Regional worker shortage needs creative solutions

This fall, I have been traveling all over the area we service (Eastern and Central Washington, North Idaho and Montana), and the regional employment situation is a combination of confusing and critical, yet this is forcing some creative solutions to emerge. Here is a taste of the challenges currently facing assorted geographies:

• Officials estimate 30 percent of the apple crop north of Wenatchee has gone unpicked, as there is nobody to pick it due to immigration law battles ensuing.

• Spokane employers are trying to ramp up a temporary staff to service holidays shoppers, and can’t find anyone capable, willing or able to get to work on time as scheduled.

• Due to limited staff availability, a fast food restaurant in Bozeman, Mont., had to close inside dining and was forced to offer drive-up service only.

• Construction companies are booked into 2009, because the work they can complete is diminished due to the limited amount of qualified labor they are able to find.

• Another fast food outlet in Montana has reverted to its ordering being handled by a call center in the Midwest in order to reduce the number of staff needed.

Meanwhile, college graduates are fleeing to Seattle, Denver and other large cities to find careers.

I flew out of Montana recently with a group of restaurant owners, commercial food suppliers and assorted other food service vendors aboard, and the top subject discussed was how to “creatively close portions of full-service restaurants to fit staffing.”

How things change! Ever wonder why you have to wait at certain food establishments when there are clearly tables open? Answer: No staff.

One of the more creative solutions that arose was to work closely with individuals recently released from prison in a controlled setting. There is a project in North Idaho and West Central Montana doing just that and with a measure of success.

A recent study by Spherion Corp, a recruiting and staffing firm, showed a definite shift in what employees find important compared to what employers find important, and that we employers have been a little slow to learn how things out there have seriously changed. Read on, as some of this may truly surprise you.

What is most important to employees?

Benefits are at the top of the list, followed closely by compensation. In the same study, on the flip side, employers thought management climate and supervisory relationship were the two most important things to the people who work for them. Are we out of touch, or are workplace values simply evolving faster than they ever have before?

In order of importance, after compensation and benefits, here is what will attract and keep staff:

• Growth and earnings potential

• Management climate

• Time and flexibility

• Culture and work environment

• Supervisor relationship

• Training and development

Wages are being increased just to attract staff; there are even hiring bonuses being offered to non-athletes! The cost of benefits is a continual struggle for anyone with employees, but there is an urgency to provide a package that will keep your company delivering its products or services.

These are interesting times, and with the looming retirement of the Baby Boomers, they promise to get even more challenging.

Many locales in this area are attractive vacation home spots and places to retire to, and this, additionally, is contributing to an employee shortage. If a couple retires and moves to Walla Walla, they mostly come sans children and instantly become consumers of goods and services in all of Eastern Washington. They are not contributing children to the workforce at the neighborhood fast food restaurant, and neither of them is contributing to the workforce, either.

I try not to write about problems without offering a solution, for that is merely complaining. We know what needs to happen:

• Wages and benefits must increase to keep people here, and not lose them to the large cities.

•Careers and opportunities need to offer hope for future growth.

• Skills and basic work ethic training need to take place.

• We can’t just focus on entry-level issues or we will lose good staff.

Costs are going to continue to go up; that is the cost of prosperity. This is a community issue and we all need to roll our sleeves up and struggle to find creative solutions.

Next time you pull into the drive-thru, think about who you’re speaking to when you place that order. The world is really flat, nestled between the mountains of Montana, and the rolling hills of the Palouse.