While business growth is improving in several sectors in the Monadnock Region, unemployment is low and competition for staff will continue to be fierce in 2019.
When the labor pool is small and unemployment high, it results in high confidence in the workforce among residents. The rate of workers quitting employment is at a 17-year high nationally, showing that residents are confident of seeking out better employment while they still have a job.
Mary Hubbard, the assistant director at the Peterborough Library, which this year began administering employment assistance to patrons, said the majority of the individuals she’s met with are transitioning from one job to another and are seeking assistance with resumes and job searches.
“Most everyone has a job, and they’re thinking about what their next steps are,” she said. “Usually, they’re looking for something either because of pay, or because their current work is not fulfilling for them.”
Wage growth has not necessarily kept up with the demand for workers. Nationally, wages have increased by 3.3 percent. New Hampshire is slightly below that, with wage increases of 3.1 percent.
Mike Argiropolis, a labor market analyst for New Hampshire Employment Security, helps to develop short-term projections for trends in both industries and occupations in the state. Arts and entertainment industries, health care and manufacturing are all areas that are showing signs of strength in the coming year, he said in an interview Wednesday.
Arts, entertainment and recreation often see an uptick in the fourth quarter of the year, Argiropolis said, as the tourism season hits its peak with leaf peepers and winter sportsman. Often with that, come increases in accommodation and hospitality, as those tourists are looking for places to stay and eat.
“Because the economy is still doing well, there’s an increase in discretionary income, and these businesses are doing well,” Argiropolis said.
Health care is one of the areas of largest growth, said Argiropolis, though the occupations which are growing have shifted somewhat. Nursing home occupations are not seeing as much growth, but there have been an increase in home carers, as more people have chosen to keep elderly family members at home longer.
Manufacturing is another area of growth for the state – particularly in some specific areas.
“There are some sub-sectors which are stronger, such as computer manufacturing and chemical manufacturing,” Argiropolis said.
New Hampshire is currently among the states with the lowest unemployment in the country. In November of 2018, the unemployment rate was 2.5 percent, compared to the national rate of 3.7 percent, according to the Economic and Labor Market Information Bureau.
Statistics in the southern part of the state are even lower for unemployment. While a few select towns, such as Rindge and Sharon, have unemployment rates over 3 percent, in the majority of Monadnock towns, the number is 2 percent or below.
According to New Hampshire Employment Security’s 2018 workforce analysis, the state’s slow population growth and increasing average age of residents are contributing to the low unemployment rate. The workforce pool is simply smaller than it once was.
From 2010 to 2017, the state population has only grown by about 2 percent – significantly slower than in previous decades. If the population continues to grow at its current rate, the 2010s will be the slowest rate of growth for the state in a century.
Also, both the state’s population and the population of the workforce are aging. The amount of the workforce over the age of 55 has been increasing over the last 20 years, and now account for nearly 30 percent of New Hampshire’s workforce – about twice the percentage compared to twenty years ago.
But growth in the workforce population among younger sectors – while they have grown – hasn’t kept up at the same rate. As older workers retire, employers will have to find ways to attract workers from farther afield.
Several area manufacturers will be expanding their facilities and adding to their workforces in the coming years.
Tim Sullivan, vice-president of corporate affairs at Hitchiner Manufacturing, said in an interview the company is in the midst of constructing a new 90,000 square-foot building, which will require between 85 and 100 new positions to operate.
He’s well aware of the reality of the competition employers are facing when hiring.
Right now, Sullivan said, the company is struggling to recruit. They currently have about 25 production positions, both entry-level and skilled, and 10 professional jobs currently available.
MilliporeSigma, Jaffrey’s largest employer, is facing a similar situation. The building is set to expand between now and 2020.
David Poggi, head of operations for MilliporeSigma’s Jaffrey facilities, said over the next five years, the Jaffrey site will experience “huge growth” – investing $120,000 million in infrastructure improvements, and adding 40 jobs next year, with more to come over the next five years.
About 80 percent of those jobs will be manufacturing-related positions, he said.
Large employers in New Hampshire have been struggling with the realities of the shrinking pool of available workers.
“A decade or more ago, we would advertise with a sign on Elm Street, and more people than you would ever have needed would come in looking for a job,” Sullivan said. “But those days have come and gone.”
Now, Poggi said, employers have to be more aggressive with their recruitment tactics – and more creative.
MilliporeSigma has partnered with colleges such as University of New Hampshire and Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and with high schools including ConVal Regional High School to train and hire graduates. MilliporeSigma has also been involved with assisting some high schools with developing programs for students to graduate with a manufacturing certification to be career-ready.
“We’ve been doing a huge amount of outreach, which we’re only doubling down on,” Poggi said.