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Staffing In Clarksville By now, most people have noticed the unusually high number of help wanted signs posted around town. And, labor shortages are not just happening in Clarksville, this is a nation-wide problem. Prior to the pandemic, there were more open jobs than unemployed individuals, according to a new report by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
wages that we offer. Things have improved, but we have a lot of openings that need to be filled.”
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released a jobs report in April of this year, in which they cited worker’s reluctance to return to work as one reason for low job numbers. At the end of March, there were 8.1 million job openings in this country, which is an all-time high.
“We started a second shift in May,” Benjamin said. “There is a high demand for washing machines, and a lot of our competitors haven’t been able to fill that market supply. So, a lot of that demand has come to LG, which is great for our business. But, it’s not just manufacturing. Our business requires a number of support functions that go along with that, maintenance, materials, logistics and other things. We need to hire just over one-hundred people on second shift alone. It’s getting better, but still very challenging.”
At the same time, the number of available workers has declined significantly in recent months. According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, in 2012, there were four available workers for every open job, now that number has dropped to 1.4 for every open job. The hardest hit sectors are government, health care, and education. Many industries report that their biggest problem is a lack of qualified workers, (which turns the focus to education and training). More than 80% recently surveyed say that hiring today is a great deal more difficult than it was five years ago. We talked to two individuals on the front lines of staffing in Clarksville-Montgomery County, Michael Benjamin, Senior Director Human Resources, LG Electronics, and Michelle Corkrean, Clarksville Branch Manager at KPower Staffing Solutions. “Hiring for hourly positions was very challenging during the pandemic, and even now,” Benjamin said. “It progressively got worse the longer the pandemic went. In my opinion, the stimulus has a lot to do with it. Basically, we were in a labor war with the federal government. It was difficult from March to July of 2020, but once the checks started rolling in it was even more difficult.” Things have improved, but worker shortages persist, and Benjamin, like many others, has been forced to be more creative in his approach to staffing. “We’re finding more people now, but still not filling the positions we need,” Benjamin said. “We’ve spent a lot of time partnering with the military, local technical colleges, and especially the high schools, in an effort to recruit these young men and women as soon as they graduate. We’ve been doing plant tours for graduating seniors, and recent graduates. We’ve had teachers from high schools and vocational schools come in and tour the facility as well. And, we’ve provided information about our factory, benefits, working conditions and the
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Recently, LG launched a second shift to keep up with production, which puts additional demands on an already strained labor market.
Nationally, the conversation is changing, even the language itself is different. “In the past several weeks they are changing the language from, ‘labor shortage’ to ‘it’s more about the economics of people demanding higher wages,’” Benjamin said. “Call it whatever you want, it’s still very challenging. We’re having to go through many different avenues, not just the typical advertising, workforce essentials and doing our own recruiting. We’re having to pursue a lot of different avenues to get what we need.” “Clarksville was voted Best City in the Nation, and we’re just a short distance from Nashville. With our prices for housing and land being much lower, this city has a lot going for it. Now, a lot of businesses are coming to Clarksville-Montgomery County, which is good. But that creates even more challenges for businesses trying to find the labor that is needed.” Corkrean is on the staffing side. Her job is to find employees for companies like Benjamin’s. She sees the problem from a different perspective, but cites some of the same labor market issues. “The stimulus and federally-assisted unemployment is killing the job industry,” Corkrean said. People don’t want to work, because they don’t have to work. We’re battling a government that is giving free money away, which makes people want to stay home.” Corkrean says that there are several companies and industries in the area right now, giving huge signing bonuses to entice people to get a job, and come to work. KPower is offering referral bonuses, sign-on bonuses and perfect attendance bonuses,” Corkrean said. “We’re doing everything we
