Recruiting and nurturing a talented workforce has always been critical to business success. With this in mind, Hiregy has put together a quarterly snapshot of hiring trends in our region to help employers understand the forces influencing our workforce. Here are the trends we’ve been watching over the last few months:
- The Tampa Bay/Orlando region is struggling with a short supply of entry-level applicants. As a result, some businesses are turning down orders and clients because they simply don’t have enough workers to deliver their products and services. This may seem counterintuitive given the economic upheaval that has accompanied the pandemic. What’s driving this reality?
- One factor may be the short-term boost in unemployment benefits that workers have been receiving as part of the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation program. As Hiregy’s VP of Client Relations, Shaun Androff, described in his recent blog post, many people on unemployment have been receiving payments equal to $14.38 an hour thanks to this program – reliable income during a scary and unreliable time.
Accepting a job at similar or lower pay comes with risk, and in some cases, extra expense. For example, the job could turn out to be a bad fit, or the worker may need to pay for transportation or child care in order to accept the position. In addition, they may have overcome hurdles when applying for unemployment, and therefore be hesitant to interrupt their benefits for fear they will face the same issues if they need to reapply.
The state of Florida has decided to stop participating in the federal program as of June 27, 2021. It will be interesting to watch whether this sparks an uptick in the availability of entry-level applicants.
- Other workers have shied away from the job market because of concerns about jeopardizing their health during the pandemic. While they may be open to work-from-home opportunities and higher-paying positions, they need financial incentive to take the risk of accepting a position that requires interacting with coworkers or the public.
- There are also opportunistic workers in the market. These would-be employees bounce from job to job in search of additional benefits or higher pay – a signal that job candidates are in-demand and competition is high. So high, in fact, that employers are even seeing candidates “ghost” them by simply no longer answering their phone calls or not showing up for their first day of work after accepting a position.
- One factor may be the short-term boost in unemployment benefits that workers have been receiving as part of the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation program. As Hiregy’s VP of Client Relations, Shaun Androff, described in his recent blog post, many people on unemployment have been receiving payments equal to $14.38 an hour thanks to this program – reliable income during a scary and unreliable time.
- Things are not looking much better for employers who need to bring senior people on board. Employees in higher level positions are staying put rather than starting a job search at an economically unpredictable time. We’re seeing less and less movement in or out of senior level jobs.
It turns out that hiring talented professionals isn’t as easy as it used to be. Employers are desperate for qualified workers and are doing whatever it takes to find them. Savvy companies are expediting the screening and interviewing process, others are raising pay rates. Companies that aren’t doing these things are getting left behind.
It’s not surprising to see more businesses turning to recruiting agencies such as Hiregy to help. Reaching qualified candidates and closing deals quickly can give businesses a competitive edge. This means recruiters’ deep networks of contacts are more valuable than ever.
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