'There certainly are still shortages': What the job market looks like in Greater Lansing
Bryce Airgood
It's been given a lot of names.
The great resignation. The great reshuffle. Even the "big quit."
"But from our perspective, the great reshuffle is really what we're seeing because it's not that workers are simply leaving the workforce by and large," said Carrie Rosingana, CEO of Capital Area Michigan Works!. "It's that they're looking for those new jobs and those new opportunities where they feel comfortable and safe and the culture really fits what they're looking for as an employee."
The COVID-19 pandemic devastated the local job market in 2020, causing many businesses to close temporarily or permanently. The area experienced record unemployment rates in April 2020 at 21.6% for Eaton County, 18.8% for Clinton County and 18.3% for Ingham County.
But as businesses reopened and restrictions eased in 2021, the workers did not come back. The area, state and country have seen labor shortages for months and that continues moving into 2022.
In over 30 years of working in human resources, hiring and recruiting, Sherry Pfaff-Doody, director of talent acquisition for Sparrow Health System, has never seen anything quite like what employers are facing now with labor shortages.
"I would say it is more stressful than ever," she said.
There are still shortages?
In Michigan, 11 of 14 Metropolitan Statistical Areas remained flat or added jobs (not seasonally adjusted) in November, according to the January edition of Michigan's Labor Market News by the Bureau of Labor Market Information and Strategic Initiatives.
Of those, the Lansing area saw the largest percent increase of not seasonally adjusted, nonfarm payroll jobs at 4.8%.
However, it has not recovered to pre-pandemic levels. Although jobs in the "professional and business services sector" increased by 1.4% in November, employment remained 10.9% below November 2019 job levels.
"There certainly are still shortages," Rosingana said.
She attributes these shortages in part to pandemic challenges and systematic barriers people have faced since 2020, including finding child care and concerns of contracting COVID-19.
Access to high-quality, affordable child care continues to plague working parents, particularly women, forced to leave the workforce to care for children due to COVID-19. Nearly 9,000 children in the Lansing region were displaced from care during the pandemic, exacerbating a pre-existing child care gap in the region, Lansing Economic Area Partnership Chief Strategic Officer Victoria Meadows said in an email.
Schools closing or going virtual also impacted the job market in regard to student workers. The Lansing region has Michigan State University, Lansing Community College, Davenport University and more other colleges and universities. Having fewer students in the area left many entry level customer service positions open, Rosingana said.
When it comes to Sparrow Health System's labor shortages, there were over 380 positions listed for Greater Lansing on its career website Wednesday night. Pfaff-Doody said open positions can range from jobs that work 40 hours to a couple hours a week.
Pre-pandemic there was a national shortage of nurses and medical assistants. So going into the pandemic hospitals knew the coming years were going to be a challenge, she said.
People in the organization have stepped up to help with these shortages by sitting with patients, cleaning facilities and more.
"it's not just local, and it's not just hospitals," Pfaff-Doody said. "I mean, it's nationally, it's internationally, it's globally. We are all being faced with the same challenges."
How has the hiring landscape shifted?
Labor turnover is higher than it's ever been since the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) program, conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, started in 2000.
When unemployment rates were improving after a recession or during times of "full employment" like from 2017 to 2019, the job turnover rates hovered in the 7% range.
"Michigan's job churn has averaged between 9 and 11 percent in 2020 and 2021 thus far. This indicates that workers are moving more freely between jobs and are more comfortable leaving an employer than at any other time since 2000," Wayne Rourke, associate director of the Bureau of Labor Market Information and Strategic Initiatives, wrote in January's Michigan's Labor Market News.
The number of people quitting jobs is also at near-record highs in both Michigan and the United States. The years 2018 and 2019 were the first to average just over 100,000 workers quitting their job each month in Michigan. During 2021, an average month saw 125,000 workers quit their job in Michigan.
"This means that over 3% of the roughly 4.2 million employed people quit their job each month," Rourke wrote.
Pfaff-Doody said there are a lot more opportunities for people and now is the time they can explore what they really want to do, find the right fit for them and look at what advancement opportunities exist in an organization.
One of the ways Sparrow Health System is trying to attract employees is by creating six different "grow your own programs."
"So what that means is we will actually hire people and we will train them in the role so they're not like going to a two-year degree program and paying out of pocket for that education," she said. "We're saying, come work for us, give us a two-year commitment, and we'll train you in this specific area."
The company has also done some sign-on bonuses and retention bonuses. These endeavors and a "beautiful benefits package" have helped get some applicants, but not enough, she said.
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Some companies are getting creative with financial incentives beyond increasing wages, but the companies LEAP sees finding the most success are making sustainable holistic organizational changes to focus on company culture, adequate and competitive compensation and benefits, building a talent pipeline through partnerships, and leveraging available workforce resources and tools, Meadows said.
Rosingana said employers are looking at what the company's and employees' needs are. If customer traffic is down, employers can potentially reduce the number of people in that department. They need to look at hour flexibility for staff, working remotely, talking about company culture, plans to keep employees safe from COVID-19 and having paid mental health days for staff to recharge.
While this job market dynamic can be challenging now, it will help make everyone stronger in the long term, Rosingana said.
"It's empowering both parties to be able to really talk about the things that are important to them. And I think that long term that's only good for retention purposes in our book," she said.
What will the job market look like in 2022?
Pfaff-Doody wishes she had a crystal ball for the year ahead.
There was a spike in hiring during the summer months when COVID-19 wasn't as prevalent. If schools return to in person and parents return to work, people could re-enter the market, hopefully creating an uptick of available talent in the labor pool.
"All I can hope is the pipeline starts filling up," she said.
Meadows said if society continues to make positive strides against COVID-19, LEAP is optimistic.
"2021 brought numerous new employers to the region and existing businesses are expanding. We expect this same trend in 2022 and we will continue to work to connect employers seeking talent and education and workforce development and training partners to help job seekers find those jobs," she said.
Rosingana said the job market has created opportunities for innovation and for employers to work more closely with employees to shape what the workforce looks like within their organizations.
"So to me, those are all really encouraging things and I think the employers that you're seeing that willingness to look at it and to be creative and innovative, you're going to see them continue to prosper and grow as we're coming out of the COVID pandemic," she said.
Job seekers and employers can find out more at CAMW!'s website and can contact its Lansing office at 517-492-5500. People can find out more about LEAP on its website and can call 517-702-3387.
Contact Bryce Airgood at 517-267-0448 or bairgood@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @bairgood123.