NJ jobs: 2022 labor shortage gives workers bargaining power to choose employers

Talk about a perfect time to graduate.

Christina Close completed her courses at Brookdale Community College in Middletown in December to become a registered nurse and began applying to local hospitals, ready to enter an industry that has been desperate to fill open positions.

"I just applied and then I got an interview within a day," said Close, a 33-year-old Hazlet resident. "I'm guessing that's pretty quick."

New Jersey workers are expected to continue to be in heavy demand in 2022, putting more pressure on employers to provide higher wages, a collegial workplace, and, perhaps above all, safe working conditions.

Christina Close of Hazlet with son, Cannen, 10, daughter, Ceceila 7, and son, Cade, 6 weeks. Close recently graduated from nursing school at Brookdale Community College and has several interviews lined up.
Christina Close of Hazlet with son, Cannen, 10, daughter, Ceceila 7, and son, Cade, 6 weeks. Close recently graduated from nursing school at Brookdale Community College and has several interviews lined up.

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It's a trend that has long been on the radar as the giant baby boomer generation began to reach retirement age. But it came into sharp focus during the pandemic as more workers began to quit their jobs, confident that they could find something better.

"You've heard about the 'Great Resignation,'" said Gene Waddy, owner of Diversant LLC, a Middletown-based staffing agency. "That's actually a misnomer. It's not really, truly a resignation and I'm never going to work again.

"They're not leaving the workforce; they're just changing. But I think the demand is not going to go away. It's going to be a worker's economy for a couple of years to come in my mind," he said.

The shift puts workers such as Close and her fellow Brookdale nursing graduates in the driver's seat as they hunt for jobs in a profession that is trying to fill a wave of positions left by nurses who are retiring or burning out.

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Gabriel Basalatan, 24, of Freehold, wanted to become a nurse and follow in his mother's footsteps with an eye on providing critical care.

He graduated in December and already had lined up one interview with CentraState Medical Center in Freehold Township and had a lead on another interview at Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune.

"For the most part, it seems like they've always needed nurses," Basalatan said. "Anywhere you go, who's going to take care of the patient? There's always going to have to be a nurse. It's just now that everybody's realizing it."

20,000 new jobs a month

New Jersey appeared to be building economic momentum heading into 2022, at least until the omicron variant swept through the state, slamming on the brakes once again.

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The state, which lost jobs at twice the rate of the nation in March and April 2020, has seen its unemployment rate fall from 16.6% to 6.6% in November. And its economy was adding upward of 20,000 jobs a month.

Behind the numbers, though, the labor market is in flux.

Not only are baby boomers retiring with little incentive to return, but workers also are leaving for any number of reasons: to get paid more, to start their own business, to take care of their children, experts said.

One measure: A study by the Council for a Strong America, a business advocacy group, found 19% of New Jersey mothers of toddlers and infants left the workforce during the pandemic because of the lack of child care.

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The lack of labor is squeezing companies that can't operate remotely: hospitals, trucking companies, warehouses, contractors, restaurants, hotels, grocery stores and gas stations.

And employers are trying to spread the word about opportunities through help-wanted ads, referral programs, sidewalk sandwich boards and partnerships.

"I would say we're getting even more interest in participation from companies than in the past, trying to be involved with us more," said Gary MacDonald, curriculum director for Ocean County Vocational Technical School. "They want the upcoming generation to be able to grasp the knowledge of people leaving the industry."

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'Everybody's looking for somebody'

White-collar employers are feeling the pinch, too.

Mancini Duffy, a New York-based architecture firm, recently opened an office in Red Bank to be closer to the development underway in New Jersey, from restaurants to warehouses.

The company has 70 employees and wants to add another 30 by the end of the year, including project architects and senior designers, but finding them has been no easy matter, said Scott Harrell, principal and partner.

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Scott Harrell, principal with the Red Bank architecture firm Mancini Duffy, has struggled to find workers he needs to keep up with the firm's growing business.
Scott Harrell, principal with the Red Bank architecture firm Mancini Duffy, has struggled to find workers he needs to keep up with the firm's growing business.

Harrell has relied on word-of-mouth, offering employees a bonus for referrals. And he emphasizes to recruits the company's commitment to work-life balance, not always a common feature of the architecture industry.

"These days, everybody's looking for somebody," Harrell said. "It's a battle that is constantly happening."

Will the labor pool increase this year? Observers aren't willing to bet as long as the coronavirus and its variants threaten to sweep through the state.

For now, workers have come to realize they have the upper hand. In late November, just 13% of workers said they were very concerned about the job market, down from 43% who felt that way in November 2020, according to a survey by the Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University.

Workers aren't afraid of being laid off or resigning because they are confident they can find something else, said Carl Van Horn, the center's director.

"The vast majority of Americans now think it's a good time to find a job," Van Horn said.

Christina Close of Hazlet recently graduated from nursing school at Brookdale Community College and has lined up several job interviews.
Christina Close of Hazlet recently graduated from nursing school at Brookdale Community College and has lined up several job interviews.

Christina Close can attest to that.

She left her marketing career after deciding that the industry and commute to New York wasn't for her. And she turned her attention to nursing, figuring it would be a better fit.

Close worked as a nursing assistant at both CentraState and Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank while she attended Brookdale.

The experience gave her a chance to see health workers in action during a pandemic, solidifying her desire to get into the field. And it gave her a chance to figure out what she was looking for in an employer.

At the top of the list: a nurse-to-patient ratio that is manageable.

Close seems to be in high demand. She set up interviews at Riverview, Jersey Shore and Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch.

"I'm just going to keep my options open and see where I want to go," she said on Thursday.

That night, she received offers from three units at Riverview and accepted one on the floor where she currently works as a patient care assistant.

Michael L. Diamond is a business reporter who has been writing about the New Jersey economy and health care industry for more than 20 years. He can be reached at mdiamond@gannettnj.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: NJ jobs: 2022 labor shortage gives workers upper hand over employers