The biggest and most surprising story is the United States’ current worker shortage. People in the hospitality, retail, restaurant, fulfillment and warehouse sectors, along with other blue-collar workers, bore the brunt of the massive layoffs at the offset of the Covid-19 outbreak. Now, the very same workers are in high demand. Companies loudly complain that they can’t fill openings and are losing business because there aren’t enough job applicants.
To find out what’s really going on I spoke with Mathieu Stevenson and Andrew Hunter, the respective CEOs of Snagajob and Adzuna. These busy guys run two of the largest job search platforms that cater to blue-collar workers and those without college degrees. They shared their views as to what’s really happening.
Snagajob
Mathieu Stevenson is the CEO of Snagajob, one of the largest U.S. platforms for hourly workers. The platform uses sophisticated software to match hourly workers and employers. There’s been a remarkable turnaround in the demand for workers compared to the millions laid off during the pandemic.
The average American receives $387 from their state in weekly unemployment payments, which becomes $687 with the federal boost. That means, for a 40-hour workweek, the average unemployed American is getting the equivalent of $17.17 an hour—more than two times the federal minimum wage.
States have taken differing approaches to the worker-shortage dilemma. Around 21 states opted out of the federal pandemic-era jobless programs. A number of states offered bonuses up to $2,000, as an incentive to reenter the workforce. Stevenson noticed that in an effort to attract talent, companies, including Starbucks and Chipotle, offered sign-on bonuses, higher pay, training, flexible schedules, a career-advancement track and other creative amenities and benefits.
Putting aside some of the possible reasons for the shortage, companies need to act quickly. Stevenson said, “For employers looking to staff up, offering a livable wage and benefits is the only way to stay competitive in the current market.’’ Many hourly workers are seeing the current job market as a chance to reconsider and level up. As employers are sweetening the deal to attract workers, they know now is the time to find a great job.
In addition to pay, flexible scheduling, skills training and health insurance top the list of benefits. The job search platform surveyed job seekers and employers to gain a picture of the market.
Here are some of the highlights:
- Warehouse and logistics jobs are up 143% compared to pre-pandemic norms, seeing a 65% month-over-month decline and a 164% year-over-year decline.
- Retail jobs are up 61% compared to pre-pandemic norms, seeing 77% month-over-month growth and 109% year-over-year growth.
- Grocery jobs are up 97% compared to pre-pandemic norms, seeing 60% month-over-month growth and 70% year-over-year growth.
- Hospitality jobs are up 197% compared to pre-pandemic norms, seeing 45% month-over-month growth and 271% year-over-year growth.
- Convenience store jobs are up 79% compared to pre-pandemic norms, seeing 107% month-over-month growth and 108% year-over-year growth.
- Healthcare jobs are up 195% compared to pre-pandemic norms, seeing 129% month-over-month growth and 195% year-over-year growth.
Adzuna
Adzuna is a search engine for job advertisements. The platform offers job listings with an emphasis on blue-collar workers worldwide. The U.K.-based company’s website aggregates job ads from thousands of sources.
Andrew Hunter, cofounder of the company, is passionate about helping people who don’t possess a college degree. He laments, “Our society has put major emphasis on the fact that the better the education you have, the better job you’re likely to get.” However, he has hope, stating, “This isn’t necessarily true and it doesn’t have to be this way.” The ethos of the site is to empower and offer opportunities for workers who are underrepresented on sites, such as LinkedIn.
Hunter maintains that given the chance, people without degrees could succeed at top companies. He points out, “Millions of Americans have the skills to get higher-level and higher-paying jobs, but find themselves limited because they don’t have a college degree.” Hunter contends that this thought process harms both workers and the companies. He believes, “By companies hiring based on credentials and not skills, they are restricting opportunities for millions of skilled workers and creating smaller pools of talent to choose from.”
On the positive side, one of the fastest-growing sectors is non-college-degreed workers. He said, “Our data reveals that jobs not requiring a degree or formal qualification are finally flooding back to the market, with many lucrative opportunities available for people who chose a different route in starting their career.”
“Not having a college degree needs to become more normalized.” It’s especially important, as there’s not an ample “availability of formally qualified talent to meet demand in boom industries, like tech and digital marketing.” This is a “massive opportunity for employers willing to train or upskill workers on the job,” Hunter added.
There are about 30 job categories, representing 2,459,193 job vacancies, comprising nearly half of the 5,072,382 U.S. jobs currently available on the site that don’t require degrees.
Adzuna’s data reflects the following:
- As the vaccine rollout continues at pace and remaining state restrictions ease, more offices, brick-and-mortar retailers, cafes and bars are reopening or expanding capacity, creating demand for expert cleaners. There are 781,400 openings currently available, making cleaning the top hiring “no-degree-necessary” industry.
- The pandemic has also stoked demand for warehouse, logistics and e-commerce roles, including 354,830 truck driver job vacancies, 293,940 courier openings and 146,169 positions for warehouse workers.
- A hot housing market and home-improvement boom has meant construction work picked up strongly into spring, driving demand for skilled trades, including 213,477 electrician vacancies, 49,714 plumber roles, 48,695 builder openings and 2,925 job vacancies for house painters and associated trades.
- Hospitality openings consist of 133,903 server openings on Adzuna, as well as 42,693 chef vacancies and 12,402 bartender positions.
- Companies have focused on growing their online presence through their website, social media channels and through digital marketing—leading to rising opportunities in associated entry-level positions that require tech or social “know-how” rather than a specific degree. As a result, three of the 30 ‘no-degree necessary’ picks sit within this space: social media expert (60,460 openings), digital marketing specialist (31,116 roles) and junior software developer (2,281 roles).
- The care sector is a final bright spot for jobseekers with no degree, with 11,999 advertised vacancies available for care workers in roles supporting the elderly, children, disabled or those with learning difficulties—offering average salaries of $45,917.
- Of the 30 roles analyzed, two offer average advertised annual salaries topping $60k: junior software developer ($62k) and long-haul truck driver ($60k), showing you don’t necessarily need a degree to earn a significant salary.
The common theme is that to attract and retain workers, businesses need to think creatively, offer solid competitive wages, training, perks, flexible schedules, dignity, respect and appreciation for their hard work and efforts.
Source: Forbes
