High job vacancies and an aging population could threaten Craven County's labor force
Craven County's unemployment rates are lower than they were pre-pandemic, contradicting the area's high job vacancy rates.
With nearly one-third of the county's total population predicted to retire soon, this could mean trouble — due to Craven's rising list of job postings but not enough people to fill those positions.
"There are still more jobs than there are people to fill them," said Phil Prescott, business services representative for Eastern Carolina Workforce Development Board. "It's not that people aren't going back to work. It's just we don't have as many people to work."
As of April, there are 45,100 payroll jobs available in Craven County, a slight decrease than pre-pandemic numbers with 45,200 in April 2019, according to the N.C. Dept. of Commerce data.
The data shows 41,132 people are able to work locally as of April 2022, an increase from April 2019 with 40,842 people in the labor force.
More: A shrinking labor force may be a permanent trend in Craven County
Of those eligible to work, 39,787 people are employed as of April 2022, about 425 more than in 2019, state data shows. This leaves the latest 2022 unemployment rate for Craven County at 3.3%, less than pre-pandemic levels with 3.6% in 2019.
Prescott said population growth in Craven County has not grown in the same direction as job growth due to more people retiring. This affects these numbers and leaves employers in need of staffing.
An aging labor force
More people in Craven County able to work are not showing up for the job they've applied to due to being picky about their work hours, Prescott said. Now the number of people nearing retirement is higher than those who are able to replace them.
"So we're losing population to retirement, plus we're not replacing it to younger people," he said.
As of December 2021, there are about 33,480 people projected to retire soon in Craven County, according to Workforce Development Board data. About 19,257 of the county's population are millennials, ages 25 to 39.
Since 2019, the county's population dropped from 102,031 to 100,488 in 2022, Eastern Carolina data shows. Craven County's population is predicted to continue to decrease by 1,871 until 2026.
An aging population for the county's current wide selection of work available isn't necessarily a bad thing, Prescott said. Although a large percentage of Craven's working population is nearing retirement, younger people have an advantage at landing a job.
"The ability to get hired right now with less experience is great," Prescott said. "In other words, if you're a younger person with little or no experience, the opportunities are much greater now than they were four or five years ago because we don't have the labor force to fill the jobs."
Heading into the summer, industries that rely on seasonal employees are still facing shortages, he said. Some local businesses have already had to shorten their hours due to staffing shortages.
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"Businesses will tell you that they're struggling, and they are, to find people to fill those positions," Prescott said.
College graduates hold an advantage
Workforce Development Board data shows a little more than 20% of jobs require a bachelor's degree in Craven County. Slightly less than 20% of people have acquired that degree level in the area.
About 10% of jobs require an associate's degree or graduate degree. Craven County's population has a little less than 10% of people at each of those education levels, according to the workforce data.
"Recent college graduates probably have the best opportunities to go to work than they've had in a while," Prescott said. "There are more jobs posted that require a bachelor's degree than we have population at the bachelor's degree level."
He said it has never been a better time for individuals to find work and obtain a job. It's also a great opportunity for employers to seek those willing to work.
"I think the biggest thing is that it's not all gloom and doom," Prescott said. "There's opportunity here if you're willing to seek it out, and it's also opportunity for businesses to take a look at their recruitment and retention efforts as well."
Reporter Symone Graham covers local public safety for the Sun Journal. Have a story tip or idea? Send it her way at sgraham@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Sun Journal: High job vacancies and an aging population define Craven's labor force
