Sun offers fix for regional employment shortage

LACONIA — As the Lakes Region re-emerges from a pandemic-stricken year, the area faces a new crisis - there are far more jobs than qualified applicants.

With the state’s unemployment rate hovering just over 2 percent, a labor drought is impacting practically every segment of the economy. Nurses, licensed childcare workers, hospitality support staff, assembly line workers, landscapers and mechanics — from entry-level to the highest-skilled — positions across the Lakes Region remain unfilled.

“This is the number one topic of conversation every day,” said Karmen Gifford, Lakes Region Chamber of Commerce president. “It doesn’t matter what industry or economic sector.”

 Gifford said employment recruiting is a critical priority for her membership. But, like efforts elsewhere, she reports seeing only marginal success with matching qualified candidates to open positions.

“It’s a problem everywhere,” she said. “At a state meeting last week, it’s all we talked about. Businesses that can’t find workers can’t grow.”

“I don’t know anyone who isn’t looking for workers,” New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu said at a recent press conference. “On top of that, add on all of these tech companies, these manufacturers that moved here in the last year.

“There is a lot of opportunity out there,” he added.

Will Stewart, executive director of the statewide Stay Work Play initiative, said area employers do indeed have a unique opportunity.

“Pre-pandemic, New Hampshire was one of only 10 states experiencing a net increase in young people,” he said. “And during the pandemic, so many more moved to New Hampshire working remotely. If they can work for people out of state, they can work for local employers.”

They can, but many currently choose not to. Local, regional and statewide job fairs don’t appear to be solving the problem. Sununu shared that a recent Concord job fair that highlighted more than 1,000 open positions drew barely 100 candidates.

Gifford said a bevy of interlocking issues - some stemming from the pandemic - complicate the situation.

“Child care, education, remote working options… people are deciding to do things differently,” she said. “Once, employers controlled the process. Today, potential employees really are the ones who decide where they want to work.

“It really is a new kind of problem,” she added.

The Laconia Daily Sun Publisher Adam Hirshan said that while the region’s largest newspaper is brimming with help-wanted ads, this problem needs a new kind of solution.

“It isn’t enough anymore for employers to just talk about the job,” Hirshan said. “Today’s candidates want to know more about where they’ll be working, and where they might be living. Tomorrow’s workforce isn’t just looking for a job, or even a career. They are looking for a life.

“Fortunately for all of us,” Hirshan added, “there is no place better than the Lakes Region.”

To highlight the region’s best qualities and provide employers a new way to reach potential employees, The Laconia Daily Sun will launch a new regional recruiting tool this August - an annual premium magazine called LiveWorkPlay.

“It’s not a ‘quality of life’ magazine,” Hirshan said. “It’s so much more.”

Like a quality of life magazine, LiveWorkPlay will highlight the Lakes Region as a highly desirable place to build a career and raise a family, with features focusing on the importance of work/life balance and the unique advantages of living and working here.

“Today’s potential employees have a choice in how and where they want to live,” Gifford said. “The Lakes Region offers such an amazing lifestyle - the experiences, the outdoors, the pace of life, and all within driving distance of the major cities - it’s a desired lifestyle.”

The most unique feature of LiveWorkPlay is the partnership this project fosters with area employers.

“Every employer has their own priorities, and their own way of approaching human resources,” Hirshan said. “LiveWorkPlay is the first-of-its kind customizable magazine offering each of our partners the opportunity to be on the cover of their own version.”

The customized cover and feature article option means that employers can fill their own recruiting pipelines with a specific message tailored for trade show and college recruiting appearances.

“Every advertising partner will receive an allotment of their own magazines for internal use, and we can provide them as many additional copies as they might need,” Hirshan said.

“This is a region-wide problem that will take us all, working together, to solve,” Hirshan added.

LiveWorkPlay will be published in late August. The magazine will be widely distributed through the Lakes Region Chamber of Commerce and be made available to colleges, technical schools and regional job fairs. Additionally, Stay Work Play New Hampshire will distribute magazines through its network.