The past two years have been good for Beach City-based Progressive Foam Technologies.
Its customers are doing well and asking for more vinyl siding and foam insulation. Sales are up.
But the growth is fueling an unexpected problem.
The company wants to add a third shift to meet demand, but finding new workers hasn’t been easy as it competes with others for a limited number of candidates.
Labor force numbers stagnated statewide and locally from 2011 to 2019, with declines since, according to government estimates. Ten years ago, Ohio had averaged 5.77 million people in the labor force. The number of people available to work hit 5.84 million in 2019, but dropped to 5.75 million last year during the coronavirus pandemic and stood at just under 5.7 million in July.
Stark County’s labor force was estimated at 179,600 people in July, down from the 2020 average of 184,100 people and 186,700 in 2019. In 2011, the local job force was estimated at 188,700 people.
Hunting for workers
Throughout the region, businesses are seeking employees. Restaurants need servers and cooks. Grocery stores are seeking cashiers, bakers, baristas and meat cutters. A commercial driver’s license could be more valuable than many college degrees.
OhioMeansJobs last count of help wanted ads from mid May through mid June showed 249,618 jobs were posted around the state, up from 194,253 posting during the same period in 2020 and 186,521 posting two years ago.
Companies are luring potential employees with higher wages and signing bonuses. A wide variety of businesses — ranging from retailers to hospitals — are advertising a minimum wage of $15 per hour.
“It used to be that employees were jockeying for the jobs, but now employers are jockeying for the employees,” said Debbie Lindsay, a vice president for Mancan, a Massillon-based firm that helps employers find workers. “In 25 years it’s never been like this.”
Not a new situation. Remember the ‘Silver tsunami?’
Finding employees has been a challenge for a couple of years. The coronavirus pandemic appears to have amplified the situation.
Several factors tightened the workforce and contributed to the low unemployment numbers in the years before the pandemic.
One has been dubbed the “silver tsunami.” It started as baby boomers reached retirement age. There are fewer younger workers to replace those who retired and some of those younger workers are more likely to change jobs quickly, said Bishara Addison, director for job preparation at The Fund for Our Economic Future in Cleveland.
The pandemic probably accelerated the “silver tsunami,” Addison said. Older workers who might have kept working decided against returning to the workforce after being furloughed.
More than 3 million Americans retired in 2020 compared to an average of about 2 million since 2011, according to a study by Pew Research Center.
That suggests about 1.1 million baby boomers retired early because of the pandemic. Yet only about 270,000 early retirees intend to resume working within the next year, according to the Morning Consult survey.
Other factors: Drugs, childcare and contract work
Some younger people moving from job to job have gone with the concept of working gigs. Instead of taking on traditional 40-hour per week jobs, they have opted for contract jobs that offer decent pay and fit the hours they prefer to work.
The opioid epidemic has factored into lower numbers within the workforce, Addison said. That situation grew worse during pandemic with fatal overdoses rising 22% last year.
Childcare has been an issue for several reasons.
Doug Crawford, president and owner of Job-Applications.com in North Canton, said childcare is a hurdle that is keeping people from returning to the job market. Because of the pandemic, some parents are concerned about having their children come in contact with other people, he said.
Workers also are leaving the childcare industry. Some moved on because of pandemic concerns. But childcare also is a low paying job and some workers have moved to better paying positions.
That means fewer childcare workers, which can make it more difficult for parents to return to work because they can’t find a provider, Addison said.
At a job fair event in mid August, the Giant Eagle grocery chain talked about childcare with potential employees, spokeswoman Jannah Jablonowski said.
The grocer knows it’s competing with restaurants and other retailers, so it tried to be flexible and offer potential candidates with children a chance to work shifts that fit their schedule.
“We tried to meet them where they’re at,” Jablonowski said.
Small businesses struggle
Ron Burns operates a handful of small businesses in Canton. He has rental properties, hauls trash, leases bounce houses and operates a drive-thru. Finding employees never was a problem — until this past year.
“Everybody is short staffed,” he said. “You used to be able to find help everywhere.”
Burns said he used to have six workers who helped with maintenance and repairs at rental properties. Now he has only one. Meanwhile, other landlords are asking Burns if he can help at their rentals, he said.
According to Ohio’s chapter of the National Federation of Independent Businesses, 49% of small business owners can’t find people to fill jobs. The NFIB said that is the highest level in 48 years.
‘I can’t compete with free money’
The NFIB said its members cite fierce competition for employees and applicants lacking necessary skills as key factors in the challenge to find workers. Also cited were workers who prefer collecting unemployment to getting a job.
Burns said potential employees have opted to stay home.
“I can’t compete with free money,” he said.
But Addison and Crawford question whether the federal benefits — stimulus checks and federal money added to state unemployment checks — are playing that big of a role in keeping workers at home.
Most states, including Ohio, have ended the additional unemployment. Addison said it will likely be October before statistics show if ending the extra benefits during the summer months brought more people back to the labor force.
Bumping up the minimum wage
Companies are adjusting as they compete for workers. Increased pay has been the most evident move.
For example, CVS Health announced that the minimum hourly wage at the nearly 10,000 stores it operates around the country with reach $15 next year. When announcing the move, company President and CEO Karen S. Lynch cited the need to attract and retain top talent.
PNC Bank, meanwhile, already had reached $15 per hour and now plans to raise its minimum to $18 per hour by the end of November. Vicki Henn, executive vice president and chief human resources officer, said in a news release announcing the increase that it’s critical for PNC “to offer a total rewards package that includes competitive benefits and pay.”
Rising wages are being seen by the staffing firm Mancan, which has 40 offices in Ohio and five other states. In mid August, the company 650 open orders from customers seeking workers. Customers that have a starting wage of $12 per hour often are waiting for applicants.
“It’s kind of almost like it’s turned into the new minimum wage,” Lindsay said of pay reaching $15 per hour.
More than just a paycheck
Increasing wages is one move employers can make to attract and retain workers, Addison said. But job hunters also are looking for stable hours, safe working conditions, job quality and employers who listen when ideas are offered, she said.
At Progressive Foam Technologies, the company recognized the need to increase wages and made the move this year, said Jeana Munson, director of human resources.
“We hire based on character,” she said, noting the company looks for solid, reliable people, as well as skilled workers.
Progressive Foam always tried to pay a wage a notch above other manufacturers, but learned as it talked with candidates that its wages were now on par with competitors.
“We always seemed to be a step ahead and when it appeared we hit status quo, we felt we had to do something,” Munson said.
The increased pay goes along with bonuses, health care and dental plans, a 401k with an annual retirement bonus, and other benefits.
Progressive Foam had 160 employees in early August when it announced plans to hire. The workforce has climbed to 180, but the company still needs about 10 employees at its Beach City headquarters and five more at its Gnadenhutten facility, Munson said.
Workers have the upper hand
Many believe the tight labor market has placed job hunters at an advantage.
It’s similar to being a free agent in a professional sports league, suggested Rick Baxter, president of Alliance Area Development in Alliance.
“It’s a worker’s market,” he said. “Employers are trying to be as creative as they can.”
Job fairs — virtual events, as well as live programs — pop up routinely. First Commonwealth Bank in early August offered job fair attendees chances to win tickets to major and minor league baseball games.
The Giant Eagle chain conducted job fairs at all of its stores in August, on the heels of a job fair in the spring. Jablonowski said the company needed to fill more than 3,500 open jobs in Ohio and Pennsylvania, with more than 600 positions open at stores in Stark and Summit counties.
Openings included leadership positions, Jablonowski said. Efforts were made to show candidates they had a chance for promotion.
“It could be the first step on a rewarding career path,” she said.
Will worker shortage continue?
A recent spike in coronavirus because of the delta variant could extend the worker shortage.
The restaurant sector has been hard hit, said Crawford, of Job-Applications.com. Many using the website are seeking their first job, or are restaurant and retail companies seeking people new to the workforce.
Job candidates concerned about coronavirus might hesitate to apply for a job where they find themselves in front of people daily. They might not be comfortable risking exposure, especially if wages aren’t good, Crawford said.
“If we have another round, they’ll be the first people to go,” he said.
Because they can’t find workers, some businesses have responded by reducing hours and cutting some services, Crawford said.
“If stores aren’t performing, they’re going to close,” he said.
Adjustments needed
While Progressive Foam increased wages to keep its current workforce and attract new people, the company had to make other changes to keep up with customer demand, Munson said.
Some employees worked more overtime. The company also staggered breaks in a move to keep production lines running more efficiently. The moves help improve production and at the same time led to some cost savings, Munson said.
Companies will need to make more adjustments as they try to lure younger workers, Addison suggested.
Programs that help employees as they are getting started, and training that matches a worker’s skills to the job are options. Earn-and-learn programs where employees are paid to learn a job have helped, Addison said.
Over the next year, the job market might become even tighter in Stark County. With plans in the works to build a 1 million-square-foot warehouse at the Skyland Pines Golf Club, companies in the area could see more competition for employees, Baxter said.
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