Unemployment rates of 4 percent nationwide and near that or lower in Nevada (4.1 percent in Las Vegas and 3 percent in Reno) bode well for people actively looking for jobs. At the same time, the tight labor market brings up the question: what are businesses, which need employees to fill vacancies and expand, doing to compensate for the scarcity of available job-seekers?
Many are turning to staffing firms to help them find employees with the knowledge, experience and attitudes to fill their openings. “Low unemployment has had a definite impact [on the staffing market],” said Jane Whisner, managing director of the Eastridge Group, which has operated in Nevada for 27 years. Eastridge has divisions that provide, among others, clerical, light industrial, information technology, accounting, healthcare and construction staffing. She added, “Without any exception, in every area we have more jobs than we do people.”
Nevada casinos are partially responsible for the low unemployment rate. Bob Flowers, CEO of Reno-based Accustaff said, “The casino industry does drain a lot of the people that we would normally be using.” Accustaff primarily serves temporary positions in the light industrial job market. “Although we do quite a bit of the clerical side of it,” he said, “most of our clients are involved in the warehouse industry.”
What Staffing Firms Offer
“The beauty for employers [in using a staffing firm] is that they can hire an individual and try him or her out before they make that firm commitment to put the person on their payroll,” said Flowers. “This trial period works for both parties involved. It’s good for employees who want to gain a lot of diversified experience, and it’s a try-before-you-buy offer for employers.”
Most staffing firms also offer some kind of guarantee program that effectively eliminates any potential risk to the employer. “We put it in writing,” said Whisner. “If the person we find doesn’t work out, the client doesn’t owe us a dime.” The staffing firm can then offer to either refund a pro-rated amount of the fee or replace an employee at no charge.
Staffing firms are not letting the tight labor market cause the quality of their product to suffer. “We look for creative ways to attract the ‘cream of the crop’,” said Whisner. Agencies offer a number of services to ensure that the people they’re sending to work for their clients are right for the job and the company. According to Whisner, the staffing company should offer feedback to jobseekers regarding the type of position, the job description, the company’s attitude, culture and reputation.
The words ‘good-quality people’ are heard again and again from staffing firms and employers looking to fill positions. Applicants’ skills make them marketable. “If companies, for whatever reason, need someone who can come in, sit down and hit the ground running,” said Whisner, “then they’re paying top dollar.” These companies elect to pay higher prices to get the right person. In some cases, companies may not be able to allocate time to train new people on specialty software applications, or they may not have any current employees with the ability to train a new person. Experience with MS Office software is currently in high demand in the secretarial area. There’s also a good market for anyone with medical training.
The job market today is much more high-tech than it was even as recently as 10 years ago. At that time, typing 40 words per minute was sufficient; now the same jobs require experience with MS Office. “If we have an applicant at a particular skill level and our business customer is a looking for a little bit more, we do offer training for all of our working associates,” said Roberta Townsend, senior supervisor at the Kelly Services, Inc. Reno office. Kelly offers staffing to all markets in Reno and Las Vegas. Most staffing firms offer similar training to update applicants’ marketable skills.
But on a more basic level, applicants’ habits and attitudes are key factors. Flowers said that companies are looking for good, hardworking, dependable people, “who want to work, who will show up on time every day.” Some employers may request a person with certain skills, but are willing to take on someone who is knowledgeable and has the potential and drive to learn new skills to fit the company’s specific needs. In that regard, staffing companies are trying to match up attitudes and philosophy with their employer clients, a practice that assures the right people are attracted and retained. The goal of a staffing service is to find a person who not only satisfies the job requirements, but also fits in with the company atmosphere.
Incentives
Today, two generations of workers, baby boomers and gen X-ers, comprise the bulk of the employment market. The baby boomers are out in greater numbers, are older, more experienced, and are usually considered more dependable. “Today, the average 23-year-old has already held nine jobs, and will hold as many as 20 in his or her career,” said Whisner. Gen-X workers remain at the same job for only two or three years on average. Whisner said, “There are some college professors now who are even telling their students that you must change jobs every two to three years in order to stay marketable.” To attract gen X-ers and keep them from leaving, companies are allowing young workers the opportunity to move around within the firm and to learn new skills so they aren’t tempted to leave. Employees are offered training in new areas and are assigned to short-term projects that keep them constantly engaged.
For older workers, especially those with growing families, time is a big incentive. Employees want to be able to attend their children’s ball games and school plays without feeling guilty for taking time away from work. Thus, companies can gain loyalty by being family-friendly and facilitating scheduling options like telecommuting and flex-time. Flex-time allows staff to work any eight hours between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. for jobs that are not time-dependent.
Accustaff offers full benefits packages for its associates. After only 40 hours of work, they qualify for major medical coverage, dental, vision and life insurance. “Insurance has become a very major factor with a lot of people who are looking for [temporary, as well as full- time] work,” said Townsend. Above and beyond personal coverage and workers compensation, employees want health insurance coverage for their families.
Outlook for the Future
Chuck Alvey, president/CEO of the Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada (EDAWN), coordinates with staffing firms while working with incoming businesses. Companies coming to the area are looking for business infrastructure and support that will make it possible for them to succeed. “It’s not just telecommunications,” said Alvey. “CPAs, attorneys and staffing firms are very vital to us.”
“We have a degree of capacity to grow,” said Alvey, “and with the pressures in California — not just the electrical utility problems, but the cost of housing, the cost of doing business, and so many other things — I think companies are going to continue to come here.” While they will bring their key personnel with them, these firms will also hire locally in ever-increasing numbers. Flowers has noticed the growth of warehousing jobs in the Reno area as more companies move their facilities to Nevada or expand existing operations. He sees this growth trend continuing, evidenced by the fact that most of the positions his firm is currently filling are new jobs, rather than established positions that have become vacant. Although Accustaff does not currently fill many high-tech jobs, Flowers has high hopes of Silicon Valley companies expanding that side of the business. These companies are expected to bring more clerical and assembly jobs into the Reno area, as well.
Most staffing firms do offer technical staffing services, “more so in the major cities than you’ll find in Reno,” said Townsend. At this point Reno hasn’t seen a big surge in high-tech job demand because the Silicon Valley companies moving from California are transplanting their existing people. “Reno hasn’t progressed quite as far as Las Vegas has,” said Whisner. “We’ve seen a huge increase in the number of dot-com [companies] in the last couple of years. There is, right now, a huge need for people who know the development-end of software,” she said, and technology is definitely the future for the next few years. Knowledge of internal network design, upgrades and support will be in demand, as well as training and day-to-day operation support staffing. “Everybody’s getting into technology to some extent,” said Alvey, referring to the fact that now even press operators and warehouse order-pickers are using computers and specialized software applications in their jobs. Perhaps in the future, every job will, in effect, be a high-tech job.
“There’s a shortage of high-tech people on a national level, not just a state level,” said Whisner. However, Nevada is becoming increasingly attractive to these people. The quality of life, schools, and lack of pollution are things that aren’t available to people working for large companies in big cities, a fact that will continue to draw individuals and businesses involved in the technology field to Nevada.
