Hiring During the COVID-19 Labor Market
I’m going to be completely honest—I’m not an economist. My musings in the next few paragraphs are simply insights based on what I’ve read and what I know to be true of the local economy mixed up with my gut reaction and some “instinct.” So, with that bold opener, here we go.
Some people think the world is coming to an end. Some people think this is all an elaborate hoax. Some people believe this is a power grab by elite forces. Maybe they are all right in their own way. Regardless, as business owners and leaders, we need to make some decisions that keep our businesses moving forward during these uncertain times.
Certain industries will flourish, some will rebound quickly, and some will rebound more slowly. My personal opinion is that regardless of what anyone thinks about our current president, he’s been an effective leader from an economic standpoint. He says he wants us stronger than ever by the end of the year. That seems a bit ambitious to me, but he’ll likely make good choices that will have most of us trending solidly in the right direction by the end of the year (unless our Governors fails to follow suit, which seems a real possibility).
The labor market is unevenly wide open. What I mean by that is that I think we will see employees from certain industries looking for career changes en masse. For example, tourism in Lancaster County will take an extremely hard hit this year. If you are a front desk attendant at a hotel, there is a good chance that you will start to look elsewhere for work. If you are working as a manager in a retail establishment in Rockvale Square, you may be considering a career change by this point.
Other employees will experience a lot more stability in their industry. Construction workers are now back to work. No doubt some construction businesses will go under or downsize due to the temporary shutdown, so you’ll still see a more open candidate pool than you would have six months ago. However, if you wanted to hire for construction, your target candidate is probably back at the job and maybe working overtime to make up for lost time.
So how can you take advantage of the current labor market? Here are three thoughts I have:
Hire for attitude and aptitude and train for skills. As much as possible look for the type of person that you know matches your culture, has the foundation to learn the job quickly, but may be coming from a slightly different industry. My team is already seeing massive amounts of candidates who are looking to change career paths. Many of them have transferable skills, good work histories, and a desire to work and learn. Be open minded about them.
Creatively craft your job ads. If you are in a “life-sustaining industry,” you’ll want to highlight that in your job ad. Alarmists are ringing their hands, crying that we may have to shut down again in the fall if we have another outbreak. Job seekers are aware of this possibility and want to know that their job won’t be shut down again later this year because the governor decides their job or industry isn’t essential. If you are willing to train career changers, highlight that!
DO NOT LOWBALL! We have been in a job seekers market for a long time. We are now in what is considered an “employer’s market,” meaning the employer has the upper hand. It can be very tempting to drop your starting wage or lowball salary offers right now. Taking a career changer at a slightly slower rate can be a good strategy as long as you have a clear and written path to get them to the appropriate rate once they learn the role. However, many times an underpaid employee will take the job offer just to get back to work, but within weeks or months they are right back on Monster or Indeed looking for something that puts them back at their target salary. Don’t fall into the lowball trap. It may save you money in the short term, but it will catch up with you in the long run.
In closing, times like these can be wonderful times of reinvention, creativity, and growth in unexpected ways. Ecclesiastes 3:1 reminds us that “to everything there is a season.” This will not last forever, and there are days of growth ahead. Be ready for them!