Employers are being challenged more than ever to hire and retain qualified staff. CareerSource has launched two important initiatives to help.
It continues to be a strong job seekers’ market with more job openings than unemployed people. For six consecutive months, there are more job openings than unemployed people in Palm Beach County – 38,564 job openings vs. 25,223 unemployed people at year-end 2021. Our most recent unemployment rate (for Dec. 2021) is 3.3 percent – below the 3.7 percent national rate and just above Florida’s 3.2 percent rate (all numbers not seasonally adjusted).
Besides raising wages and offering signing/retention bonuses, employers have been offering perks such as flexible work schedules, 4-day work weeks, full or part-time work from home, child care and other benefits. CareerSource expanded the local jobs pipeline by hosting/participating in 168 in-person and virtual hiring events in 2021 that attracted 66 local employers and over 2,000 job candidates. But we wanted to do more.
This month, we launched “New Year, New Me” an outreach campaign targeted to inform and encourage job seekers to take advantage of opportunities to find a new job – or better one –in the New Year. The month-long multimedia campaign tells them about our programs and services such as virtual and in-person job fairs, classes and facilities for job searches, grants for job skills training for those who qualify, career development and consulting, and more – at no cost! See for yourself at our New Year, New Me web portal at: NewYearNewMe (careersourcepbc.com)
CareerSource also helps rebuild and sustain businesses in today’s challenging marketplace. We absorb the cost of most of these services including recruitment, assessments and referrals of qualified job candidates; space and staff assistance for screening/interviewing candidates; and grants for training employees. During the past five program years, CareerSource Palm Beach County awarded more than $10 million in grants to area businesses and employees for job training and educational assistance.
That’s not all. We’re breaking new ground on a pathway to create “learners to earners” to meet the requirements of Florida’s REACH (Reimagine Education And Career Help) Act that became state law in 2021. The program addresses accountability of education and workforce to employers to expand the pipeline of talent. The CareerSource Learners Pathways Model has garnered the attention of local industry, the Business Development Board, CareerSource Florida, and state legislators. It was formally presented in Dec. 2021 to Florida’s Credential Review Committee for possible replication throughout the state.
We’re committed to helping your organization emerge from these times stronger and better than ever. We appreciate the opportunity to serve you with your employment needs. From our homepage at www.careersourcepbc.com go to “For Employers” for more information.
Let us help you enjoy a prosperous 2022!
The December unemployment rate for Palm Beach County is now 3.3 percent, which was just above the state rate at 3.2 percent and lower than the nation at 3.7 percent (all numbers not seasonally adjusted). This is a positive local job recovery with 38,564 open jobs, compared to 25,223 unemployed residents.
The impact of women quitting the workforce as the prime-age male labor force plummets
In the 4th Quarter 2021 issue, we posted part one of this story describing the developing sansdemic, without people, or in our case not enough people. A demographic drought is projected to worsen throughout the century and will impact every business, college, and region of our country
To recap; In February 2020, before the COVID crisis, a record 70% of U.S. businesses reported a talent shortage, according to a Manpower survey. That was more than double the 32% of businesses that reported difficulty finding talent just five years earlier in 2015. When COVID hit and unemployment spiked to record highs, all talent shortages should have vanished, BUT THEY DIDN’T.
For the U.S. population to reproduce itself-meaning, for current population numbers to stay the same the total fertility rate (TFR) needs to equal 2.1 children per 1 woman. When the TFR stays at or near 2.1, one child is born to replace every person now living (with the .1 allowing for cases of early mortality). In other words, the population doesn’t grow, but it is at least replaced. Yet, with a few annual exceptions, America’s TFR has been far below 2.1 since 1971.
2.4 million women left the workforce in one year!
Back in January 2020, women were in a slim majority for the second time in U.S. history, accounting for just over 50% (50.04%) of the national workforce. But COVID changed all that. From February 2020 to February 2021, 2.4 million women separated from the labor force, compared to 1.8 million men, a difference of 600,000. In January 2021 alone, 275,000 women left the workforce, compared to 71,000 men.
But the number of male workers has been shrinking since 1980. A revolving door began spinning on the workforce in the 1980s: women in, men out, especially in the generations following baby boomers.
In 1980, the prime-age male workforce (ages 25-54) made up 38% of the workforce. But by the fourth quarter of 2019, nearly 40 years later, that same prime-age male workforce had dropped to just 34% of the workforce.
The chart below illustrates the drastic decline in the LFPR (labor force participation rate) for prime-age men. The dip in male LFPR was already underway in the 1970s. Then between 1980 and 2019, it jumped off a cliff. In 1980, the LFPR for prime-age men was right around 94%. By 2019, it had plummeted to 89%. This drop represents roughly 2.6 million prime-age men no longer actively working or searching for a job.
Employers that give women the culture and support to enable them to succeed have a more productive and motivated workforce and are likely to report greater retention, the research found. Solutions such as internal mobility, reskilling, and job redeployment are among the most important innovations at work. Companies are becoming very open to part-time workers, employees who live and work remotely, and workers who need the training to perform. In fact, most companies are building their own internal training academies to develop people from ever more diverse backgrounds. They are also embracing the use of automation, but that strategy is dependent on current technology and the pace of machine learning.
In closing, we at CareerSource Palm Beach County will continue to focus on the changing needs of our employer community. The rapid changes in the work environment present new opportunities. Our plan is to connect business with talent and deliver measurable improvements to our community, in which we live and work.
We offer the following at no cost to employers:
Job Posting & Recruiting Post open positions on our statewide jobs database, Employ Florida, where people apply to your open positions in whichever means suits your company best. Work with one of our professional recruiters who will actively seek out qualified candidates for your open positions.
Virtual Job Fairs Employers may post one or more open positions in a virtual job fair. Candidates can access your virtual booth where you can screen the candidates and, if interested, go to a one-on-one video interview.
On-the-Job Training Grants OJT's are used to assist the employer in finding and securing employees that may not have all the technical skills required for the position. Employers are reimbursed at least 50% of the wage rate of an OJT participant for the costs of providing the training and additional supervision related to the OJT.
Customized Training For training future employees or recent hires who meet eligibility requirements. CSPBC reimburses the employer 50% of the cost of training for each individual that completes the training and is employed/retained by the employer after the training.
Labor Market Information Data about labor supply and demand, earnings, employment and unemployment statistics, job outlook, and demographics of the labor force.
Incumbent Worker Training Grants Provides grants for continuing education and training of current full-time employees. This program can be helpful when planning a large business expansion or training staff on new technologies to avert downsizing. The program will provide reimbursement grants to businesses that pay for preapproved, direct, training-related costs.
In-person Hiring Events CareerSource works with employers on mass hiring events. This no-cost recruiting service allows employers to interview a large number of qualified candidates in one convenient location and time.
Apprenticeships Formal technical instruction combined with paid on-the-job learning. Workers learn practical skills associated with a particular industry and/or employer using a structured program of "Learn While You Earn". Business gains the trained talent they need and the employees earn nationally recognized credentials that attest to the skills they have gained.
The Business Development Board's Palm Beach County Business magazine is recognized as the quarterly business portrait showcasing local influencers and news in the county. Each quarter CareerSource Palm Beach County participates and this feature focuses on our Young Adult Program and how CareerSource Palm Beach County helped Suzanne Fisher successfully transition to a new role. View the digital version by following the link on pages 23 & 24.