As businesses compete for new employees, 'wages have increased by 3.5% in Shawnee County'

Ty'Rese Mendez still had three months left of classes at Washburn University.

He was majoring in music education and had done his student teaching at Shawnee Heights Unified School District 450.

Mendez put in an application with the district for full-time employment after graduation. He quickly received an offer.

"I had a lot of opportunities just because teachers are quitting all over the place," he said.

This summer, Mendez is teaching students in kindergarten through fifth grade at a summer band and orchestra camp for Shawnee Heights.

"COVID really opened everyone's eyes to what they really want to do," he said. "It sucks that there's a bunch of teachers that are realizing they don't want to teach, but it just goes to show us that we need to focus on education."

More than two years after the COVID-19 pandemic brought the economy to a near standstill, the job market is at its hottest peak.

And job seekers are finding plenty of employment opportunities in Topeka and across Kansas.

Wages in Topeka are increasing to attract employees

Freddy Mawyin, Greater Topeka Partnership’s senior economic adviser, said overall wages are increasing in every industry.

“In fact, just in the last quarter, wages have increased by 3.5% in Shawnee County,” Mawyin said.

That gives leverage to the job seeker.

“Before, we usually see these employers mandating compensation and benefits,” Mawyn said. "Right now, it’s kind of flipped to where the employee has a lot more leverage in terms of those things.”

Among the industry with increasing wages include retail, educational services, manufacturing and more. And within those industries include such occupations as human resource positions, managers and finance associates.

Mawyin said there are “roughly 250 job postings” for the active Shawnee County job listings. Those jobs include such positions as software development, management for retail workers, registered nurses and fast-food work.

Shawnee County human resources director Angela Lewis said the county is seeking "plenty" of full-time employees.

“If anybody is looking for work, whether that be part-time through the summer or intermittent through the summer, we do have positions available,” Lewis said.

She said Shawnee County has had “approximately 29 new hire bonuses and 10 referral bonuses” through its $1,500 referral bonus program.

Positions vary within those new hires, but the majority come from the Department of Corrections.

'We’re in an employee market'

With inflation rising, job seekers are concentrating on positions with higher wages, saving plans and flexibility within the workplace.

“We’re in an employee market. As long as the employee market remains strong, the employees will hold all the leverage on benefits and pay,” said Tim Martin, a recruiter at Adecco, which is a staffing agency.

“They’ll be able to say, ‘Hey, I want an extra week of vacation' or 'I want an extra $1 per hour’ and the employers are going to have to pay it if they want top talent,” Martin said.

Businesses offering below-market salaries will have a difficult time making hires, he said.

Caleb Lowrey, regional vice president at Westaff, said the company recently sent a survey to 19,000 blue collar workers.

Lowrey said respondents said they want to be able to work first shift and eight hours a day. Pay and scheduling was important for them.

In order to attract better talent, businesses are being encouraged to pay more.

“Employers are starting to look at how they can restructure their overall culture and the perks and benefits that they offer to their employees to entice and attract people to work for their companies,” said Trina Goss, Greater Topeka’s director of business retention and talent initiatives.

Mawyin said this is the time to be more creative in how GTP and businesses “attract those workers and meet them where they are.”

What does this mean for college students who are graduating?

With the market being in a pivotal time right now, college graduates may have the greatest advantage.

And like Mendez, the new educator at Shawnee Heights, many graduates are getting job offers from their desired employers before receiving their degrees.

U.S. employers plan to hire 31.6% more new college graduates this year compared to 2021, according to the National Association of College and Employers. 

One such graduate is Blythe Landon, who majored in marketing and international business at Washburn University. Landon interned in the president's office her freshman year. That later led to an internship at Advisors Excel, which eventually hired her as its onboarding specialist.

Though she had multiple job offers from businesses — including ones where she felt she would be a good fit — her internship at the company had won her over.

"My manager was very good about proactively discussing my future at Advisors Excel with me," Landon said. "She came to me in February with my official job offer, and she had talked to me months before that about what I would like to peruse, what areas I was interested in and what growth opportunities I was looking for."

Landon said she thinks companies are realizing interns and college students are going to be "hot commodities" in the job market.

"If they've taken the time to train them and invest in them, especially those coming from internships, they've definitely already planned out that they would like to keep them aboard and have them continue that work," said Landon. "I think if companies want to be strategic with their hiring, internships are the way to go.

"It's such a powerful opportunity for students and aspiring college graduates to not only build out their skillset but kind of start making their way into the company."

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Wages increase in Topeka as companies vie for employees, recent grads