There appears to be a disconnect
This week the US DOL released the unemployment numbers for the US and it appears that there are over 9 million people still out of work, it’s about 5% of the workforce. At the same time the numbers for open positions are at an all-time high of 11 million “open” jobs. That would lead you to the conclusion that there are more jobs available than there are people looking for work. Maybe.
There appears to be a disconnect between the number of people looking for work and available jobs. Is it because the jobs are in industries that require a higher level of education? Is it because there are unemployed people without the necessary skills for the available jobs? Is it because the unemployment checks are like what a person would make at minimum wage? We don’t have these answers.
We all see signs at restaurants, retail stores, fast food stores all with Help Wanted signs and paying over $15/hr. Amazon, quickly becoming the largest employer in the US, well outside the government, has signs up paying $20 plus per hour.
Maybe it could be that companies don’t hire a person that isn’t “exactly” what they want. One of our prospects told me a candidate had all the right skillsets except the candidate did not have five years’ experience in a niche software market that isn’t five years old.
For many companies finding the right person has become a multi-quarter process and when they find the most qualified people it seems that they have a hard time finding the trigger. Maybe companies need to start transitioning some of their current employees into the roles that they are needing to fill? How do they do that? Well, training an employee that has been with the company for years is far less expensive than the search for the “ideal” candidate. And this can boost employee retention, morale, and loyalty as they feel that the company will be there to help them with the new skills and put those skills to good use.
For many people who are unemployed it could be the lack of skills and the lack of experience. Even with some of the industry certifications that are available and many with help from the state’s employment departments, they still lack the experience that companies are looking to hire. But, with minimum to no experience they can be looking at a better future with the certifications and the attitude that they are starting a new career path, one that will take time to build.
We here at Unique System Skills see both sides of the coin and we can help companies with the workforce training or finding the unicorn that the company is looking for, we also have many students who are eager to get to work putting the new skills we have taught the to good use. For more information www.systemskills.com.