3 staffing agents in rural markets reveal how worker shortages have upped the competition for employ

Publish date: 2024-07-28
2021-12-15T19:52:39Z

The Great Resignation has had an effect on services and communities in cities large and small. In rural communities in particular, the shortage of workers has posed a challenge to staffing and temp-work agencies.

Rural markets have never been as competitive as they are now, staffing-agency managers told Insider, and rural states face challenges their more urban counterparts don't, such as brain drain, the potential for transportation issues, and long commutes.

Greg Sulentic. Courtesy of Greg Sulentic

But wages in rural markets are accelerating at a faster pace than in urban cores, according to Greg Sulentic, the franchise owner and regional developer of Express Pros in Lincoln, Nebraska, who has 25 years' experience in the sector.

Mary Jo Lewis. Courtesy of Mary Jo Lewis.

Mary Jo Lewis, a regional sales manager at Personnel Network Staffing in Tupelo, Mississippi, said that some employees she works with need to be convinced to commute to jobs in more isolated locations. "The companies we hire for are strategically placed in smaller towns. We have large industrial parks, and a lot of them are in smaller towns," Lewis said. She mostly works with Tier 1 Toyota part suppliers and furniture factories local to the Northeast Mississippi area.

Renee Rives. Courtesy of Renee Rives

Renee Rives, vice president of sales at Automation Personnel Services, said that managers in the Dalton and Calhoun, Georgia-run offices have been able to successfully place employees in jobs, but many positions remain open. Filling trade positions such as welding or commercial driver's license (CDL) drivers has been even tougher during the pandemic.

Even with these issues, Sulentic said that filling positions in rural markets is no different than in urban ones, and there are some employers, such as home-care-aide agencies, that offer rates too low to compete with other more lucrative jobs.

He said the labor shortage is impacting all sectors right now, particularly restaurants. Manufacturing, distribution, and food processing are usually the "sweet spots" in rural markets, he said. The lower costs of land and labor attract companies that want to build factories and warehouses while saving money and finding workers who may have fewer options, but it's become more challenging to fill these positions in recent months as well. "I don't think there's one that isn't difficult right now, just because of the tight labor shortage. Certainly, the light industrial side has become very difficult when it comes to planning and finding talent," Sulentic said.

An employee's market

Sulentic said that employees have the upper hand in the current job market. Lewis has seen a similar pattern in her area. "Employers are having to be much more aggressive in their hiring practices. They now implement bonuses," she said.

Employees in her area can now weigh incentive packages against each other, she added. "That's the main difference in what the employees themselves are looking for: work-life balance and work culture. A lot of the industries around are stepping up to meet that demand," Lewis said.

Rives said that employers in many industries in Georgia are stepping up too. "We've also seen all sorts of additional incentives, such as sign-on bonuses, up to $10,000 in some cases," she said. On average, Rives has seen sign-on bonuses between $3,000 and $5,000, on top of other incentives like extra pay for perfect weekly attendance, breakfast and lunch for all shifts, and pay increases from $4 to $6 per hour.

Ghosting and retention are bigger problems

Retention is another challenge employers and staffing agencies now face. The changing scope of the market means that employee interest may start slipping before they even show up to a job.

Rives said ghosting is now more common in new hires — and so is blocking an agency's number once they receive follow-ups.

Sulentic is also seeing changes in employee behavior. He said that in the past, employees may have filled out job applications or sent résumés and never gotten a response. Now, employees have the power to ghost their employers when they find better jobs.

According to Sulentic, people may apply for a job and appear ready to work, but his agency or their new employer may never hear from them again. His staffing agency may call the employee and not be able to get ahold of them. "We know they've started another job," he said.

Surprisingly, employers aren't discounting everyone who ghosts them. "What used to be a one-strike-and-you're-out policy has become very forgiving in our industry," Sulentic said. 

Staffing agencies have had to change their tactics

Lewis said that her agency keeps workers engaged through social media and constant communication. "Our firm does temporary-to-hire staff. So rather than someone looking for a job for two or three days, our ultimate goal is to help our clients find those individuals who are interested in a career and that career stability," Lewis said.

She said her firm constantly searches for matches between enlisted pools of applicants and employers, and sends updates on next steps employees can expect as part of the onboarding process.

Rives said her agency is continuing to experiment with ways to improve the employee experience. "We must provide a reason why employees need to go to work," Rives said.

But things seem to be stabilizing

In the early months of 2021, Rives said up to 6,000 jobs may have remained unfilled at one time in her area. This number has dropped to an average of 3,500 positions now, she said.

Sulentic foresees a tight labor market in 2022 that will continue to favor employees and their demands. He expects there will be an increase in compensation for skilled trades and CDL drivers going into the next year.

Meanwhile, Lewis said her office will continue with some of the practices that have been successful in the past, such as intake interviews that allow her staff to get to know potential employees, remaining in constant contact, acting as advisors to potential employees, and learning enough about clients to ensure new employees will also be a good culture fit.

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