Q&A with Hire Dynamics on challenges of hiring in 2021
April’s nonfarm payroll numbers came in at 266,000, well below the 1 million people forecasters estimated would be hired that month.
The low number wasn’t because there were a lack of jobs. There were 8.1 million open positions at the end of March. And it wasn’t due to a lack of people who need work. In April, there were 18.2 million people who received some form of federal unemployment assistance.
Hire Dynamics, a staffing and professional recruitment business that operates in the Atlanta area in addition to other locations across the U.S., has experienced the shortage of workers first hand. The following Q&A is an interview with Chuck Fallaw, regional manager for Hire Dynamics.
Q: Please explain what your business does / your focus
Hire Dynamics is a regional staffing agency headquartered in Atlanta GA. We focus on temp-to-hire staffing in the manufacturing, logistics/e-commerce, warehouse distribution, administrative, and call center verticals.
Q: What was hiring like prior to the pandemic?
Prior to the pandemic, we faced challenges with finding talent due to incredibly low unemployment. For example, in Nashville, TN where we had a 1.2% unemployment rate. Their pay rates were naturally rising due to the competition for talent. However, it was still much easier to fill positions than it has been over the last year and a half.
Q: How about during the pandemic?
Hiring during the pandemic was a unique challenge. Many of our clients are considered essential, so their need for talent never slowed down. Outside of true shutdowns, we were still able to fill some roles. That changed quite a bit in the last six months.
What we do matters.
- Best of Staffing for Client & Talent Satisfaction by ClearlyRated – 11 years in a row:
- Top 1% of more than 20,000 staffing companies
- Continuously recognized as a Best Place to Work company throughout the Southeast
- Superior client loyalty: client ratings 8 times higher and talent ratings 2.5 times higher than the industry average
- Committed to and engaged with the communities we serve
Q: Right now, are you having trouble filling positions, and if so which ones?
Yes. All of them. Many of the manufacturers we work with are running around 50% of the workforce they typically employ. Obviously, this is tough on productivity, but it also leads to environments that are not as safe, elevated worker’s comp, and general morale issues among the employees. Light industrial staffing (at least in my region) has been the hardest hit. As I mentioned before, prior to the pandemic the economy was roaring, and talent was in demand. When the pandemic hit, those needs didn’t really go away, but the talent did.
Q: In what ways are you trying to recruit / attract employees in this environment?
Grassroots recruiting is very important right now. Getting in front of the talent and helping them get back into the workforce is a big part of what we are doing. We are doing drive-through job fairs, virtual job fairs, and massive recruiting events. In addition, we are coaching our clients on reducing barriers to entry, pay adjustments, and other ways to incentivize employees to come back.
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