Mid-Year Check-In. How is it Going With the 2023 Illinois Employment Law Changes? What Trends Should We Watch?

Illinois employers faced several new labor requirements at the beginning of the year. Since then, some new requirements have been or will be enforced. Plus, there are a host of other regulations that employers should be watching. If you’re a multi-state employer, you’ll also need to be aware of the laws in local jurisdictions outside of Chicago or Illinois. It’s a lot to keep up with, so we’re providing a quick overview of the changing landscape.

New Requirements Effective January 1, 2023

  • CROWN Act: As of January 1, 2023, the Illinois Human Rights Act’s (IHRA) definition of “race” has been amended to include “traits associated with race, including, but not limited to, hair texture and protective hairstyles such as braids, locks, and twists.” The amendment is called the CROWN Act, which stands for Create a Respectful and Open Workplace for Natural Hair.
  • Family Bereavement Leave Act: The Illinois Family Bereavement Leave Act (FBLA) also took effect on January 1, which amended and expanded on the existing Child Bereavement Leave Act (CBLA). Under the CBLA, employees could take up to 10 workdays of unpaid leave related to the death of their child. The FBLA expanded the reasons for leave to now include the death of the employee’s child, stepchild, spouse, domestic partner, sibling, parent or stepparent, mother- or father-in-law, grandchild, or grandparent.
  • One Day Rest in Seven Act Amendment: Illinois also amended its “One Day Rest in Seven” Act (ODRISA), greatly modifying day of rest compliance requirements for employers throughout Illinois, as well as meal breaks. Employers must post these new rules where other such notices are normally kept.
  • Illinois Equal Pay Act Update: Larger Illinois employers should also pay careful attention to the new requirements under the Illinois Equal Pay Act (IEPA). Employers (1) with at least 100 employees in Illinois and (2) that are required to file an Annual Employer Information Report (EEO-1) with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) must submit an application to IDOL to obtain an Equal Pay Registration Certificate (EPRC).

Source: Perkins Cole LLP

New Requirements Effective Mid-Year and into the Fall of 2023

  • COVID-19 EEOC issued May 15, 2023: the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) issued key updates to its COVID-19 technical assistance, “What You Should Know About COVID-19 and the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act, and Other EEO Laws.” For a more detailed review of the EEOC’s technical assistance, click here.
  • Federal Pregnancy Workers Fairness Act Takes Effect June 2023: Besides the CROWN Act noted above, the list of protected classes is growing. This includes pregnancy protections. In late December 2022, the Protections for Nursing Mothers (PUMP) Act took effect, expanding protections for nursing employees under the FLSA. Even more, the federal Pregnancy Workers Fairness Act will take effect this June, requiring employers to provide reasonable accommodations for workers with known limitations connected to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions. Source: Perkins Cole LLP
  • Enhanced Chicago Sexual Harassment Training: The City of Chicago imposed additional training requirements when it amended its Human Rights Ordinance in 2022. The amendments apply to all employers who maintain a business facility in Chicago or that are otherwise subject to Chicago’s licensure requirements. All employees must be trained on or before June 30, 2023.
  • End of I-9 Virtual Review Takes Effect August 30, 2023: If you virtually inspected I-9 work authorization documents during the COVID pandemic, you are required to physically inspect those documents by August 30th, 2023! Download this guide from Workbright to understand if these changes apply to your organization and important dates.

Trends to Watch

Besides what is listed above, employers will need to be aware of trends that are shaping labor and employment law:

  • Use of AI Tools in Talent Acquisition and Employee Performance Management: Nearly 1 in 4 organizations use artificial intelligence HR tools, according to a 2022 survey from the Society for Human Resource Management. In its recently proposed “Strategic Enforcement Plan,” the EEOC makes clear that it will target employers using HR software, including programs that incorporate algorithmic decision-making in recruitment, selection, or production and performance management tools. Illinois was the first in 2020 to regulate the use of automated decision tools in hiring interviews. Source: Kelley Drye & Warren LLP
  • Unions: Employers with unions should already be familiar with the NLRB and the requirements of the NLRA. However, be aware that unions are becoming more active and are looking now to organize pockets of the workforce who may not be unionized yet. Employers without unionized employees should watch out for new union organizing and upcoming rulings from the NLRB impacting all employees, not just those already unionized. Source: Kelley Drye & Warren LLP
  • Pay Transparency: Pay transparency has become a hallmark of the Equal Pay movement. With legislatures around the country enacting a patchwork of new restrictions and obligations, this is becoming a potential landmine for multi-state employers. Illinois requires some employers to submit their pay data to state agencies. On the federal level, the EEOC has also established pay equity as a main enforcement priority. Expect pay transparency issues to be a major focus to come. Source: Kelley Drye & Warren LLP
  • Employee Privacy/Biometric Data: Illinois was the first state to directly regulate biometric data as a consumer (and employee) privacy matter. Biometric data includes a host of services that rely on fingerprints, facial scans, and voice recognition to do things like verify an employee’s identity, launch automated assistants, access events, or track time. Biometric tools can be very valuable in the workplace, but compliance with related privacy laws is also a challenge. The best advice is to seek good privacy counsel, as this is an area of the law which has become increasingly complex and specialized. Source: Kelley Drye & Warren LLP
  • Severance Agreements and the McLaren Macomb Decision: A recent memorandum from National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo provided her perspective on a number of questions employers have been asking after the McLaren Macomb decision was issued in March 2023. The good news – employers are not prohibited from entering into severance agreements with their employees. The bad news – many of the severance agreements employers have used for years when terminating an employee will now be deemed illegal by the General Counsel. Read more from Benefits Pro here. Source: Benefits Pro

Conclusion

According to Perkins Cole LLP, “Employers are encouraged to review their policies and hiring processes to ensure they are compliant with these new requirements. These amendments/requirements provide an opportunity for employers to train supervisors and employees regarding equal employment opportunity (EEO) compliance. In short, employers will likely need to contend with a growing number of state laws on this issue, compounded by complexities of advertising remote work across several jurisdictions.”

As a reminder, you can find your employment laws posters for 2023 here.

If you need help with talent acquisition, contact us today.

PS – In July, we’ll share our latest Salary Survey. Be on the lookout!

Improve Retention by Improving Employee Health Benefits: What’s New in 2023

April is Stress Awareness Month, and “the number one stressor for HR pros is keeping top talent on board in a tough market,” according to a March 2023 survey from isolved. Keeping employees happy by showing them you care will be key to a company’s motivated team and ultimate success. Beyond the typical benefits, what are some of the newer trends? We’ll address that in this article, but first, let’s explore why there is a need to fortify your benefits offerings.

Employees Don’t Feel Cared For

According to MetLife’s “US Employee Benefit Trends” survey released in March, 42% of the 2,840 employees surveyed said they do not feel cared for by their employers. “Our research shows care is not only a differentiated driver of the employee experience – but also a proven workplace metric to measure employer outcomes, “ said Todd Katz, executive VP of group benefits at MetLife. “As the economy and the labor market remains volatile and workplace trends fluctuate, employers can’t afford to overlook employee care.” Caring for your employees is great for business and something employers can’t afford to ignore.

Two employee groups that are setting trends are Gen Z and women. Gen Z applicants are leading the charge on jobs with stability, a position where they can make an impact at a company that is socially responsible, and salary transparency. According to the latest Momentive/CNBC Women at Work Survey, conducted in February of a national sample of 10,278 adults, including over 5,000 women, the top reason women say they’re considering leaving their current role this year is for another job with higher pay (52%), followed by one with less stress (51%) and better work-life balance (48%). Women leaders are leaving their organizations at the highest rate ever, widening the quitting gap between women and men in senior roles, according to recent data from LeanIn.org and McKinsey & Company. To give some context, for every woman stepping into a director-level leadership role, two are choosing to leave, says Alexis Krivkovich, McKinsey senior partner and an author of the joint Lean In and McKinsey “Women in the Workplace” report.

Where Can You Find “Differentiated Drivers” To Your Employees’ Experience

“Businesses always try to find the employees who are truly impacting the organization positively or have the potential to with the right people and programs,” said Amy Mosher, chief people officer at isolved. “When the job market fluctuates between abundance and scarcity almost weekly, developing driven people is a necessity.” So, let’s turn our attention toward focusing on some differentiated drivers.

First, ensure your leaders are setting an example of taking time for their own health and wellness. Employees will notice this and feel more comfortable expressing their needs for support. Also, consider some of the following resources and programs to add to your benefits package:

  • A user-friendly digital platform to access benefits and other resources, such as
  • Prioritize mental health and emotional well-being benefits.
  • Substance Use Disorder (SUD) prevention programs.
  • Flexible hours for doctor’s visits and therapy appointments, caregiving responsibilities, and parents attending their children’s functions and events.
  • Subsidized or complementary childcare or daycare.
  • Adequate support and improved professional coaching for employees to excel in their jobs.
  • Adopting pay transparency practices (Laws already exist in Colorado, California, New York, and Washington.)
  • Short- and long-term financial wellness programs at work and benefits beyond retirement accounts. These include: building emergency savings, budgeting to pay monthly expenses, resources for critical items like food and housing issues, improving credit, and student debt repayment programs.

Putting Your People First is a Win

Financial well-being in the workplace is inextricably linked to physical and mental well-being. These, in turn, can have a positive, measurable impact on your organization – both for retention and recruiting. Focus on holistic programs rather than a single component when creating programs that support a strong workplace culture for all.

What do your employees want from your organization? Call Casey Accounting & Finance Resources to see how we can support you.

Reevaluating Recruiting in Today’s Hiring Market

It feels like changes in recruitment and retention are crossing our news feeds on the daily. That’s because it’s true. When was the last time you revisited your talent acquisition strategy? Last week? Last month? Last year? With so many fluctuations in the hiring market, your answer might be Yes, Yes, and Yes. While we may be exhausted by stories about the economy and possible recession, right sizing, layoffs, hybrid work environments, upskilling/reskilling, stretching your workforce, offering increased salaries, “perfect” candidates, culture, and more, the truth is that all these factors are creating a bit of lava in navigating how we recruit talent.

Looking Ahead

Even if you recently revised your practices, it may be time to be more forward-thinking. Some of the rules have changed. For example, skills may be more critical than experience. Could candidates with more general skills be a better fit to handle a wider variety of tasks if you can only hire one or two people? Maybe long-term adaptability is a better solution for your ever-changing business landscape.

How well are you monitoring your recruitment and retention data, and what’s missing in your data analysis? Most companies are pretty adept at monitoring cost per hire, speed to onboard, turnover, and poor performance. However, if you are just looking at the numbers within their individual silos for increases or decreases without truly analyzing the cause and effect of the numbers as a whole, you may be missing opportunities for significant solutions and improved milestones.

There are plenty of articles and guidance available on the candidate application journey all the way through the onboarding process. While we won’t get into these topics in this article, we would be remiss in reminding everyone that these areas are often overlooked. You’d be surprised how many candidates drop out of the cumbersome application process. Also, investing in your onboarding process may create a positive experience from day one, which translates into highly engaged employees from the start of their employment journey at your company.

How We Can Help

According to Business.com, the cost of a bad hire is estimated at approximately 30 percent of the employee’s salary or more. Talent acquisition isn’t a pristine journey, and you are not alone if you feel your strategy isn’t perfect. Even if you don’t have all the digital bells and whistles, we can offer suggestions to track and get better results.

Let us review your processes and metrics to drive improvements.

  • Review how you’re filling roles. Is the process quick but suffering from low retention or poor performance? Stakeholders only see things like longer project completion rates or slower fulfillment of products or services. These factors affect business improvement.
  • Consider consistent question lists for all interviewers to help predict a candidate’s success in your organization.
  • Benchmark the employees who appear to be the “perfect” candidate to understand the soft and transferrable skills that make them better performers. Incorporate some of this data into job descriptions and interviews.
  • Remain engaged with candidates to assist in future referrals. Likewise, your employee base might be one of the better options to mine for new hires. This “human cloud” resource may help you stay connected to the talent you seek.

If you have limited resources to execute improved recruiting strategies, there are still ways to adapt your long-term talent acquisition strategy.

Call us today to discuss your recruiting challenges. We’ll put on our consulting hats to help create an environment that is adaptable to the unpredictable business climate, and where everyone wins.

Chicago-Based Staffing Firm Casey Accounting & Finance Resources Wins Two ClearlyRated 2023 Best Of Staffing® Awards

 

The company received both the Talent Satisfaction and Client Satisfaction awards for service excellence

SCHAUMBURG, Illinois – Feb. 7, 2023 – Casey Accounting & Finance Resources (www.caseyresources.com), an industry leader in the recruitment of Accounting & Finance Professionals for direct hire and contract placements, announced they have earned ClearlyRated’s Best of Staffing® Client Satisfaction Award for providing superior service to their job candidates for nine years in a row. The company also received ClearlyRated’s Best of Staffing® Talent Satisfaction Diamond Award. Presented in partnership with presenting sponsor Indeed and gold sponsor Talent.com, ClearlyRated’s Best of Staffing® Award winners have proven to be industry leaders in service quality based entirely on ratings provided by their clients. On average, clients of winning agencies are twice as likely to be completely satisfied with the services provided compared to those working with non-winning agencies. Clients rated the company with 4.9/5 stars for service excellence and placed candidates rated the company with 4.7/5 stars for service excellence. This is the eighth consecutive year the company has won the Talent Satisfaction award and the ninth year to win the Client Satisfaction award.

Focused on helping companies find the right people for their job openings, Casey Accounting and Finance Resources received satisfaction scores of 9 or 10 out of 10 from 93.8% of their clients, significantly higher than the industry’s average of 46%. The company received satisfaction scores of 9 or 10 out of 10 from 64.7% of their placed job candidates, significantly higher than the industry’s average of 45%. The company’s Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 93.8% for client satisfaction and Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 58.8% for talent satisfaction far exceeds the industry’s average of 31% for client satisfaction and 19% for talent satisfaction.

The company is proud of the trust and loyalty its customers and associates have in the Casey team to be able to earn this distinction as a leader in service excellence for nine (client) and eight (talent) consecutive years. Best of Staffing recognition validates our hard work delivering high-quality, relationship-building workforce management solutions for its clients and job seekers. The team is grateful that its culture of customer satisfaction is appreciated by all those the company serves and that they meet and exceed expectations daily.

Casey Accounting and Finance Resources was acquired by Cornerstone Staffing Solutions, one of the largest staffing firms in America, in December 2017 and operates as an independent division of Cornerstone. Altogether the Cornerstone Staffing Solutions family of companies have won 37 ClearlyRated Best of Staffing Awards.

“I am pleased to introduce the 2023 Best of Staffing winners alongside their validated service ratings on ClearlyRated.com,” said ClearlyRated’s CEO, Eric Gregg. “These firms have demonstrated a remarkable commitment to delivering amazing experiences, despite another year of upheaval and macroeconomic uncertainty. Hats off to these service leaders – it’s truly an honor to recognize and celebrate their achievements.”

#staffing #recruiting #bestofstaffing #bestofthebest #winners #customersatisfaction

 

Are You Hiring for Culture Fit or Culture Add?

It’s still a struggle to find qualified candidates. We’ve talked about refining your long-standing hiring habits to improve finding qualified and quality candidates to fill your open positions. One area that seems to be getting a bit of airtime is “culture fit.” Oftentimes, we look for candidates that “fit the mold” of current employees – you know – finding candidates whose working preferences and values match the company. What may be happening inadvertently is an unconscious bias when you hire for culture fit. Some experts agree that you might want to consider hiring for “culture add” to not only widen your candidate pool but also improve the creativity, diversity, and thought-provoking dialogs in your department and organization.

Why Culture Fit Falls Short of Being Fair

According to Gallup, many assumptions can be made when hiring for culture fit:

  • It assumes the hiring decision-maker understands and role models organizational values, beliefs, and expected behaviors. Decision makers often come with their own values and beliefs that may not align with the organization’s, further creating hiring bias.
  • It assumes the decision-maker can make a fair, informed selection decision.
  • It assumes that an organization has a level of maturity in its culture journey.

Typically, if the candidate doesn’t fit the culture, they aren’t hired. You may be escorting a candidate who could be a great employee right out the door because of culture-fit hiring practices.

What is Culture Add?

Gallup defines culture add as “a fresh spin on the concept of culture fit. Rather than making hiring decisions that create a homogenous, familiar culture, culture add promotes hiring decisions that focus on the candidates’ unique and beneficial attributes, values, beliefs, and behaviors. It is what they bring to your organization from their distinct perspective and experiences.”

What’s the upshot of hiring for culture add? Gallup explains it like this. If the workforce is shrinking, the fundamental need is for organizations to recognize what they are hiring for and why it matters. The right hiring practices examine not only cultural needs, value systems, and technical competence but also factor in role-specific talent attributes and behaviors for high performance.

In today’s marketplace conditions, 85% of currently employed U.S. workers say they are considering leaving their jobs in the next six months, according to LaSalle Network. U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh said in an interview at the CNBC Work Summit that he expects job growth should continue into 2023.  However, the demographic data on the U.S. working-age population is concerning, with baby boomer retirements expected to accelerate in the years ahead, compounded by a peak being reached in high school graduates by 2025, limiting both the total size of the next-generation labor pool and the transfer of knowledge between the generations of workers.

The thing to pay attention to here is recruiting and retention. If managers and employees are disengaged, and the statistics hold true, finding and keeping good employees will continue to be a challenge.

Does Culture Add Practices Even Make a Difference With Remote and Hybrid Work?

Some may argue that remote/hybrid work environments destroy a company’s culture. That’s not necessarily true. There’s a common belief that when employees are physically together, they develop important social bonds that simply can’t be replaced by email, Zoom, and Slack.

In fact, 23% of U.S. hybrid workers strongly agree that they feel connected to their organization. Only 20% of all employees strongly agree they feel connected to their organization’s culture.[1]

And leaders have good reason to care. Employees who strongly agree that they feel connected to their culture are:

  • 3.7x as likely to be engaged at work
  • 5.2x as likely to recommend their organization as a great place to work
  • 37% more likely to be thriving
  • 68% less likely to feel burned out at work always or very often
  • 55% less likely to be looking for a job[2]

Gallup’s data shows us that being in the office never equaled a great culture. There are many ways to create connectedness within teams and across companies. Here are some best practices for managing remote teams.

With remote and hybrid work being the preferred option for many employees whose job allows this option, a solution of culture add or a revision of culture fit may still make it possible to add employees who bring value that is lacking in the organization.

We Can Help

Be less concerned about culture fit and more interested in adjusting hiring practices to align with employee talents, competence, and aspirations. Choose that employee who helps move the organization forward. Also, continue to watch for managers and staff who are disengaged and talk to them about the value they bring to your organization.

Let’s discuss the challenges you’re facing. Contact Casey Accounting & Finance Resources today.

 

[1] https://www.gallup.com/workplace/401576/dont-confuse-office-culture.aspx?utm_source=workplace&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=gallup_at_work_newsletter_send_2_october_10182022&utm_term=newsletter&utm_content=a_new_chapter_cta_1

[2] https://www.gallup.com/workplace/401576/dont-confuse-office-culture.aspx?utm_source=workplace&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=gallup_at_work_newsletter_send_2_october_10182022&utm_term=newsletter&utm_content=a_new_chapter_cta_1

2023 Accounting and Finance Salary Survey Available!

The labor market remains to be very tight across the board! It is not just direct-hire but contract-to-hire and contract roles.

Casey Accounting & Finance Resources has compiled its January 2023 salary data for the fields of accounting and finance. Recruitment is really heating up, and job postings are plentiful. The war for talent is on, so having the most up-to-date information is vital!

With compensation trends changing on a monthly basis, both sides can benefit from having this information during job negotiations.

Casey Accounting & Finance Resources can help financial professionals who want to learn more about what salary expectations should be. We have compiled our salary survey list with updated facts and figures, including job descriptions for more than 110 accounting and finance positions in the Chicago metropolitan area.

If you would like to view the salary survey, please click the link to download!

What Keeps Our Spirits Bright?

There’s something about the season that brings out the best in us. Maybe it’s baking those special dishes that you don’t cook during the rest of the year. Maybe you take a vacation somewhere special. Building snowmen? Walking in the snow? Maybe you like how much happier and friendlier people seem. Let’s hear it for fruitcake? Looking at the decorated houses in your neighborhood? Pictures with Santa? Maybe you have a family tradition you look forward to or a favorite gift you’ve received. Do these strike a chord with you?

At Casey Accounting & Finance Resources, we wanted to share the things that make our spirits bright. But we also wanted to say that the holidays are when we look to help organizations in our community. Every year, we support Northwest Compass in Mt. Prospect and the Humanitarian Service Project in Carol Stream with donations. You can see a bit of synergy between the noble work we do helping people find a job or improve their careers and the honorable work these organizations do.

Northwest Compass assists people in meeting the challenges of having a safe environment for themselves and their families, from which they can create a path to a positive future. You can find out more about the organization at www.northwestcompass.org.

The Humanitarian Service Project alleviates the pain and suffering that poverty brings to seniors and children in DuPage and Kane Counties, Illinois, without discrimination or exclusion for any reason. The organization has four programs: 1. Senior Citizen Project 2. Children’s Project 3. Christmas Offering 4. School Supply Drive. You can find out more about the organization at www.hsp.agency

We are so thankful for all of you who have chosen to partner with us this year and in past years. We wish you and your loved ones a very, happy holiday season and look forward to the light a New Year always brings.

From all of us at Arlington Resources and Casey Accounting and Finance Resources, we hope you enjoy some of our favorite things about the holidays!

 

“I like going into downtown Chicago at Christmas to shop and check out the holiday lights.”
Pete McTague, Director, Casey Accounting & Finance Resources

“What keeps my spirit bright is family traditions during the holiday season! As a newlywed, I get to continue those traditions by picking out a real Christmas tree with my husband and decorating it with all the ornaments from our childhood. And can’t forget watching A Christmas Story over and over again on Christmas Eve!”
Nina Salgado, Administrative Assistant

“What keeps my spirits bright this holiday season is the anticipation of seeing the look on my great nephews’ eyes when they open their presents. Oh, the joy! Secondly, spending time with my family. Lastly are all the decorations in full view with twinkling lights.”
Eileen Renk, Director of Recruiting and Sales, Casey Accounting & Finance Resources


Eileen’s great nephews

“Our neighborhood purchases small lit Christmas trees that we line our streets with. The proceeds go to a foundation that is dear to my heart. It makes our homes even more beautiful to look at. Also, I love Christmas music and candles!”
Julie Jurek, Sourcing Specialist, Arlington Resources

“The holidays are my favorite time of the year. The joyful season and beautiful holiday displays and decorations everywhere keep my spirits bright!”
Erika Cobos, Payroll/Accounting Administrator

“I love the smell this time of year brings! You get the cold smell outside, the smell of fires burning in fireplaces, and the cinnamon smell that just seems to be everywhere! It really helps me slow down and enjoy these moments because they won’t be here for long!”
Elizabeth Lanaghan, Senior Recruiter, Arlington Resources

Elizabeth’s fur kids ready for the holidays!

“Christmas is my most favorite holiday of the year. From the day after Thanksgiving, I embrace the season and have so many things that I love about it. As my girls are older now, I do relish in the fact that there is not as much “stress” as there was when they were younger.  I am a real tree lover and can’t wait to decorate my tree (which takes two days)! Every morning when I wake up, I spend at least 15 minutes sitting by my tree with my morning coffee. It is so peaceful, and I love looking at all the amazing ornaments that I have collected through the years. I love driving around the neighborhood to see all the decorations. I love listening to Christmas music all day long. I love picking out gifts. I love sending cards and receiving them. The best part is spending Christmas morning with just my husband and girls, having an amazing breakfast with sweets, of course, and hanging in our pjs as long as we can!”
Cheryl Reinwald, Director, Recruiting & Sales, Arlington Resources

Cheryl’s tree

“Most people that know me well, know, that I love to cook. Here’s my recipe for Air Fryer Cornish Hens which are beautiful for a smaller holiday gathering.”
Denise Young, Director, Arlington Resources

2 Cornish Hens (Thawed and Rinsed)
1 teaspoon of garlic powder

1 teaspoon of paprika

½ teaspoon of thyme

½ teaspoon of rosemary

1 teaspoon of poultry seasoning

Salt and Pepper to taste

1 teaspoon of melted butter or olive oil

Instructions

Spray the air fryer basket with cooking oil

Dry Cornish hens and rub each bird with oil or melted butter

Rub seasonings mixed together on each bird
Air fry for 20 minutes breast side up at 375
Flip over and cook for an additional 10 minutes

 

PS – We are here over the holidays for any last-minute staffing needs. Reach out to us at https://www.caseyresources.com/contact/. 

How Will the Economic Downturn Affect Hiring?

Are you laying off or hoarding employees? Implementing hiring freezes? Considering salary transparency practices to fill critical positions?

Consider salary transparency as a recruiting strategy? Are we nuts? There’s a method to our madness and we’ll explain more below. As we continue to watch the economy and inflation, we’re also noticing the labor market slowing down – employers are adding fewer jobs, hesitant about hiring if we fall into a recession. On the other hand, employers are also hesitant to lay off employees as would traditionally happen with an economic downturn. Why? Because it continues to be difficult to fill already open positions. Employers are concerned that if they let people go, it may be twice as hard to fill the positions again. Confusing? That’s an understatement.
Overall, the job market is still strong. HR and staffing industry leaders will tell you that this has been the weirdest time in recruiting, and it doesn’t appear to be ending any time soon.

Labor Hoarding

With inflation still climbing, there are signs that companies may be “hoarding” employees. A recent report from Employ, Inc. suggested that some companies may be “labor hoarding” – choosing to keep workers rather than laying them off, hoping to save time and money overall. The report states that 52% of recruiters surveyed said their organizations were retaining employees, even those who might be underperforming or lacked a fit with the company culture. John G. Fernald, a senior research adviser at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, said that employers would be especially hesitant to lay off workers who would be difficult to rehire once the economy recovers from a downturn, such as those with specialized skills or higher levels of education. In an article published by Vox, economists say there are several reasons employers may be less likely to lay off workers if it is short-lived:
  • Dealing with labor shortages and finding it difficult to hire people.
  • It’s costly to offboard employees.
  • It’s costly to onboard and train workers.
According to Aaron Sojourner, a labor economist and senior researcher at W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, “You can’t count on a long line of job applicants to just show up whenever you post an opening. I think employers hadn’t felt that so acutely in a long time.” Diane Swonk, the chief economist at KPMG notes that companies are still understaffed. “Even as you scale back, you’re still understaffed, so you’re not going to be firing as many as you would have. There’s also a sense that, if you work so hard to get workers, you want to retain the workers you have.” Fernald also suggests that employers should be especially hesitant to let workers go who would be difficult to rehire. “If you lay off people with valuable skills, well, you’re not going to be able to recover production when demand picks up again,” he said. While layoffs will still happen, Allie Kelly, the chief marketing officer of Employ, said there has been a “clear, growing trend of more companies implementing hiring freezes, although they still largely aren’t laying off workers yet.”

Is There Hope to Fill Critical Open Positions?

Yes, there is. There has been plenty of talk about re-examining hiring processes, modernizing benefits to include things like mental health resources and caregiving leave, and more flexibility in work hours, to name a few. Would salary transparency help? More recently, we’re seeing articles about salary transparency in job postings. Once a taboo subject, research done by Adzuna, a search engine provider, reveals that an increasing number of job seekers want to know the salary attached to the job before they apply for it. 54% of jobseekers turned down a job offer when they finally learned the salary. So, what’s the big deal? Only 3% of U.S. job ads include a salary. And why wouldn’t you want to reveal salary? With more than half of jobseekers turning down job offers, Adzuna calculates that represents about 480 million hours of wasted time on vetting candidates, interviews, and negotiations. All for naught. Positions go unfilled, and the process of recruiting and interviewing starts all over again. Adzuna’s survey respondents also delivered this information:
  • 28% of people feel no salary or a lack of salary clarity on job ads is their biggest frustration when looking for a job.
  • 33% of job seekers would not attend a job interview before knowing the salary the employer is willing to offer.
  • 86% of U.S. employees would be open for their colleagues to know how much they earn
  • 73% think employers making salaries more transparent would make the workplace more fair.
So, is there a downside? Again, yes there is. But only if you ignore current employees’ salaries and needs. According to Harvard Business Review (HBR), there are consequences of salary transparency – fallout with disgruntled employees whose pay is not equal to a new colleague. But eventually, the consequences go away after pay equities are established therefore establishing more employer/employee trust, fairness, job satisfaction, and found to boost individual task performance by taking a more holistic approach to reward-related human resource practices. More information can be found here: https://hbr.org/2022/08/research-the-unintended-consequences-of-pay-transparency How can we help? Casey Accounting and Finance Resources is here for all your sourcing and outsourcing needs. If you’re struggling with your recruiting strategies, call us today!

Is the Workforce Shrinking Before Our Eyes?

In the second part of this two-part series, we share research from Emsi, the leading provider of labor market data, on the vanishing workforce.

In the first part of this two-part series, we shared insights from the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) on why the economic and labor numbers are unfamiliar with the ongoing talent shortage. You can find that article here. 

If you are in HR, a hiring manager, or running a business, you are not alone in your struggles to find workers. Wage inflation, the persistence of the Covid-19 pandemic, and workplace fatigue are all contributing to the challenge of hiring and retaining employees. In the past, when talent acquisition created anxiety among recruiters, we knew it was just a rough patch we’d all get through. Emsi’s research suggests that we’ve entered a “sansdemic” (without people), and the “hire more people” directive we’ve heard before isn’t going to help. Emsi reports the workforce is “vanishing” and will continue to disappear for decades to come. It’s not just a matter of a low labor force participation rate (LFPR), which measures people working or actively seeking work; it is a lack of available prime-age workers.

What’s Really Happening?

The last few years have been tumultuous with the pandemic. A February 2020 study by Manpower reported that a record 70% of US businesses reported a talent shortage – more than double the 32% who were having difficulty in 2015. With the Covid-19 shutdown, unemployment rates soared. In the past, when unemployment was high, talent was plentiful. But, in the frenzy of shutdowns and layoffs, and employees working from home, coupled with extended unemployment benefits and stimulus packages, workers didn’t jump back into the workforce pool. The result – millions of people not working and millions of open jobs unfilled. Esmi reports the LFPR has dropped to lows not seen since the recession of the mid-1970s.

Companies are trying to combat employee exoduses with strategies that include “internal mobility, reskilling and job redeployment…open to part-time workers, employees who live and work remotely, and workers who need training to perform…improving employee experiences with culture and wellbeing programs to make a company (and the job) more enjoyable and rewarding.”

But these tactics won’t be enough because there won’t be sufficient numbers of prime-age workers, and Covid-19 isn’t to blame. Emsi notes that this is “history catching up to us. We’ve been approaching this cliff for decades,” and there are a growing group of researchers and writers who are noticing this same trend.

In brief, Esmi reports that “there aren’t enough millennials and GenZers to fill baby boomers’ shoes”:

  • The mass exodus of boomers (workforce past)…The largest generation in US history remains a powerful cohort of key workers that still hold millions of roles. Their sudden departure from the labor force will gut the economy of crucial positions and decades of experience that will be hard to fill en masse.
  • Record-low labor force participation rate (LFPR) of prime-age workers (workforce present)…Thousands voluntarily opted out of looking for work. The children and grandchildren of baby boomers are not replacing the boomers who leave the workforce.
  • The lowest birth rates in US history (workforce future)…The national birth rate, already in decline, hit a 35-year low in 2019, and the relative size of the working-age population has been shrinking since 2008.

Where did the Prime-Age Workforce Go?

It might be easy to understand that, according to Emsi, 2.4 million women left the workforce from February 2020 to February 2021. Many stayed at home as their children attended school remotely. But Emsi tells us that this fact was overshadowed by another mass exodus – men have been disappearing from the workforce since the 1980s. Here are some additional takeaways from what Esmi is calling an “erosion of the prime-age male workforce:”

  • The prime-age male workforce (ages 25-54) plunged from 94% in 1980 to 89% in 2019. That five percentage-point drop represents over three million missing workers.
  • Millennials are expected to inherit an estimated $68 trillion from their boomer parents by 2030, making them the new, wealthiest generation in history…making millennials less motivated to seek careers of their own.
  • The opioid epidemic is a major culprit in siphoning prime-age men off the labor force.
  • The number of prime-age men willingly opting for a part-time job jumped from six million to nearly eight million in 2019.

Valuing What You Have

With the impending shortfalls, both near-term and in future decades, Emsi tells us that:

  • Education institutions and businesses will desperately compete for recruits who simply don’t exist.
  • The US stands to lose $162 billion annually due to talent shortages.

We need people. We won’t be able to “technology” ourselves out of this jam but recruiting and retention strategies can help slow the impending worker drought.

Conclusion

Emsi summarizes it by saying – “The sansdemic is going to make a tough situation tougher still. Fewer people means fewer new ideas. Fewer students. Fewer people in research and innovation. Fewer skills in the job market. Fewer employees. Fewer products and fewer goods. Fewer opportunities for growth.” Every person is going to be of value and will need to feel valued.

If you would like to receive a copy of Emsi’s research, email us at info@caseyresources.com. Let us help you develop effective retention strategies.

When Will the Talent Shortage End? Maybe Never, and Here’s Why!

In the first part of this two-part series, we share insights from the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) on why the economic and labor numbers are unfamiliar with the ongoing talent shortage.

Even though there are plenty of predictors for employment and unemployment, most hiring managers rely on the unemployment rate to determine if their company will struggle to acquire talent. Since the pandemic began, the traditional indicators that usually moved together aren’t. Have they gone haywire? Are magnetic fields affecting the numbers? The answers are no and no.

How to Interpret the Conflicting Numbers

Alex Domash and Lawrence H. Summers, both from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, have studied all the predictors and indicators and conclude, in their NBER working paper, that the “labor market tightness is likely to contribute significantly to inflationary [wage] pressure in the United States for some time to come.”

They note that, “Economists have typically turned to common slack measures, such as the unemployment rate or the job vacancy rate, to assess labor market tightness and predict nominal wage growth. Historically, measures of slack on the supply-side, like the unemployment rate and the prime-age (25-54) nonemployment rate[1], have moved in tandem with measures of slack on the demand-side, such as the job vacancy rate and the quits rate, meaning that different indicators gave broadly corroborative signals of labor market tightness. Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, however, the supply-side indicators and the demand-side indicators have diverged significantly. While the unemployment rate and prime-age nonemployment rate remain elevated at late-2017 levels and imply modest degrees of slack, the job vacancy rate and quits rate have surged to series highs[2] and imply a very tight labor market. The unemployment rate does not adequately capture all movements in the labor market that are significant for wage inflation.”

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell suggests looking at other indicators, like the prime-age employment- (25-54 years old) to-population ratio, to better understand the presumed lack of candidates every company is feeling. So, it’s not just a matter of how many people are employable, it’s a correlation between the population and those who want to work. More on this in a minute.

Does This Have Something to Do With Soaring Wages?

Quite simply, yes. Domash and Summers comment that, “A high vacancy rate signals a high demand for labor and puts upward pressure on wages as firms compete to attract workers. A high quit rate signals that workers are confident enough to leave their jobs to search for a better opportunity, and can put upward pressure on wages since job switchers drive up wages as they move up the job ladder.” Let’s see a show of hands from the hiring managers out there who can relate to this.

Domash and Summers note their research indicates that “estimated wage inflation in the fourth quarter of 2021 is the highest it’s been in the last 20 years.” They also “simulated wage growth in 2022 and 2023 under the assumption that the vacancy rate, the quits rate, and the inflation rate remain the same…nominal wage growth under these assumptions is projected to increase dramatically over the next two years, surpassing six percent wage inflation by 2023.”

Where are the Workers?

Understanding indicators and predictors is one thing, but we are all feeling the pain of finding workers. Here’s the reality. Domash and Summers outline six factors as to where the workers have gone, and chances are, they might never come back. Those factors are:

  • Shifts in demographic structures (population aging specifically) = 1.3 million workers;
  • Covid-19 health concerns = 1.5 million workers;
  • Immigration restrictions = 1.4 million workers;
  • Excess retirements = 1.3 million workers;
  • Reduced incentives to work = 1 million workers; and
  • Covid-19 vaccine mandates = 0.4 million workers.

At the same time, they “project demand-side indicators such as the vacancy to unemployment ratio to continue to be very high over the next year.”

Conclusion

Domash and Summers predict that “the majority of the employment shortfall will likely persist moving forward. Moreover, if employment were to increase due to an increase in labor force participation, it would be accompanied by increases in incomes, and therefore an increase in demand. We believe that labor markets will continue to be very tight unless there is a considerable slowdown in labor demands.” This all suggests that companies need to sharpen their talent acquisition strategies and stay on top of the numbers since the tight labor market is bound to continue for some time.

In the second part of this series, we’ll discuss the “demographic drought” associated with the labor force participation and how it may shrink the available labor pool going forward.

If you would like to receive a copy of Domash’s and Summer’s complete working paper, email us at info@caseyresources.com. Let us help you develop effective talent acquisition tactics.

 

[1] This is equivalent to one minus the prime-age employment-to-population ratio.

[2] As of December 2021, the BLS Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) reported a seasonally adjusted

job vacancy rate of 6.8% (a near-record high, and much higher than any vacancy rate before 2021) and a seasonally

adjusted quits rate of 2.9% (the second highest quits rate on record).