••• SPONSORED SECTION •••
It wasn’t that long ago that finding enough qualified employees was as simple as placing a want ad in the local newspaper. But today’s fast-paced and complex economic environment has made it much more complicated. Businesses face multiple obstacles, including a desire or need for remote work, fewer qualified applicants and workers who build their careers across multiple employers. And the state’s economy, which continues to add companies and jobs, is only making it any easier. Business North Carolina recently assembled a panel of experts to define today’s hiring environment and discuss strategies being employed by companies to successfully fill workforce needs. The conversation was moderated by the magazine’s publisher, Ben Kinney.
The transcript was edited for brevity and clarity.
The discussion was sponsored by:
• Gallagher
• N.C. Community College System
• N.C. Department of Commerce
• North Carolina Healthcare Association
WHAT MAKES FINDING QUALIFIED WORKERS CHALLENGING?
LOYACK: North Carolina has been on a fantastic run the past five years or so. There have been major economic announcements statewide. And it doesn’t seem to be slowing: Reckitt recently announced it’s investing more than $145 million to build a factory in Wilson, where it will produce the over-the-counter medicine Mucinex and create 289 jobs. We’ve seen rapid growth in the Charlotte and Triangle regions the past two decades. And while they’re still growing, growth is happening outside those regions more often. The Piedmont Triad has been busy. And there’s the BioPharma Crescent, a growing concentration of manufacturers that stretches from Chatham County to Pitt County. There’s more good news — the state’s significant net immigration. More people are moving here every day. Some states, such as Wisconsin and Minnesota, have zero population growth, so they’re faced with a bigger workforce challenge. We must connect new residents with job opportunities. Many aren’t aware of what’s available. The organizations that we work for are getting more creative about advertising jobs. Business are trying everything and anything to get the word out about their job opportunities. Morinaga America Foods, for example, is using interstate billboards to find workers for its candy factory in Mebane.
HARRIS: Most people moving to North Carolina are coming with a company or coming to retire and start a business, the entrepreneurial route. But there are untapped populations of people already here looking for a job. Some are finishing community college or leaving prison. They may be coming out of retirement, or they may be moms returning to work after raising their children. Many don’t know where to turn, because they’ve been out of the job market for an extended time. Those are the populations we look at first. We want to tell them about jobs and training opportunities. But they’re not in the usual places where you find job-seekers. Reaching them is a challenge.
KELLY: Our industry looks far forward — 10, 20 or more years — to predict workforce needs and patient population. Now is the time to build capacity. There’s a long run up to meeting the needs of the population. We take particular note of North Carolina’s shifting demographics. There were five working adults for every person age 65 or older in 2000. That’s expected to drop to two working adults by 2030. That’s not a good projection for any industry, but it’s especially bad for ours. Older people usually need more health care, so we need the workforce to support them. We need to innovate health care delivery and attract workers. The health care industry isn’t only nurses and doctors. It’s comprised of many jobs. You can be a chef in food service, handle information-technology needs or work in insurance. And if you wanted to be a nurse but didn’t get into nursing school, you can still work in many other clinical fields with training from a community college or university.
WOODY: The market has shifted. It was employee driven immediately post-pandemic. Businesses were fighting for every applicant, even though many lacked needed qualifications. They were forced to pay big signing bonuses, and pay ranges went out of whack. Some of that is being corrected as the market settles into more of an equilibrium. There’s still a lack of qualified applicants, but there are fewer job openings. So, employers are taking different approaches. They’re focused on the complete person, along with well-being and engagement. They realize they need the right people to be successful. North Carolina health care, for example, has a sterling reputation, but it needs the right people to maintain it. Businesses are investing more in professional development, career pathing and other employee support. Many new workers are replacing seasoned individuals, so they’ve yet to acquire all needed skills. Employers are investing in programs to bring them up to speed. Many applicants need additional training to qualify for jobs — maybe not the one that they’re applying for now, but the one we want them to have in the future.
HOW IS THE APPRENTICESHIP MODEL EVOLVING? CAN IT BE APPLIED OUTSIDE THE TRADES?
LOYACK: Apprenticeships have a storied history, all the way back to the National Apprenticeship Act of 1937. But for a long time, they were seen as something only associated with the trades. If you wanted to be a plumber, electrician or mason, as examples, then you started as an apprentice. That was the path. Apprenticeships continue today, though they’re finding homes in a wider spectrum of industries. If you’re a biotech company in the Triangle or a hospital somewhere between Murphy and Manteo, as examples, you need an effective HVAC system. And it’s not something a local business can service or repair. You need dedicated employees who have been trained within your business’s four walls to understand how your HVAC operates. So, more businesses are eyeing the apprentice approach, along with other models, because of the skilled workforce shortage. The national debate over student debt is shining a light on it, too. People want options. Many businesses use N.C. Department of Commerce’s job training and the community college system’s customized training, but they want to be more involved in preparing employees. Each has a specific curriculum to introduce, and apprenticeships are an employer-controlled vehicle that drives talent development. Apprenticeship is an earn while you learn model. It not only integrates education, whether it be the community college system or private, but gives individuals the training that businesses want them to have and something they may not get in the theoretical space of traditional schooling. We’re considering a form of apprenticeships to address the shortage of nurses — as many as 25,000 by 2030. Several community colleges are already working on programs. A high school student could learn about nursing in an apprenticeship program, walking away with a certificate or as a certified nursing assistant. Then they could consider attending a registered nurse program at a four-year university. If they work for the private sector, why wouldn’t they work for the public sector? We see their impact they’re making across the state. I recently participated in a panel discussion with Dr. John Hauser, Gaston College president. He talked about Apprenticeship 321, which prepares students for careers in advanced manufacturing, industrial maintenance and health care. Nine of its graduates became homeowners after working four years. These programs are addressing issues beyond workplace skills such as economic mobility.
KELLY: You can work your entire career in healthcare; there are many ways to ebb and flow within the industry. I spend a lot of time with folks who understand that you must start early to interest someone in a health care career. There are ways of capturing someone in their teens who wants to make some extra income. And with a few baby steps, they can work in a hospital as a teenager. Some hospitals are doing innovative things such as allowing people to work and attend school; they’re paying for tuition while learning highly skilled tasks and earning certificates or an associate or four-year degree. Working while going to school not only gets them where they want to go, but it also allows them to explore other career possibilities in health care. They may be unsure if they want to be a pharmacist, phlebotomist or radiologic technologist, but they can find out by starting as a CNA, observing firsthand what different jobs entail. Apprenticeships allow that to happen and for hospitals to help underwrite some of the associated costs, either directly or indirectly, through wages. We recently started a campaign aimed at getting teenagers interested in health care careers. It’s called I do care. Its website — IdocareNC.org — offers a county-by-county listing of what hospitals and community colleges offer in regards to employment and training. The goal is making connections, so folks understand what scholarship opportunities are available and what some of the education dollars, such as federal programs, are available. Even though those federal funds may not be specific to health care, many can be used to get an associate degree or certification to pursue a health care career. We did a social media campaign that garnered more than 3 million impressions over the past month. We’re excited about that, and we’re going to continue it.
WOODY: Nothing is simple as it once was. Every position requires a heightened level of skills. Apprenticeship programs for the trades highlight that. You need a certain amount of seat time to work with plumbing or HVAC. But many jobs outside the trades have the same requirement. And as you see a smaller pool of qualified applicants for any one job, you realize that hiring them away from competitors is expensive. The alternative is finding people who might eventually fit the role. Enroll them in an apprenticeship or mentor program and get them where you need them to be. It requires an investment, but it also provides a reward. If you can instill your business’s purpose, mission and culture, then make them feel happy, included and recognized along the way, they are more likely to stick around long term, giving your business a big payoff.
HARRIS: Transitional skills are important, too. Fidelity announced it was expanding its customer relations manager positions, adding about 500 jobs in Durham and Charlotte, during COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, hospitality workers were losing their jobs; hotels, restaurants and other businesses in that industry were closing because of stay-at-home orders and travel restrictions. Who knows customer service better than hospitality workers? We took many of them and said you can keep working for $8 an hour plus tips, or we can put you into a job that might take some short term on-the-job training. But it’s a professional career that you can grow into. We like to find what a job-seeker thinks about. It’s always good to ask what they think about doing something different, then use federal workforce programs to help with wage and training reimbursement to the employer to upskill people. There are many of these federal programs. Finding the right one is a case-by-case basis. Some of it fits with training offered by community colleges.
WHAT DO TODAY’S EMPLOYEES WANT FROM EMPLOYERS?
WOODY: What employees value varies based on the stage of their career. The 23-year-old recent graduate wants to know about working from home, bringing a dog to the office and how much feedback is provided. Older employees usually care more about health care and retirement. If a business is going to invest in career and professional development of its employees, it wants them to stick around. So, they need to be careful, thoughtful and intentional in the rewards offered. Most people want benefits, help with retirement and some time off to strike a work-life balance. They want to know that they’re doing a good job. Everyone wants to be paid fairly. It doesn’t have to be the highest rate, but it needs to be fair. It’s expensive to live in the state’s metropolitan centers. Remote work allows employees to live where it’s less expensive. Google, Amazon and other large companies called employees back to the office following the pandemic. While that surely makes owners of commercial office space happy, it has caused concern within segments of the population. Some people need work-at-home flexibility to meet family, childcare or parenting needs. Businesses without a remote work option are missing out on those employees. Family, parental, maternity and paternity leave programs are important. We stress emotional well-being of employees, but there aren’t enough well-being care providers in the state to meet demand. So, we lean on virtual care and other professionals. There’s more focus on benefits as part of a reward plan. People want to make sure benefits are good wherever they choose to work. While the core health plans haven’t changed much, their costs have escalated. Employers are focused on managing them. The more money they spend on those, the less they have for wage increases, additional time off or retirement contributions.
KELLY: Bedside care is one job that cannot be done remotely. While there’s a lot of innovation with telemedicine, remote monitoring and robotic care, there’s still a human element that will always accompany hospital-based care, which is what you want. You go to a hospital for hands-on care that will get you through your event, whether it’s happy, such as a birth, or filled with distress such as an illness or injury. Hands-on care is what we do best, but we know the work around it is changing radically. Clinical shifts traditionally have been 12 hours. One way the health care industry is adapting to a changing workforce is examining the 12-hour shift and thinking about how shift work could be done differently. And while a workweek consisting of three or four 12-hour shifts may be needed in most clinical settings, there are opportunities in health care that aren’t 12-hour shifts. One more top concern is child care access. It drives decision making by employees, especially those living in rural regions. It becomes a Catch-22. Health care availability makes rural regions attractive to relocating businesses and startups. But you need child care to have enough health care workers. It’s a codependent relationship. If you don’t have both, it’s difficult for a business to locate or relocate there. Investing in both is an important economic pillar for rural counties. North Carolina has the country’s second largest rural population. We must create the right environment, so businesses want to be there for those residents.
LOYACK: The major employer that is most often overlooked is state government. Many benefits, such as signing bonuses, don’t apply to its jobs. Many state employees are based in Raleigh. Wake County’s average annual private-sector wage is almost $75,000. Many state employees aren’t paid at that level, but they still must pay for parking, lunch and other things associated with work. That’s becoming harder to address. One thing that works in favor of state agencies is many employees are mission driven. They love the work. It’s often not a question of will this job make me rich, but will it be fulfilling. We tap into retirees and people beginning their career, times when they might not need to earn their greatest potential. While that helps, challenges remain. The N.C. Division of Motor Vehicles, for example, has shut down three centers, the latest in Lillington, because it can’t find workers. That’s tough.
HOW IS THE WORKPLACE EVOLVING?
KELLY: The country is at an inflection point about the nature of work — what it means, why we do it and what we do. It’s important for every industry to give people a reason to work. We have a generational shift around how people approach work. In our parents’ and grandparents’ generations, you graduated high school and immediately went into a trade, blue collar or white collar. If yours didn’t require a four-year degree, then you were expected to be working at age 18 and continue to work that same job until you retired. Most people no longer accept the notion of one career. We move around more than ever and expect to work multiple jobs over our lifetime. Entrepreneurship has become a side hustle. The gig economy exists in every trade and every field. I don’t know that we could have predicted that 20 years ago.
WOODY: Many people relocate to live and raise their family in North Carolina. That brings talent, which often arrives ready to work. They want to work. They’re ready to engage, but
they aren’t sure where. They want to know if they can make a career from a job. They need a track to run on. We must help people find their track, get them where they want to be. It’s good for everyone.
LOYACK: There are transformational changes underway. The workforce shortage has become such a challenge that we are reaching into communities that were ignored in the past. The community college system rolled out a pilot program for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities at two community colleges — Brunswick and Catawba Valley — with seed funding from the General Assembly. It ran for two years, enrolling about 200 students. At the end, 55% of them had job offers. The program is being rolled out to 15 colleges, because of its initial success. We’re looking to prepare members of this community for work, whether with a local small business or large manufacturer. They traditionally haven’t been supported. The system is working with other communities, too.
About 5,000 incarcerated individuals received training last year, and about 1,000 of them walked away with some high school equivalency education or certification. We’re getting creative like we never have done before. It makes sense. ■