Thinking Green Jason Laverty and Patrick Quinlan, from left, the founders of SolaBlock, have designed a cutting edge solar product that is ready for production. Page 4
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Berkshire Business Journal AUGUST 2023 | VOL. 2, NO. 8
Where are the job seekers?
PHOTO PROVIDED BY MASSHIRE BERKSHIRE WORKFORCE BOARD
Job candidates attend a manufacturing and trades job fair held by the MassHire Berkshire Career Center in June. Jobs are available in the Berkshires, but filling them is proving to be difficult
There are plenty of jobs available in the Berkshires but no one seems to to be filling them By Jim Therrien PITTSFIELD — Pay levels in some jobs have surged since the pandemic hit three years ago and benefits, incentives and flexible working conditions have followed a similar trajectory. But a lot of those jobs in the Berkshires aren’t being filled right now. And employers are struggling to find qualified candidates to take them. Those in the Berkshires who are paid to consider these issues say the answers to these questions are not simple, and that they effect members of every generation that is eligible for employment. “The pandemic has just really changed the workforce across the Berkshires, across Massachusetts and across the country in unprecedented ways that we have never experienced before,” said Heather Boulger, the executive director of the MassHire Berkshire Workforce Board in Pittsfield, when asked about the current job market. One of the most significant measurements, she said, is that the county has lost “2,000 people out of a workforce of 60,000, which is pretty significant. So companies have been faced with talent short-
ages throughout the pandemic, and they continue to struggle right now.” In June, the Berkshire County unemployment rate increased by a half a percentage point to 2.9 percent, as the number of residents collecting jobless benefits increased by 338. The local rate is slightly higher than the state rate of 2.8 percent. Although half a percentage point is a significant bump, Berkshire unemployment has dropped more than a full percentage point from the 4.2 percent registered 12 months ago. Referring to the county’s current unemployment rate, Boulger said a figure that low is still “fantastic”, Boulger said, because any figure in the 2.5 percent range, “is considered full employment.” “Anybody who is looking for a job should be able to find employment,” she said, referring to the current labor market. “But one challenge is that not everybody is looking for a job.” The active job-seekers, in turn, know they have multiple options and most of them seem to be aware of that, giving them what may be an unprecedented advantage in the job market. “I’ve seen the peaks and valleys,” Boulger said. “I’ve seen when it’s an employers’ market; I’ve seen when it is
BEN GARVER
Heather Boulger is the executive director of the Berkshire Regional Employment Board. She said the COVID pandemic has caused the county to lose 2,000 workers. an employee market, and right now it is really the job-seekers’ market. Not just in the Berkshires but everywhere, all across the country.” That dynamic may be changing as the
pandemic recedes. Officials regularly in contact with job-seekers said they’ve noticed a hiring and job search uptick in recent weeks. Local job fair events also are seeing an increase in participants, and the events are moving from the remote platform that popped up during the pandemic back to the traditional in-person model. In an article titled “The Great Resignation”, The New York Times recently reported that after a mass of workers left jobs voluntarily during the pandemic the market seems to be tilting back towards more competition for jobs and more leverage for employers. But some job force issues are unique to the Berkshires. “We’ve had 50 years of low birth rate affecting the growth in population,” Boulger said. “We also have an aging population. (We’re) the second oldest region in Massachusetts (which has 14 counties.).” Many older workers have also chosen to retire or leave the workforce for now, which further stresses local employers who are trying to fill openings. This helps explain the absence of those 2,000 workers. JOBS, Page 12