CLEVELAND — Ohio’s workforce is still struggling to fill voids more than two years since the pandemic disrupted businesses. Hiring and retaining employees remains one of the biggest challenges for some local industries here at home.
Much like everything else in 2022, social media rules, and it’s starting to dominate Ohio’s job recruiting efforts.
“We’ve got a number of clients that are now actually filling a lot of their ranks with Facebook advertising. It's been really successful,” said Joe Mosbrook, Managing Partner with Acclaim Communications. “A lot of these prospective employees might not even have resumes ready, but will still see an ad for [a] potential job. HR departments will get them on the phone and literally start interviewing them right there without even going through a traditional vetting process.”
Mosbrook says employment demands are slowly easing up, saying “things aren't quite as bad as they were, say, three, four or five months ago.” Though, he says, it depends on the industry.
“On the service side, people are still struggling a little bit," Mosbrook said.
We’re told restaurants and entertainment spots are just hanging on, and healthcare providers remain among the hardest to find.
“A lot of older folks that were in the workforce during the pandemic that were on the verge of retirement age went into retirement and it opened up the market for a lot more people that just didn't fill those positions,” Mosbrook explained.
The stern push for more work-life balance, childcare consideration and work-from-home flex options continue to push companies to conform in non-traditional ways in order to attract help.
“We actually have one client who now is instigated same day pay periods. What that means is you put in an eight, 10 [or] 12-hour shift and you literally get paid at the end of that day, almost in the form of like a Venmo or a PayPal,” said Mosbrook.
As inflation and rising costs reflect hard times, Mosbrook says the need for more between employer and employees will continue.
“People are going to need more money. So, they're going to need to work more,” he explained. “Getting these good employees is as much a competition as it is any other aspect of business.”
