The jobless rate in the U.S. has dropped to the lowest it has been since 1969, according to the most recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). For the first half of 2018, the unemployment rate held steady between 3.9 and 4.1 percent, but September saw another dip, dropping the rate to 3.7 percent – the lowest it has been in 48 years. In California, the continually rising minimum wage rates have also lended a hand to lowering unemployment rates across the state.
While low joblessness is great news for workers and a good sign of an economy on the rise, it has some less-than-ideal effects on local businesses, in particular.
Although the jobless rate is at an all time low, there are still a plethora of open and available jobs needing to be filled. In fact, the BLS announced earlier this year that job openings in the United States were actually poised to surpass the number of unemployed workers for the first time in history. Ideally, this news would mean that the country could essentially eliminate joblessness, it doesn’t quite work that way. Many of the available jobs are in cities where they are not enough available workers to fill them, or they require workers to possess very new or very precise technical skills that are hard to come by.
The percentage of people in the workforce that are still left unemployed are typically people that are lacking required skills, are in a transition period or are just long-term unemployed and not interested in obtaining work. For small and local businesses, it can be especially difficult to find skilled labor to fill open positions with only limited hiring and recruiting resources. While it may feel impossible to compete with larger companies for talented and skilled workers, there are some things that small and local business owners can do to help attract and hire the skilled workers they need.
Recruiting in the Face of Wage Growth and Low Unemployment Rates
Small business owners in California have been forced to reexamine their hiring practices and even their entire business models. Because the majority of skilled Californians are already employed, employers have to be able to offer something enticing – better wages, more benefits, a more exciting company culture – to attract top talent.
Outsourcing Can Help Employers Up Their Hiring Game
Outsourcing is an ideal solution for coming up with the experience and resources needed to attract and hire top talent without the exorbitant costs that larger companies have no issues paying. Outsourcing through a Professional Employer Organization (PEO) allows small and local business owners to adopt some of the recruiting and hiring techniques of larger companies without a huge investment, including access to seasoned recruiting consultants, the ability to offer larger group platform benefits and streamlined onboarding and employee management processes.
Emplicity understands that HR
Outsourcing should be simple and meaningful. As a Professional Employer Organization (PEO), we strive to be a great partner in supporting your business. If you would like to request more information on how we can assist your needs, please reach out to us at 877-476-2339. We are located in California – Orange County, Los Angeles, and the greater Sacramento and San Francisco area.
NOTICE: Emplicity provides HR advice and recommendations. Information provided by Emplicity is not intended as a substitute for employment law counsel. At no time will Emplicity have the authority or right to make decisions on behalf of their clients.
