Area employers have plenty of jobs to fill, but a lack of qualified candidates is leaving a good portion of them open, according to the latest workforce survey by the Missouri Job Center.
Revealed yesterday at the 2016 Momentum: State of the Workforce luncheon, 60 percent of survey respondents said they’ve had problems filling positions the past 12 months and over a third of them ended up not filling the jobs. Survey organizers concluded that meant 154 jobs lost.
The identified gap was in skilled talent.
“That has been like trying to find gold here, lately,” said Derick Barnes, a business agent for the local heavy construction laborers union.
Barnes was among six panelists discussing workforce trends following a presentation of the survey results. Organized by the local Workforce Development Board and the Missouri Job Center-Ozark Region, over 300 professionals attended the event at White River Conference Center.
“This year’s survey reflects a continued upward trend in hiring and also presents opportunities for the regional partners to continue to work together to find ways to engage the workforce in meaningful career paths,” said Mary Ann Rojas, the city of Springfield’s director of workforce development.
Rojas said 423 employers across the seven-county region participated in the online survey. Emerging as the top occupational fields in the next five-10 years were business management and administration, information technology and computer science, sales and marketing, and health care.
For instance, CoxHealth has 200 nursing jobs open, said panelist Andrew Hedgpeth, the health system’s benefits and employee relations director.
On the tech side, panelist Jason Klein of startup Logic Forte acknowledged IT workers are short on soft skills.
“We’re awkward and not the best at explaining things the rest of us understand,” said Klein, a chapter president of the Association of Information Technology Professionals. “Professional communication is a struggle across the board.”
Surveyed employers were in agreement on communication as a top skill deficiency for job applicants, along with work experience and technical skills, but current employees also need improvement. More than 80 percent indicated “most” or “some” of existing staff members can improve in the areas of listening, time management, leadership, goal setting, work ethics/habits, interpersonal relations, adaptability, decision making/critical thinking, problem solving and creative thinking.
In the next year, 25-35 percent of organizations surveyed plan to hire additional full-time and/or part-time employees, slightly up from the 2015 survey results. Also, a majority of survey respondents – 67 percent – reported that at least some of their jobs/positions require employees to have a background in science, technology, engineering or mathematics.
Click here to view the State of the Workforce executive summary and full survey results.
