Does it feel like hiring is getting harder?

Understanding the employment environment is the first step to creating a recruitment strategy for your company.  Does it feel like hiring is getting harder? Often the biggest challenge for employers in mountain communities is finding and retaining qualified employees.  Housing is an issue but it is not the only factor –Consider the intersection of low unemployment and growing businesses.

What does the research show?

For one, it’s the economic consequence of a positive Colorado statistic: low unemployment. According to the Vail Valley Economic Development Colorado is currently at its lowest unemployment rate since 1976.

In mountain communities that number is even lower. As of March, Eagle and Pitkin Counties sat at 1.8% and Summit County at 1.3%. In comparison: the national average unemployment rate is currently 4.4%. This statistic is great news for politicians but bad news for growing and developing businesses. There are literally less people looking for jobs so it is time to up your game.

So, what if we bring the talent in from other areas?

While several organizations have focused on this approach, there’s a pretty large entrance barrier: the cost and availability of housing in our mountain communities. When employees can find housing, the result is often a “cost-burdened” household where residents are paying more than 30% of their income for housing costs. Powder Magazine did an in-depth study into the housing situation that many mountain towns are facing. Thankfully, towns are taking notice and fighting to keep local skiers and workers. Developments for more residential, affordable housing are in the works in towns like Breckenridge, Keystone, Vail and Aspen. The goal is to keep qualified people around with affordable permanent housing.

Finally there is  a bittersweet dilemma finding employees because there is expansion and growth in our communities and state. Colorado Job Growth tallied an increase of 45,700 new jobs this year (source:Vail Valley Economic Development). That is great news but is our population keeping up?  Consider that the population growth in five years is around 4.3% in Summit, Eagle, and Pitkin Counties, while the rest of the state is growing at 8%.  In 2014-2015, job growth in our region was at 4.2% compared to the state average of 3.2 % and the national average of 2.1%. Simply put, we’re quickly growing but job growth may be out pacing our population growth in the mountains so it is crucial to stand out as a premier employer. Really stand out!

There’s good news — Mountain Careers knows there are plenty of desirable applicants already here looking to make shifts in their career or industry.  In Summit, Eagle, and Pitkin Counties, 35% of the residents have bachelor degrees, and 11% have masters degree.This is about the same as the national average. So what are you doing to attract the best and the brightest?

The Harvard Business Review conducted a study that found that 60% of employees says they would consider a job solely because of the benefits and 80% would consider benefits over a pay raise. What’s more is that research shows that  85% of the workforce would consider leaving their current job for a better opportunity?

So the most important question for those employers who are hiring:

What is your organization doing to actively attract the best candidates?

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Mountain Careers is a job board dedicated to sharing professional opportunities in the best mountain towns.