BY THE NUMBERS: OHIO JOB MARKET
4.9% average unemployment rate statewide in 2015, the lowest level since it was 4.3% in 2001
5.4 million Ohio residents employed on average in 2015, compared to 5.6 million before the start of the Great Recession in 2007
5.7 million Ohioans participated in the state's labor force by working and looking for a job in 2015, down from an average nearly 6 million in 2007
SOURCE: Ohio Department of Job and Family Services
In today’s tightening job market, job skills aren’t always the most important factor for being hired, say the employers making the hiring decisions.
Desperate for quality workers, recruiters say businesses will train new hires to complete tasks if they exhibit so-called soft skills, such as arriving to work on time, showing a willingness to learn and the ability to pass a drug screening.
"Traditionally our hiring philosophy is not talent based, it's attitude based," said Matt LaGrow, senior managing partner for Northstar Café, which is preparing to open its first restaurant in the Cincinnati market this spring at the Liberty Center complex in Liberty Twp.
“For us, it’s that. Trying to find people who really just want to take care of people, who want to go to work every day and have a good time and be nice to their co-workers,” LaGrow said. “The stuff that we’re doing at the restaurant isn’t rocket science. It’s food. But you can’t teach someone to be genuine, to be hospitable.”
An improving economy has made finding job candidates more competitive. Unemployment rates in Ohio and Greater Cincinnati are now sitting at the lowest levels since 2001.
Ohio’s unemployment rate shrank from an average high of 10.3 percent in 2009 and 2010, and 5.7 percent in 2014, to 4.9 percent last year, according to Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. Not as many people without a job are looking for one and employment has grown from the depths of the Great Recession, but the market isn’t fully healed; fewer Ohioans are also participating in the job market, which could be due to retirements, students enrolling in courses, changing populations and job seekers who’ve given up finding work.
Almost 6 million residents statewide were working or looking for a job in 2007, compared to over 5.7 million Ohioans on average last year, according to state government statistics.
“The labor market is certainly in a better state than it was five years ago and I think it will continue to improve in 2016,” said Janet Harrah, senior director of the Center for Economic Analysis & Development at Northern Kentucky University.
However, the number of discouraged workers is still high, Harrah said, adding, “the one thing that’s fairly clear both locally and nationally is labor force participation rates are not increasing to the extent you would expect given the growth rate of jobs.”
A shoulder injury forced Robert Smith, of Fairfield Twp., a single father of two, to switch careers last year. During recovery from surgery, Smith last year received public assistance including food and medical benefits and a small paycheck. The assistance required him to put in volunteer hours at the OhioMeansJobs center in Fairfield and it was that experience he says helped him land a new job three months later.
“I took the volunteering like it was a job,” Smith said. “Because I went there as a volunteer and I was able to show my work ethic, that greatly helped me obtain this job.”
Now Smith works for nonprofit Community First Solutions as a case aide, monitoring the job search requirements for other people receiving food benefits from the county and helping them with their job searches at the county job center.
“If you put in the time and the effort to try to find employment, you’re going to find employment,” Smith said. “I think the hardest thing for people is finding employment that pays what they were used to before.”
Hamilton's largest manufacturer, ThyssenKrupp Bilstein of America Inc., has announced three expansions since 2011 and is more than halfway through its latest growth plan announced in 2014. Employment at the auto supplier, which makes shock absorbers, has grown to now about 680 people in Hamilton, according to the company.
“We continue to hire and that is due to our growth here at Bilstein,” said Lindsey Stanfill, associate human resource manager for the auto parts maker. “We look for passionate and dedicated people who would want to help our company grow as well.”
Current job openings include assembly and exempt-level positions, she said. In addition to work history, Stanfill said they look for people who feel strongly about what they do and are motivated.
“We would agree that your soft skills are a very important part of not only connecting to your job, but your continued success in a role,” she said. “We would say that connection is more important… than your knowledge for the actual skill set.”
“There’s a lot of jobs available in the market, so what folks really need to do is find a company they feel strongly about where they can connect with the company’s values,” she said.
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