For job applicants across Marion County, 'your time is now'

With the energy of change and new possibilities, many believe January to be the best time to find a new job or career opportunity.

Citing a resurgence in hiring by employers following slower holiday months, business experts expect many across the country to begin considering new opportunities along with the turn of the new year.

The COVID-19 pandemic took a drastic toll on the job market when it first hit in March 2020 with unemployment rates as high as 16.4% in Ohio.

Though the pandemic has seen a surge of cases this winter, unemployment rates have been significantly lower than they were with the initial dawn of the virus. Marion County is currently seeing a 3.4% unemployment rate as of November 2021, lower even than the Ohio average of 4.8% the same month.

Still, employers are actively hiring for positions in Marion, with desperate needs in the healthcare and direct service fields.

Marion County Job and Family Services Director Roxane Somerlot works with job seekers and employers throughout the county on a daily basis.

She explained the job market in Marion is consistent with a national trend revealing shortages of workers in many different industries.

"Marion is not unlike other parts of the state or other parts of the country. I think nationally we are experiencing what we would call a labor shortage in that there are more jobs available than there are people applying for them. That really is in every segment of employment and every industry," Somerlot said.

Job candidates currently have the upper hand on prospective employers due to increase in demand companies are experiencing for workers who have been in short supply.

"What I would say to the public and people that are maybe interested in employment - when it comes to work, your time is now," she said.

"It is much more favorable for workers than it has been in a very long time. Employers are going to greater lengths than ever that we've seen in trying to meet new expectations of workers in terms of the kind of working conditions they're offering, compensation, kinds of benefits, even what the culture of the workplace is like," Somerlot continued.

Labor shortages affecting young and old alike

The areas with the tightest staffing needs it seems are roles with youth and older adults, especially in healthcare settings.

Across Ohio, schools are closing their doors due to staffing shortages not leaving districts with room to cover illnesses from COVID-19, including within Marion City Schools.

The district held a hiring event Tuesday to address the need for staff, primarily seeking individuals to fill substitute teacher and aid positions.

Along with these shortages within the school systems, Somerlot said there is an double-edged gap within the childcare industry, with a shortage of workers within the industry creating strain for other members of the workforce in need of childcare to go to work.

"We are seeing that those people have not gone back to that same industry, so we have a shortage of childcare, and because of that, it presents an additional barrier for people with children who are trying to get back into the labor market - so it hits both areas," she said.

In the healthcare field, Marion General Hospital recently received 10 Ohio National Guard members and 72 workers from other departments to help with staffing shortages amid the surge of COVID-19.

Still, the hospital has needs for permanent healthcare staff.

OhioHealth Marion General Hospital President Dr. Curt Gingrich explained that as hospitals nationwide are stretched thin, the need to find workers is ever present.

"We are working diligently to fill staffing gaps through pay incentives and traditional outreach, in addition to supplemental staffing as needed," Gingrich said. "Most importantly, we are providing resources to our teams for their physical and emotional wellbeing."

Staffing needs for healthcare workers extend beyond the walls of local hospitals.

Freedom Caregivers is an in-home care service for older members of the community who wish to remain in their homes but still receive needed medical care. The company actively engages in open interviews held at the Marion Jobs and Family Services office

HR Specialist / Site Manager Alan Gonzales comes from a background of seven years working in human resources and staffing for manufacturing companies. He now uses these skills to manage the sometimes immediate need to staff caregivers for elders within the community.

"We're being adamant and staying ahead of the curve - bringing in qualified individuals, non-qualified individuals and focusing on training," Gonzales said.

Though Freedom Caregivers is currently staying afloat with its staffing levels due to this attentive hiring strategy, Gonzales said this reality is unheard of in the workforce right now, with more jobs than applicants in many cases.

"Less people are applying for jobs, or they're applying for jobs to check the box for unemployment or cash assistance," Gonzales said.

Also the Board President of Marion Matters Inc., Gonzales added a few helpful resources he has seen benefitting the community to be the Employer Resource Network (ERN) helping with job retention and the Getting Ahead Classes that Marion Matters Inc. offers, geared toward helping residents work on skills to obtain a stable future and meet the need for increased staffing levels from local companies.

Businesses expanding across Marion

When looking at this increase in demand for staffing, manufacturing is the industry within Marion that may be feeling the most need.

Marion CAN DO! is a nonprofit that facilitates collaboration between private and public organizations working to develop Marion's economy and attract new business investment to the area.

Executive Director Gus Comstock explained there has been an upturn in community investment and development steadily over the past 10 years, maintaining Marion's roots in production and manufacturing.

"Marion has a history of being a manufacturing community," Comstock said. "Now you're seeing there's a resurgence going on in Marion right now, and that's MarionMade! and 'America's Workforce Development Capital' and the collaboration."

The organization patented the tagline "America's Workforce Development Capital" for Marion, and is committed to building a qualified workforce in growing industries like manufacturing, agriculture and healthcare, according to the organization's website.

Smart manufacturing and logistics are the two key industries to understanding the bulk of Marion's economic development, Comstock explained, seeing products manufactured and being successfully transported out of the county.

One such company dealing closely with logistics in Marion County is Marion Industrial Center. For the warehouse and industrial logistics company, this trend of strain from business growth combined with staffing shortages is consistent.

The industrial warehouse and logistics company's Human Resource Manager Sharon Baldinger said the company is actively hiring and it has actually seen an increase in business across its operations due to supply chain delays affecting all aspects of business.

“The competition for people across the board with businesses, for logistics and warehousing, is no different from any other sector of the economy, and a shortage of workers is huge,” Baldinger said.

Because of the increased need for workers within logistics to keep other businesses running as smoothly as possible, for workers in the field, the time is now.

“I know supply chain issues have disrupted a lot of businesses but really not so much logistics, because we’re actually handling as much product as we can because companies need that product to flow through for them as quickly as it can,” Baldinger said.

Story by: Sophia Veneziano (740) 564 - 5243 | sveneziano@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on Marion Star: For job applicants across Marion County, 'your time is now'