Why Are Labor Participation Rates Shrinking?
For several decades, labor force participation has been shrinking. While one reason is that many Baby Boomers are retiring, reducing the number of participants, that isn’t the only factor in play. Instead, some surprising groups aren’t reaching participation rates that were once present in decades past. Additionally, alternatives to traditional employment paradigms are a factor.
Here’s a look at some of the reasons why labor participation rates are shrinking.
More Young Adults Living with Parents
Overall, an estimated 25 percent of young adults are still living with their parents. While there are benefits to these arrangements, such as making attending college more affordable or allowing young adults to save for major financial goals, those aren’t the only circumstances causing the rise.
In some cases, young adults are remaining with their parents as a means of delaying when they enter the workforce. Staying with parents lessens a young adult’s financial responsibilities, often dramatically. Housing, food, utilities, and similar costs may not fall on their shoulders, or they may be minimized when compared to the cost of moving out. As a result, pursuing a full-time job may not be necessary, leading some to opt out of joining the workforce.
One interesting factor is that young men are the most likely to remain at home with their parents or another older family member. Of the young adults living at home, 59 percent are men. Generally, the earning potential of young men without college educations has declined during the past 50 years, which could make living independently challenging.
In many ways, this upward trend in young adults remaining at home was exacerbated by the pandemic. Many young adults returned to their parent’s homes or remained longer than initially planned due to the employment challenges related to COVID-19. For those young adults, the decision was based more on survival, but the shift in the paradigm likely led some to forgo pursuing full-time opportunities in the years since.
The Rise of the Gig Economy
For many working-age adults, the gig economy is an appealing alternative to a traditional full-time job. Typically, gig work comes with an inherent degree of flexibility and autonomy which often exceeds what’s available with more conventional work arrangements.
Often, it’s possible to earn a wage that’s comparable to a more traditional job by taking several gig positions instead. As a result, those who explore it may find returning to a full-time position with more restrictions on when work is completed unnecessary, as they’re earning similar wages while maintaining more flexibility.
Lower Labor Participation Rates Holding Your Company Back? Contact PrideStaff Bend Today
While there’s little employers can do to broadly impact labor participation rates, there are steps they can take to ease hiring concerns created by a lack of capable candidates. By partnering with a staffing company, organizations can tap into robust talent pipelines filled with vetted job seekers, streamlining recruitment while shortening time-to-hire.
If you need to hire top talent quickly, PrideStaff Bend wants to hear from you. Contact us to learn more about our services and how they can help your company overcome hiring challenges today.
How Can You Incorporate Skills-Based Hiring?
The concept behind skills-based hiring is straightforward: hiring based on a candidate’s practical skills and performance, rather than their education and other formal qualifications.
Not to disregard those qualifications, of course. But skills-based hiring can be more efficient than more traditional methods; namely, those referred to as “degree based” where candidates are automatically eliminated from contention for a role because they lack the ideal degree or certification associated with it.
Skills-based hiring doesn’t apply in every case. But it’s proving to be the perfect solution for a growing number of employers in today’s competitive talent market.
The Benefits of Skills-Based Hiring
Skills-based hiring helps your company and recruitment team:
- Minimize bias: Any bias based on formal qualifications or work experience is eliminated when you take a skills-based approach to hiring.
- Deepen your talent pool: By hiring for skills, you won’t automatically eliminate candidates who fail to meet degree requirements but otherwise are perfect for a role based on their skill set.
- Build a more diverse workforce: Persons from marginalized groups are often less likely to have formal qualifications, so by eliminating formal credential requirements from your hiring process, you can open up opportunities to more minority applicants and improve DEI at your company.
- Cut costs: Skills-based hiring can help you reduce time to hire, as well as costs associated with onboarding and training in many cases.
How to Adopt Skills-Based Hiring
To implement skills-based hiring at your firm, start by conducting a skills gap analysis to assess exactly where you need talent improvement. From there, start by applying it to a limited number of roles. Then, start incorporating a skills-based philosophy into your job descriptions, screening tools, and interview process. From there, you can transition skills-based hiring on a larger scale.
A skills gap analysis enables you to compare the skills needed for a role with the skills that your workforce actually has. Steps include clearly defining department and/or company KPIs, asking team leaders to provide insight on what’s holding them back from achieving their goals, and then identifying the skills and capabilities that would make the biggest difference.
Choose a handful of roles to begin with. Try skills-based hiring for a portion of your open positions at first. You may want to start with jobs that have high turnover rates, lengthy times to hire, or emerging skills – for which formal education may not yet be updated or even exist at all.
PrideStaff Modesto can help with all the steps involved in skills-based hiring, starting with determining how it could work for your company and its future. In business for more than 30 years in the Central Valley, we’re always striving to innovate for our clients. We can help you accurately identify your staffing needs, as well as the skills you require and the best way to get the work done – whether it’s with temporary, temp-to-hire or direct-hire employees. Contact us today to learn more.
How Stress Can Affect Your Work
From excessive workloads to being understaffed to having an ineffective manager, there are a variety of factors that can contribute to stress being such a common workplace issue. If it is not addressed, it can negatively impact your overall well-being as well as your career. Learn more about how stress can affect your work and how to overcome it:
Lack of Motivation
Being stressed can make your workload seem so overwhelming that you may struggle with a lack of motivation. This can lead to procrastination or disengagement with your work, in which you feel like what you do won’t make a difference or you don’t care about the outcome.
Change in Mood
Stress can negatively affect your work by contributing to changes in mood. It can cause you to be more irritable, anxious, or sad and potentially make you more prone to interpersonal conflict or being more upset by things that normally wouldn’t bother you, which can distract you from your work.
Decrease in Productivity
A major issue that stress can cause is that it simply makes it difficult to perform to your best ability. It can cause a decrease in productivity due to the aforementioned lack of motivation, as well as making it more difficult to concentrate and make logical decisions. It can not only reduce how much you accomplish but also make you more prone to mistakes that cost you time to fix.
Once you understand the negative impacts stress can have on your work, you can prioritize learning how to handle it before it becomes a major issue. You can overcome stress by:
Setting boundaries for your working hours to ensure you have a healthy work-life balance, especially if you ever work from home.
Making it a priority to take regular time off, such as using your vacation time and taking consistent breaks throughout your workday, like committing to not working through lunch.
Reaching out for support when you need it, whether that’s asking your boss for help prioritizing your workload and clarifying expectations or connecting with your colleagues for advice, or simply sharing experiences.
Find the Right Job for You
Get your job search started with the help of PrideStaff Akron. We work with area employers to fill their open positions and can connect you with opportunities that are best for your needs. Search our current available jobs to get started.
What Industries Are Hiring in Las Vegas After the Pandemic?
It’s taken awhile, but Las Vegas is finally bouncing back from the COVID-19 pandemic. Much of this is likely due to an increase in tourism.
In December 2022, the volume of visitors to Las Vegas was down just 5% compared with December 2019, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. Also promising, the average daily rate for the city’s hotel rooms surged 41% during this three-year time period.
The city’s unemployment rate still isn’t at its pre-pandemic level, but there’s been serious improvement. Specifically, the unemployment rate — preliminary — was 5.4% in December 2022, compared with 3.5% in February 2020.
Top Five Industries in the Las Vegas Metro Area, as of March 2023
Want to learn more about the Las Vegas economy? Here’s a look at the top five industries in the city, by employment volume — in thousands — according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
- Leisure and Hospitality: 286.3
- Trade, Transportation, Utilities: 206.1
- Professional and Business Services: 166.3
- Education and Health Services: 119.3
- Government: 108.7
Three Tips to Find a New Job in Las Vegas Right Now
Figure Out What You Want
Las Vegas is a city filled with opportunity. This means it’s important to really think about what you’re looking for in your next job before starting your search. Taking this step will ensure you don’t accidentally veer off course when trying to find the right position for you.
Network
Who you know can absolutely help you get hired in Las Vegas. Letting your existing contacts know you’re searching for new opportunities, while actively working to expand your circle will increase your chances of finding your dream job. A few opportunities to accomplish the latter include joining a professional association, attending networking events and seeking informational interviews.
Work With a Staffing Agency
You might not realize it, but working with a Las Vegas recruiter won’t cost you a dime. This means you can get a staffing expert to help you find a truly fulfilling job free of charge. They’ll help polish your resume, sharpen your interview skills and connect you with top local employers searching for talent like you.
Get the New Job You’ve Been Wanting
Ready to take the next step in your career? PrideStaff Las Vegas wants to help you find the perfect fit. Contact us today to start your search!
Soft Skills to Look for In Employees to Help Overcome the Sansdemic
Today, companies are facing a challenging situation, particularly when it comes to the sansdemic. Essentially, there aren’t enough members of the labor force to go around, leading to ongoing hiring difficulties that will remain part of the equation for the foreseeable future.
Fortunately, overcoming the issues created by the sansdemic is possible. By focusing on hiring the best available candidates, you can cultivate a far more capable workforce. Along with the right technical capabilities, ensuring new hires possess the right soft skills is essential. Soft skills make employees more effective in the workplace, which often leads to heightened productivity.
Here are the soft skills you’ll want in employees to help overcome the sansdemic.
Self-Motivation
Self-motivation is a candidate’s ability to act proactively and pursue goals without direct oversight from management. Often, individuals that are highly self-motivated are innately driven to exceed expectations. Additionally, in the face of setbacks, they often push forward, showing exceptional commitment to achieving objectives and producing high-quality outputs.
Along with a desire to achieve, self-motivated employees frequently demonstrate leadership qualities. They don’t need someone else to take charge. Instead, when given a degree of autonomy, they’ll happily take ownership of their tasks and even guide others toward success, making them an asset.
Diligence
Diligent candidates are highly persistent and often willing to put in a significant amount of effort to ensure a task is handled correctly. Additionally, diligence is frequently accompanied by critical thinking and problem-solving capabilities, as the employee uses those to ensure they can continue making progress even when they encounter obstacles.
In most cases, diligent candidates aren’t just driven; they’re also detail-oriented. It’s not just about completing an activity, as getting it done right is just as crucial to the equation.
Reliability
Due to the current sansdemic, many companies are short-staffed. As a result, the absence of just a single employee can be a significant hindrance to productivity. Since that’s the case, reliability is an essential soft skill to find in new hires.
When an employee is reliable, their attendance is typically good, if not great, and they consistently live up to their promises. Additionally, they know that others count on them, so they often aim to produce high-quality work to ensure others aren’t burdened by any missteps on their part.
Adaptability
When you need a workforce that can effectively navigate challenges and step up when the need arises, adaptability becomes a crucial soft skill. When an employee is flexible, they adjust to changes with greater ease. Additionally, they’re willing to step outside of their core job description if the situation demands it, making them more versatile in many cases. As a result, when business needs change, they’re more inclined to do what’s necessary to meet shifting expectations and align with new priorities, making them highly valuable.
Contact PrideStaff Bend Today
Are you looking for more help to navigate the sansdemic and ensure your company’s success? If so, PrideStaff Bend wants to hear from you. Contact us to learn more about how our services can help your company overcome the sansdemic today.
Questions to Ask Every Potential Employer at a Job Interview
During the job search, you know you’re going to get hit with some hard interview questions. However, do you have some hard questions of your own for the potential employer? If not, you should.
Not only does this demonstrate enthusiasm for the job, but it helps you better assess the opportunity, so you can make an informed choice about accepting the offer or not.
To help you in the process, here are some questions to ask a hiring manager or potential employer during an interview.
Questions About the Job
These questions will help you to gain more insight into the position and the day-to-day duties you’d be responsible for. This will paint a clearer picture of the job and what it would be like each day at work:
- What are the biggest challenges that come with the role?
- What does the training process look like for this position?
- How are success and progress in this job measured?
- Can you talk about some of the specific projects I’d be working on if hired?
- Is this a new role or an existing one? Will it evolve over time?
Questions About the Company
Besides finding out if you’re a fit for the job, you want to ensure the company’s culture is a fit for your personality and career goals and that they offer a healthy and happy place to work. To do that, ask questions such as:
- How would you describe the company culture?
- What do you like most about working here? Least?
- Does the company invest in training or mentoring?
- If I was hired, what advice would you offer me on the first day?
- Where do you see the company headed in the next two to three years?
There are many other questions you can ask. However, these offer a few that can inspire you to come up with a list of your own. Whatever you do, don’t avoid asking questions. It’s just as important for you to ask questions during the job interview to ensure there is a good match between you and the opportunity.
Need help with your job search?
If you’d like help finding a job that’s the best fit for you, turn to PrideStaff. We’re here for you with Phoenix recruiters who can connect you with exciting jobs not always advertised. Contact us today to learn more, or search our jobs to get started.
7 Ways To Combat Sleep Deprivation In The Workplace
Struggling at work due to not getting enough sleep is a common issue – nearly 40% of US workers reported dealing with fatigue at work, according to the Sleep Foundation. If you experience sleep deprivation on a chronic basis, it can negatively affect your productivity and performance, in addition to causing you stress and making you more inclined to experience physical health conditions.
Check out these seven ways to combat sleep deprivation in the workplace:
1. Make Time to Move
Getting your blood pumping can give you a boost of alertness when you’re fatigued. Make time to move throughout the day – even short periods of walking around can provide energy and help make your workday easier to handle.
2. Use Caffeine with Care
Drinking caffeine can be beneficial for overcoming sleep deprivation at work; however, if not handled cautiously, it could exacerbate the problem. Use caffeine with care by having a serving at the times of day when you’re most tired, such as first thing in the morning and the early afternoon slump – just make sure to have a clear cutoff time so you don’t have trouble falling asleep later.
3. Take a Power Nap
Similar to caffeine, naps can be helpful for dealing with fatigue but could also be counterproductive if not approached carefully. Take a power nap on a day you are sleep deprived – limit it to 10-20 minutes to get a boost of energy without falling into a deeper sleep cycle and ending up feeling groggier when you get up.
4. Eat an Energetic Lunch
Fuel your body to feel more awake and make it through the day. Eat an energetic lunch with a nutrient-dense meal with protein, vegetables, and grains and avoid heavy, greasy food and anything with sugar – it may give an initial boost, but you’ll feel even more tired when it quickly wears off.
5. Stay Hydrated
Being dehydrated can also contribute to feeling sleepy so ensure you are remembering to drink. Stay hydrated and drink water throughout the workday to help feel more alert and able to focus naturally.
6. Brighten Up Your Surroundings
Lighting can make a difference when you’re trying to make it through the workday when you’re sleep deprived. Brighten your surroundings by turning on the lights and opening the blinds. If possible, try to get outside occasionally to get a dose of natural sunlight and fresh air to help invigorate you.
7. Develop Good Sleep Habits
Although some temporary sleep deprivation due to personal circumstances can be overcome, it is crucial not to have it be the standard. Develop good sleep habits to ensure a full night’s sleep is the norm. Avoid anything stimulating, such as caffeine, exercise, or viewing electronics, when you’re approaching bed time, and set a sleep schedule and stick to it.
Explore New Opportunities
Get help with your job search by teaming up with PrideStaff Akron. Our team of recruiting experts can help you find new opportunities that are the best fit for your qualifications and professional goals. Search our available jobs to learn more.
Creating a Positive Work Environment: Strategies for Reducing Employee Turnover in Las Vegas Hotels
Your hotel is only as good as the people running it. Lately, you feel like it’s become a revolving door of talent, which is having a negative effect on everything from employee morale to the guest experience.
It’s very possible your work environment isn’t exactly the most desirable, which is causing your most talented employees to see themselves out. Thankfully, there’s plenty of ways to turn this around. Here’s some advice to help make positive changes, so employees want to stay put.
Five Strategies for Reducing Turnover in Las Vegas Hotels
Provide Thorough Onboarding
Learning a new job is a process that takes time. If your orientation process currently involves a couple hours of training, then setting new hires free to fend for themselves, this explains a lot. Even if a person was in a similar job at a different hotel, they still need a thorough onboarding plan to help them get acclimated to your company. When new employees feel like they’re not supported, they quickly start looking elsewhere.
Offer Competitive Compensation
Money isn’t the only thing that matters in a job, but it is a huge factor. The amount you pay your hotel workers directly impacts their quality of life, so if you’re paying below industry standard this will be an issue. For reference, the mean hourly wage for maids and housekeeping cleaners in the Las Vegas area is $16.12 as of 2021, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Slightly less, the mean hourly wage for concierges is $14.46.
Recognize Great Work
Top talent goes out of their way to do outstanding work. They do this because they’re incredible, driven employees, but no one wants to feel unappreciated. If you have the budget, you can recognize outstanding efforts with gift cards or a cash bonus, but a simple thank you also goes along way. Just knowing that you’ve been paying attention and are pleased with their efforts will boost employee satisfaction rates.
Give Great Benefits
More than just a paycheck, people want to work for hotels that provide an outstanding benefits package. This should include standard benefits like health insurance, paid time off and retirement savings. To outshine your competitors, you can also offer perks like generous employee discounts, a free meal from your restaurant each shift and an employee of the month program.
Make Room to Grow
The most talented employees don’t want to stay in their same roles forever. These people are eager to move up the ladder, so allow them to do so. Meet with them to find out where they see themselves in three, five and ten years, then create a plan to help them build their career at your hotel.
Hire the Best
Need help staffing your Las Vegas hotel with top talent? PrideStaff Las Vegas is committed to filling your team with the best and brightest workers
Importance of a Talent Pipeline in the Sansdemic
Today’s employers are facing mounting challenges when it comes to cultivating a capable workforce. One key factor is the sansdemic, a situation where the labor force isn’t large enough to meet overall demand.
While labor force fluctuations aren’t uncommon, the current state isn’t likely to improve. Instead, more Baby Boomer retirements, lower birth rates, and lessening workforce participation make the situation pervasive and long-lasting.
As a result, companies need to cultivate a talent pipeline to help overcome hiring challenges to ensure ongoing success. Here’s a look at why having a well-developed talent pipeline is essential, as well as how companies can enhance their talent pipeline by partnering with a staffing company.
Why a Talent Pipeline in the Sansdemic?
A company’s talent pipeline is essentially its pool of potential candidates who could quickly fill vacant roles once openings arise. Often, it includes both internal and external candidates, as well as active and passive job seekers.
By maintaining a carefully-curated talent pipeline during a sansdemic, companies have access to vetted candidates who can fill vacancies quickly. Essentially, a well-designed talent pipeline gives an organization a clear place to turn when hiring. Plus, it classically reduces the time-to-hire, as candidate searches don’t have to begin from scratch.
How Partnering with a Staffing Company Helps
In many cases, creating a robust and reliable talent pipeline is a time-consuming venture. It involves far more than candidate sourcing, as nurturing the relationships to ensure long-term engagement is a critical part of the equation. Otherwise, potentially viable candidates aren’t always available when a suitable opening becomes available, leaving companies to resort to lengthier candidate search strategies.
Fortunately, you can expedite the development of a dependable talent pipeline by partnering with a staffing company. Recruitment firms continuously seek out capable candidates with a wide array of skills, regularly vetting each one to determine suitability for various positions. Plus, the recruiters prioritize communication and engagement, leading to a more satisfying candidate experience and boosting their client companies’ reputations.
The continuous process ensures that the talent pipeline is regularly refreshed with available candidates, something that’s typically difficult for employers to manage internally. Plus, targeted candidate searches can occur when companies need specific skills, with the staffing company giving that search its full attention.
Since vetting occurs during the initial part of the selection process, client companies are able to speed up their hiring processes dramatically. They’re only presented with job seekers who are assessed to determine they’re a strong fit, eliminating time spent reviewing applicants that aren’t a solid match. Plus, the staffing company can arrange the interviews, perform reference checks, and handle other cumbersome steps, allowing hiring managers to focus on the candidates themselves.
Finally, staffing companies don’t just look at technical capabilities. Instead, they also consider soft skills and culture fit, leading to stronger matches overall.
Contact PrideStaff Bend Today
Ultimately, cultivating a reliable talent pipeline is critical during a sansdemic. If you want to work with a staffing company to increase your access to capable candidates, PrideStaff Bend wants to hear from you. Contact us today.
Building a Resilient Career: Strategies for Job Seekers in Las Vegas’s Economic Recovery
The past few years have been a wild ride for Las Vegas, but business is slowly starting to get back to normal. While it might be awhile until the economy fully returns to its pre-pandemic status, things are definitely looking up.
Despite that, the turmoil caused by the pandemic has made you realize that your career plans need to be resilient. Having a solid plan for your future is so important, but you also need to be ready to shift into a Plan B, if the need arises. Here’s some advice to help you prepare for an unpredictable economy.
Four Tips to Build a Resilient Career
Keep Your Skills Updated
Allowing your skills to become obsolete is never a good idea. Keeping up with the latest technologies and trends affecting your industry will help you do your job better, while making you more marketable. This can help you get hired faster if you find yourself without a job, but can also help you get promoted at your current job.
Make Networking a Priority
Your contact list can definitely help you get hired. Employers value recommendations from people they know and trust. Therefore, if you need a new job, having a contact put in a good word for you with the hiring manager will go a long way. Create and maintain a robust network by touching base with existing contacts on a periodic basis and constantly work to add new people into your orbit.
Focus on Soft Skills
If the going gets rough, your soft skills could save the day. This includes abilities like communication, teamwork, time management, emotional intelligence and leadership. If you find yourself needing to transition to a new job — or even a new career — being able to demonstrate a mastery of these skills can give you a competitive edge.
Embrace Change
A soft skill so important, it’s worth highlighting on its own, the ability to easily adapt to new situations is a must. This will allow you to be a greater asset to your current team, as well as making it easier to find an entirely different type of job, if the need arises. You can’t control the economy, but you are in charge of the manner in which you react to change.
It’s Your Time to Thrive
Having trouble finding a job amid the Las Vegas economic recovery? PrideStaff Las Vegas wants to help you find your perfect fit. Contact us today to create a career path that sets you up for success.
