncareers.com (614) 255-1358

Office Division Manager ltaylor@dawsoncareers.com (614) 255-1416

Emily Costanzo Accounting & Finance Business Development Manager econstanzo@dawsoncareers.com (614) 255-1316