The Candidate shortage is here TODAY
It may seem very contradictory to the national and local unemployment data, but I am here to tell you that what was seen as an impending candidate shortage is here TODAY. There are two main reasons:
1) 1.) Job applicants are rejecting offers of work to stay on unemployment benefits
2) 2.) Great workers still have jobs, in most cases, and will not leave those jobs for below market wages and compensation plans. Also, unemployed great workers will receive several offers and be able to choose their next employer. Combine that with the demographic fact that skilled trade’s workers are over 50 years old, on average, there simply aren’t enough skilled trade’s people for the job opportunities that exist.
The Detroit News, May 10, 2010 edition, had an excellent and balanced article; http://detnews.com/article/20100510/BIZ/5100335/Landscapers-find-workers-choosing-jobless-pay; outlining the realities of low skilled laborers choosing not to accept seasonal landscaping jobs, choosing instead to stay home and collect unemployment benefits. The article went onto raises the question about whether extended unemployment benefits give the jobless an incentive to avoid work. The unemployed can then apply for extended federal benefits that increase the total time on the public dole up to a maximum of 99 weeks. The current unemployment system is set up to provide benefits for nearly 2 years. Many of our clients utilize entry level workers, at entry level wages and are finding it increasingly difficult to locate the talent necessary to get even the simplest work accomplished.
As I have been saying for years, the skilled labor talent pool is shrinking every day. The demographic evidence is indisputable and it is not getting better in the foreseeable future. Businesses need to get on the offensive, like a college football coach recruiting a prized athlete, and begin creating compensation plans and work environments that will attract the best candidates, most of which will be employed. The days of thinking that candidates will take any job, for any wage, are over.
Recently, we had a client wait 3 weeks to extend an offer to hard-to-find CNC Programmer. In that short time span, the candidate found another job paying 30% more per hour. By the time the client wanted to hire the candidate, he was off the market. The client was stunned. The client created their own problem by delaying the hiring decision and trying to get the candidates to accept a low-ball offer.
Savvy businesses are creating environments where people want to work and hiring the best talent they can locate- either on their own or through us- quickly and at market wages, or above.
-Todd Palmer
Diversified Industrial Staffing is a nationwide recruiting / staffing firm headquartered in Troy, Michigan. Our job is to match ideal candidates to open manufacturing, construction and logistics jobs. We find and place CNC machine programmers & operators, manual lathe & mill operators, welders, pipe fitters, general labor, skilled trades professionals, machine repair personnel, truck drivers, hi-lo drivers, carpenters, painters and drywall repair people in addition to other positions. Now serving the manufacturing, construction and logistics industries in and around:
Atlanta - Baltimore - Boston - Charleston - Charlotte - Chicago - Cincinnati - Dallas - Detroit - Fort Worth - Greensboro - Greenville - Houston - Indianapolis - Kansas City - Little Rock - Los Angeles - Milwaukee - Minneapolis - Nashville - Newark - New York City - Orlando - Peoria - Philadelphia - Raleigh - Rochester - San Antonio - St. Louis - Seattle - Springfield - Trenton - Tucson - Washington D.C. - Wichita
www.diversifiedindustrialstaffing.com
