As Spokanes labor market continues to tighten, employers are left struggling to find workers, and are stepping up their recruiting efforts as a result.


The labor shortage spans a broad spectrum of industries. Manufacturers and contractors are turning down jobs due to a lack of workers, financial institutions are upping the ante in their pitched competition for personnel, and health-care providers are scrambling to find nurses. Staffing agencies also are feeling the pinch.


Its horrible, says Mike MacKay, president of Spokane Valley-based MacKay Manufacturing Inc. The growth of my business isnt limited by (a lack of) customers, but by my ability to find people to run the business.


In May, the Spokane-area unemployment rate dropped to its lowest level in nearly nine years. As an example of employers desperation in such a market, MacKay says that five years ago, businesses would recruit community college students a few months before they graduated. Now, employers are hiring students in the beginning of their first year of school, because they want to snatch them up before someone else does, he says.


MacKay Manufacturing, which employs about 100 people, has at least five immediate openings, he says. Some openings have gone unfilled for more than a year. The company has scaled back its newspaper advertising due to lack of responses, and is relying on staffing agencies, word-of-mouth advertising, and referral reward programs, he says. It also has teamed up with other manufacturers here on advertisements in Detroit, where more skilled tradesmen are available due to a softer economy, he says.


MacKay Manufacturing copes with its work force crunch by buying more sophisticated equipment and by implementing lean manufacturing principles. The company, however, still is suffering a significant number of lost sales, he says. A few weeks ago, MacKay turned down a job that would have reaped $755,000 in annual revenue for the company because he didnt have enough employees to handle the additional workload.


Spokane-based Lydig Construction Inc. also has become more selective about the work it accepts, says Wally Sharp, the companys general superintendent. Lydig is short of qualified workers in both supervisory and labor positions, and has a particularly hard time finding employees skilled in the finishing trades, Sharp says.


Lydig has dealt with the problem by training more employees to move up to supervisory roles, moving workers around between different job sites, and keeping workers on during slower periods in anticipation of future work, he says. It also networks with others in the industry, but since theyre strapped for workers, too, theres not a lot of workers moving between companies.


Were trying to weather the storm to get through this, Sharp says. We dont let labor get away from us, because if we let them get away then we wont get them back.


The trend might well continue. A recent survey by the local office of Manpower Inc. found that 43 percent of the Spokane-area employers interviewed planned to hire more employees in the third quarter of this year, up from 40 percent last year. Another 44 percent planned to maintain their current staffing levels, and 10 percent expected to reduce their staffing levels. Three percent said they were unsure about their hiring plans.


Tom Droz, manager at Manpower, says that while the staffing agency hasnt had large numbers of unfilled orders, most positions are getting harder to fill. Droz describes a recent workshop run by an employment services and training agency called WorkSource Spokane as a ghost town, in contrast to past workshops when Manpower would book its calendar full of appointments with potential recruits.


Manpower has advised its customers to raise their wages in hopes of attracting more workers, but so far, most employers arent budging, Droz says. Many of Manpowers clients negotiate contracts with their customers based on fixed labor costs, so raising wages would squeeze their margins further, he says.


Spokane has generally lagged the trends, but Im expecting that wages are going to have to go up and people are going to have to find more creative ways to recruit workers, perhaps by hiring for more part-time positions, Droz says.


Although the unemployment rate here fell to 4 percent in May, Droz says the situation for employers wont become dire unless the rate dips into the 3s as it did in the late 1990s. At that point, you have to rob Peter to pay Paul, in terms of recruiting workers away from their current jobs, he says.


Competition in the financial services sector has been heating up for several years, especially for top-level managers, says Burke Jackowich, compensation and benefits manager at Washington Trust Bank. Thats partly because new banks that have launched operations here in recent years have gobbled up workers in an already lean market.


There are fewer workers out there, and banks certainly are taking some steps to find new ways to find people, Jackowich says. You have to pay attention and move quickly and make sure youre finding the best people.


Washington Trust has developed internship programs for college students and a rigorous training program to get new employees up to speed quickly, he says. It also makes sure its salary and benefits are competitive.


Additionally, Washington Trust participates in a network of various financial institutions that keep each other abreast of potential recruits, says Stacey Davis, employment-employee relations representative at the bank. It has a referral reward program, and holds career fairs to attract people who dont have prior banking experience, but might make a good fit at Washington Trust, Davis says.


Health care


One of the main challenges Rockwood Clinic PS, of Spokane, is facing involves finding experienced registered nurses (RNs) and senior-level management personnel, says Laura Hill, associate administrator of human resources at Rockwood. RNs experienced in surgery, oncology, and cardiology are particularly hard to find, and Rockwood also struggles to find information-technology (IT) workers, she says.


Engineers have become scarce in Spokane, too, as they have nationwide, says Marlys Buzby, human resources manager at FLSmidth RAHCO, a Spokane engineer of equipment used in mining and agriculture.


Although plenty of students at colleges and universities in this region graduate with engineering degrees, many accept jobs in larger metropolitan areas, Buzby asserts.


FLSmidth advertises positions locally, as well as in areas such as Seattle, Portland, Boise, and cities in California that have larger pools of available engineers. The company is seeing some interest from Spokane natives who want to come back here.


Maybe Spokane doesnt seem glamorous until theyve been somewhere and seen home isnt so awful, Buzby says.


Contact Emily Brandler at (509) 344-1265 or via e-mail at emilyb@spokanejournal.com.