Message from The President: Q1 2024
The Georgia Labor Market & Finding Workers
When I’m out visiting printers across the state of Georgia, owners want to know what concerns I’m hearing from other PIAG members. For the past few years, my answer has been “The two Ps – paper and people.” Fortunately, the supply chain challenges that led to major paper shortages in 2022 and part of 2023 have improved for now. But finding and keeping reliable, qualified employees continues to vex many in the print community.
Last fall, I attended a conference hosted by the Georgia Workforce & Economic Resilience Center at the University of Georgia. It was eye-opening to see just how many industries struggle to find workers in an otherwise healthy state that has seen economic growth in each of the past five years. I was also impressed by the coalition of business, government, and academia all focused on identifying specific challenges related to worker shortages and how to tackle them.
Here are some interesting points I picked up on at the conference:
The labor market has rebounded since the pandemic: In April 2020, there was one job for every four unemployed people in Georgia; by June 2023, there were more than two jobs for every one unemployed person.
There is a lot of competition for workers in Georgia: Since July 2020, 122,000 new jobs have been announced in our state – including more than 35,000 manufacturing positions.
One of the biggest barriers to work is lack of childcare: About half of all Georgians ages 25-64 not in the labor force have a child at home; and while the number of childcare establishments grew 19% between 2018 and 2022, the number of childcare workers has declined from 15 employees per establishment to just 13 during that time period.
Of course, there is no quick fix for these challenges. Data presented at the conference by the Georgia Chamber of Commerce indicates 73% of CEOs in our state plan to increase to increase compensation to recruit and retain employees, while 66% will allow more flexibility in hours and remote work. More than half (52%) will seek alternative hiring channels.
A number of companies are exploring less traditional approaches, including:
- Targeting military veterans and their spouses
- Second-chance hiring for rehabilitated citizens leaving the correctional system
- Offering daycare services for employees (either in-house or contracting with existing childcare provider companies)
- Renewed focus on employee empowerment and experience to increase retention
- Supporting local student enrichment programs, and
- Leveraging artificial intelligence to improve employee experience or reduce need for tough-to-fill positions
PIAG and our Educational Foundation are proud to be a part of the coalition in Georgia focused on workforce development. Our strategic plan calls for developing strong, reliable workers for the print industry, and we will continue to do our part to help you find the talent needed to accomplish your business goals.
If you have an interest in this area, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
Sincerely,
Jon Krueger
PIAG President & CEO