Low jobless rate makes finding workers harder

By Jennifer Thomas

A low unemployment rate is a nice byproduct of a strong economy, but it can be tough for employers who say they’re having difficulty finding people with the skills to fit the jobs that are available.

That, along with construction delays, was one of the problems Don Boller faced in hiring a staff for his new Dairy Queen Grill & Chill in Ferguson Township, despite promising wages of up to $10 an hour.

“There’s lots of people out there, but they’re not the kind we need,” he said. “They’re not the quality we need. ... I hate to use that word.”

Boller said that situation improved as wages increased, but he said it was still difficult because jobs in restaurants and retail can be viewed as “undesirable,” requiring hard work to meet customer demands. He found it is very important to try to accommodate employees’ requests for scheduling or days off. An employee who wants a night off and can’t get it might not come back to work his or her next shift, Boller said.

With an unemployment rate of 3.8 percent as of December, employers are finding they have to compete for talent by offering higher wages, flexible scheduling and other perks, said John Coleman, president of the Chamber of Business and Industry of Centre County.

Employers are saying that front-line, lower-paying jobs are especially difficult to fill because, with a growing number of restaurants, hotels and retail stores, there are large numbers of those jobs available, said Cheryl Johnson, executive director of the Private Industry Council of the Central Corridor.

“That’s where everybody is competing for the same talent,” she said. “The wages in the front-line position are going up.”

Target, in the Colonnade shopping plaza, has been able to avoid much of those hiring problems, general manager Brad Swanson said. Flexible hours, paying more than minimum wage and hiring the right fit for the store have helped avoid problems he’s seeing in other retail stores.

“We’re still looking for the same quality of people. Once they’re here, they really like it and they choose to stay,” he said, adding that the store draws employees of all ages, rather than relying on any single age group. He has seen his competition struggle to keep up with staffing.

“You can go from store to store to store and find help wanted signs,” he said. “There are those people out there that do bounce around.”

Another challenge is that employers are having a difficult time matching employees’ skills to the job requirements, Coleman said.

Some employees are overskilled and underemployed for mid-level positions. And at the entry level, many employers are finding the labor pool doesn’t possess all the prerequisite skills needed, including the people skills necessary to provide good customer service, he said.

“In a tight labor market it’s going to be hard to make that match,” he said. “We’re hearing even at the entry level it’s difficult to find people with the right skill sets and retain them.”

“You have to have the kind of people that represent your business properly on the front line and provide the kind of customer service your customers want,” Johnson said.

Some employers are afraid to take a risk on an overqualified employee for fear he or she will soon move on to another, more appealing job.

Omega Bank is seeing a shortage in workers for entry-level positions, such as bank tellers, and some upper-level positions, including commercial lenders and analysts, said Donita Koval, president and CEO of Omega Bank.

While a bank teller is considered an entry-level position, the positions do include benefits such as health care, 401(k) and stock ownership — all pieces that help round out the job and make it more appealing, Koval said. There’s also the opportunity for advancement, she said.

But employers aren’t developing workers fast enough to fill the jobs being created at the upper end of the spectrum, causing many employees to bounce among competing companies.

“It’s a tough industry and there is a lot changing in that industry,” she said. “Some of these specialty positions are really becoming difficult to fill.”

In-house management positions, which used to fill that void, are no longer as prominent.

“As an industry we just don’t have that luxury of internal development,” she said.

Mount Nittany Medical Center had no choice, given the current nationwide nursing shortage, but to hire a nursing recruiter to spread the word about what the hospital has to offer.

“You have to build a reputation and recruit more than in just your immediate area,” said hospital Vice President of Human Resources Jerry Dittmann.

Dittmann said positions in nursing offer good opportunities for employees in that there’s room for advancement and opportunities to work in other industries, such as education.

Staying competitive when hiring in the medical profession is critical to positioning the hospital for the future — particularly when it comes to jobs that require advanced skills and training, from pharmacists to registered nurses. Perks such as educational reimbursement and advanced training are recruiting tools, Dittmann said.

Part of the challenge, too, is getting people other than health professionals to consider opportunities available in the health care field, he said.

“We’re a business like any other business, and people forget that,” Dittmann said. “It’s more than just doctors and nurses that run a hospital.”

He said the hospital has more than 200 job titles for its more than 1,200 employees.

“It’s quite a number of people that make health care happen,” he said. “You can make a good wage working in health care in Centre County.”

Jennifer Thomas can be reached at 231-4638.