A newly-released report shows businesses across Southwest Michigan are still facing a huge challenge in finding and retaining workers – and the trend doesn’t appear to be changing anytime soon.
The survey, conducted in Q4 2022, looked specifically at Southwest Michigan manufacturing and health care. It found that more than 90 percent of those surveyed say it is still “difficult” or “very difficult” to find qualified job candidates for open roles.
The information released this week by the Upjohn Institute via Kinexus, shows that employers in Southwest Michigan are offering higher wages, better benefits, and more flexible work arrangements, but nothing, so far, has done a lot to close the gap between open jobs and people willing to fill them.
Mike Horrigan is the president of the Upjohn Institute – the firm that conducted the survey.
“At the end of 2020, openings started rising relative to hires, and the gap became very, very large. In the history of this (data) series, this is the largest gap we have ever observed,” said Horrigan. Asked about the most popular tactic for employers is to offer more money. “I would say one of the things that is absolutely working in terms of recovery is wages. I think it’s first and foremost.”
But the overall effectiveness of offering higher wages and other perks is still unknown. Other studies say more than money, potential workers are looking more at a company’s brand, their culture, what they stand for, and their reputation.
There’s been some recovery to close the worker shortage, but one area that’s still suffering is hospitality.
