I love going to economic development conferences and networking with my fellow practitioners. These are my people. We understand the joy and frustration of working in the field. For the past several years, most of those conversations have included statements like:

  • “We have this great project coming, but we need to find the people to fill the jobs”
  • “One of our companies would like to expand their product line, but they can’t find the talent to do it.”

(Que mutual groans from the group.)

Why is there a shortage?

As Baby Boomers retire, the economy has been hit by the exodus of talent with decades of institutional knowledge and industry expertise otherwise known as the Silver Tsunami. According to Forbes, “Since 2010, about 10,000 of [Baby Boomers] have turned 65 per day, and they all will cross that age threshold by 2030.” Additionally, the generation replacing Baby Boomers in the labor pool, Generation X, is about 10 million people short.

The Great Recession delayed the labor vacuum by artificially shrinking the labor demand. After the recovery, however, there was a shift from HR managers having their pick of applicants to actively having to recruit talent. The Millennial generation is actually larger than the Baby Boomer generation, but they have a different set of expectations for their working environment. Additionally, housing and transportation costs as well as quality of life issues further complicate employee recruitment.

Workforce Ecosystem

Increasing wages is one adjustment, but there may be other reasons businesses are struggling with employee recruitment. As communities grow, long-standing businesses often assume new residents are aware of their existence or reputation. For example, I was charged with creating a Business Retention and Expansion program in a smaller community. During my interviews with business leaders, they expressed disappointment with the school district curriculum to prepare students for their workplaces. After meeting with the school district resource staff, we discovered that turnover at the school district disintegrated previous relationships. I was then able to help facilitate communication and events between the school district and the business community. Business leaders were invited to develop the curriculum, tour the high school facilities, and invite students to tour their facilities. Fortunately, that lead to my high school student at the time becoming interested in returning after his post-secondary education.

Recommendations

  1. Confirm that the school district, community college, research institutes, universities and business community have a working relationship. Personnel and role changes can create disruptions in previously established relationships.
  2. Create networking opportunities and communication links between businesses and organizations to ensure that they are top of mind to the decision-maker. The marketing rule of thumb is that it takes at least seven (7) “touches” for a potential consumer to remember you. “Touches” are newsletters, networking events, social media posts, phone calls, interviews, etc.
  3. Encourage Human Resource (HR) Managers to create targeted messaging and employee recruitment events in the community. I had lived in my community for over fifteen years and knew only a fraction of the businesses that existed prior to my role as the Economic Development Manager. Provide the opportunity for potential talent to know you exist, know what you do, and what your values are.
  4. Encourage HR Managers to learn from previous employees what their reputation is in the community or why current employees are unwilling to recruit talent like themselves. Whether it is a major employer of 10,000 employees or a public sector organization of less than 300, people are talking about their workplaces and opportunities.

If businesses in your community are waiting for applicants to respond to their postings and not getting the results they are hoping for, I highly recommend Chris Czarnik’s book, Winning the War for Talent. He provides many other ideas and strategies for recruiting talent that mirrors strategies for attracting customers. It’s just a two-hour listen on Audible, which I prefer. Chris is a notable speaker. I had the privilege of hearing him speak at the 2021 Wisconsin Economic Development Association Best Practices Conference. View his profile here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisczarnik/

Provide the opportunity for potential talent to know you exist, know what you do, and what your values are.