Is The Tight Labor Market Here To Stay?

The topic has been covered by all types of news and media outlets; the covid pandemic spurred what is known as the Great Resignation and a very tight labor market – this is especially true for jobs in industries that were the first to be impacted by the regulations needed to combat the pandemic. 

More and more job seekers are looking to improve their quality of life, work-life balance, and annual income, leading to one of the tightest labor markets in recent history. The employee has been given an advantage over would-be employers, but is the tight labor market a flash in the pan? Or is this the new norm in the labor market? Will companies need to work harder to garner the attention and interest of sought-after talent?

Takeaways From the Bureau of Labor Statistics 

The Bureau of Labor Statics, working under the umbrella of the U.S. Department of Labor, released their projections for trends in the labor market through the end of 2030. A positive takeaway from their findings is that total employment is projected to grow 7.7% over the 2020–30 decade. However, many positions will remain unfilled through that time. 

While leisure/hospitality, tech, and healthcare are expected to add positions and experience healthy growth, retail and service-industry positions are expected to experience a sharp decline as brick and mortar operations continue to be outpaced by e-commerce through 2030.

The fallout of the pandemic will have lasting ripple effects for years to come. The combination of the last of the baby boomers retiring by 2030 along with population growth rates declining are some of the biggest contributing factors to our current tight labor market continuing through the end of the decade. 

A Tight Labor Market Requires New Strategies from Employers

With a tight labor market, the importance of highly-visible job postings and targeted recruitment efforts cannot be overstated. Jobiak has worked for years to help generate greater job visibility for businesses through the power of the Google for Jobs platform. Now, Jobiak is working to help revolutionize programmatic job advertising for industries looking to attract top-tier talent.

As we’ve said before, it’s not just looking for talent; it’s about capturing the attention of the applicant best suited for the position. Creating better job visibility casts the net into the talent pool; however, programmatic job advertising is the spear aimed directly at the most suitable and desired candidates. A tight labor market will require a multi-faceted approach to attracting and holding onto talent, which is why companies with the next-gen recruitment strategies will succeed where others fail.

women re-entering the labor force