Momentum State of the Workforce transitions to virtual event

The annual luncheon that unveils results from the city’s Momentum State of the Workforce Survey is changing to a livestreamed event for 2021, organizers say.

The Missouri Job Center announced last week the move to a virtual event due to concerns with the coronavirus pandemic. Businesses and organizations from around the region are encouraged to give feedback on workforce needs through the seventh-annual survey. The annual workforce survey, now open for businesses and organizations in the region, asks about recruitment, hiring difficulties, education and employee retention. It launched this month at Momentum2021.net.

“This year, it is even more important to hear from the business community in light of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Sally Payne, interim director of workforce development for the city of Springfield, in a news release. “We are continually assessing the ways we serve both job seekers, and employers and this survey allows us to respond to those changing needs.”

Springfield’s annual confidential survey provides data for the Missouri Job Center to assess needs of employers, while identifying issues and challenges in the workforce. It compiles responses from businesses, government entities, nonprofits, health care organizations and educational institutions within the center’s seven-county Ozark region. Its coverage area is Greene, Christian, Dallas, Polk, Stone, Taney and Webster counties.

Missouri Job Center spokesperson Katherine Trombetta said the survey, which has several pandemic-related questions, is open online until late January. Survey results are scheduled to be released Feb. 24 at the Momentum State of the Workforce livestream event via the Job Center’s Facebook page. She said details of the event’s presentation are still being determined.

Results of the sixth-annual survey were announced at a February luncheon before nearly 350 people at White River Conference Center. A total of 405 surveys were completed, down 20% from 2019.

This year’s survey results noted 49% of respondents planned to hire at least one full-time employee over the next 12 months – the highest in the survey’s history, according to past Springfield Business Journal reporting. However, 71% who responded reported difficulty in filling positions over the past year, up from 67% in 2019.