In my June 2021 CEO Report I addressed our county’s unemployment rate, employer demand for a workforce and the nuanced reasons behind it all.

I am revisiting that topic again with better news about our unemployment rate, but greater challenges to our employers.

September 2021 unemployment data reports that Grays Harbor County has a 5.3% unemployment rate. This is an improvement from the August report that marked our unemployment rate at approximately 6%. Broken down, that 5.3% represents just under 1,500 individuals in the roughly 26,000 individuals making up our civilian workforce[1].  Assessing those numbers shines light on the reality that our county doesn’t have a large volume of individuals standing on the sidelines of the job market.

What does this mean for employers? Filling their positions will continue to be difficult. Local employers continue to offer higher wages, signing bonuses, recruitment incentives and other innovative efforts. Without enough talent residing within the region many employers will look to recruit talent from out of the area and out of the country. The number of employers that utilize the J1 Visa option is likely to increase and employers that can, will start to offer expanded benefits like housing, meals and education while others will convert to a larger reliance on a remote workforce.

Each of these scenarios has an impact on our local economy. If our local businesses, in particular retail and hospitality, can remain fully staffed and continue to offer outstanding visitor experiences, their businesses will thrive and our lodging and sales tax coffers will benefit.

However, if a larger number of employers continue to need to secure employees that that do not reside in our community full-time, we will lose the positive impact of the dollars staying in the county. In a recent presentation by Pacific Mountain Workforce Development Council (PacMtn) to the GGHI Board of Directors data was presented illustrating the reduction of employment income retained in the county from 82% in 1990 to 65% in 2019. The numbers behind the reduction of income retained in the county is due to an increase in the percentage of income that is earned in the county but exits the community and an increase in the percentage of income earned outside the county entirely.

What do we do? Employers have a great resource and asset in PacMtn, our regional workforce development council. Grays Harbor County is well represented on the Board of Directors and actively engage on workforce development initiatives. For employers there are two elements of the organization entirely dedicated to supporting your efforts to recruit and effectively retain talent. You can access the links to explore the site more or contact me directly for more insights.

Local employers should also consider a partnership with Grays Harbor College to identify their workforce needs and discuss training opportunities to bolster the resiliency of their workforce for today and beyond. It is far more cost effective to train and retain the talent you currently have then to constantly be seeking new employees to fill high need positions.

Greater Grays Harbor, Inc. is ready to provide resources to our local employers and encourages them to utilize our partners and the GGHI Job Board to post their positions. If you want to talk more please don’t hesitate to call our office or contact me directly at lbuffington@graysharbor.org.

[1] Click on the Labor force by county snapshot link below the state map on this page.