CSRA construction companies will need to recruit 967 more workers in 2023 in addition to the normal pace of hiring. This forecast is a per capita estimate based on research from Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC).  

The frenetic pace of recruiting construction workers in Augusta is expected to extend into 2024, with an incremental 574 workers needed next year, as well, in addition to the normal pace of hiring.

Overall, the demand for construction workers in America has been increasing at an epic rate.

According to ABC, the construction industry averaged more than 390,000 job openings per month in 2022, the highest level on record, and the industry unemployment rate of 4.6% in 2022 was the second lowest on record, higher than only the 4.5% unemployment rate observed in 2019. In addition, national payroll construction employment was 231,000 higher in December 2022 than in December 2021.

Right now, filling open jobs at any Augusta area company is a struggle.

A recent survey by the National Federation of Independent Business Owners found that after inflation, the most critical problem facing these businesses is the inability to recruit and retain quality employees.

Right now, says the Federal Reserve,  unfilled jobs remain near an all-time with 1.7 openings per unemployed person.  As a result, only one person is being hired per every four job openings.  To put this dismal hire-to-opening ratio in perspective, ten years ago, there was one hire per every job opening.

Compounding the recruitment woes of Augusta's small business owners is the very stubborn quit rate.  According to the Federal Reserve, for every ten hires made, seven current employees quit. 

So, how can local builders and contractors fill the open jobs at their companies? Most metrics indicate that advertising on Augusta Radio may be the best way.

15,499 Augusta area companies fit the description of being a small business, according to the US Census Bureau.  A recent survey by the National Federation of Independent Business Owners found that after inflation, the most critical problem facing these businesses is the inability to recruit and retain quality employees.

Right now, says the Federal Reserve,  unfilled jobs remain near an all-time with 1.7 openings per unemployed person.  As a result, only one person is being hired per every four job openings.  To put this dismal hire-to-opening ratio in perspective, ten years ago, there was one hire per every job opening.

Compounding the recruitment woes of Augusta's small business owners is the very stubborn quit rate.  According to the Federal Reserve, for every ten hires made, seven current employees quit. 

Although the labor crunch affects Augusta business owners of every size, nearly half of all job vacancies are at companies with fewer than 50 employees.

So what is the best way for local small business owners to attract qualified candidates to fill open jobs?  Most metrics indicate that advertising on Augusta radio may be the optimal choice.

There are 15,499 small businesses in the Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC Metro Area, according to the US Census Bureau. Based on projections from the National Federation of Independent Business Owners (NFIB), nearly half of these companies have job openings they cannot fill.

As a result of the acute labor shortage, says the NFIB, 29% of small business owners rank the quality of labor as the most important problem they face. A year ago, only 21% said finding workers was their biggest issue.

The labor crunch in the Central Savannah River Area (CSRA) is being driven, in big part, by a record-high number of employees voluntarily quitting their jobs. Just last month, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 4.5 million employees across the country left their current place of employment.

According to the Wall Street Journal, those who are not currently working say they are in no hurry to return to the workforce. The lack of urgency stems from five primary reasons:

• 29% say they don't need to work right now because their spouse is employed
• 28% say they cannot return to work because of care responsibilities at home
• 25% say they don't need to return to work because they have a financial cushion
• 20% say they are fearful of returning to work because of COVID-19
• 5% say they do not need to return because of current unemployment benefits

There seems to be little chance that these resigned workers can be lured back into the labor force. Therefore, to fill open jobs, local business owners will need to focus their efforts towards recruiting among the CSRA's "passive" job candidates.

Based on projections from the National Retail Federation (NRF), Central Savannah River Area (CSRA) consumers are on track to spend $8.1-billion with retailers by the end of this year. This would be 13.5% higher than was spent in 2020.

To earn a significant share of these retail dollars, Augusta area business owners are expected to spend $169.9 million to advertise by year's end, according to Borrell Associates. This company tracks advertising expenditures in local markets across the U.S.

To ensure they are spending their advertising and marketing dollars wisely, many CSRA business owners research how to best target prospective customers by using local media. An exceptional resource for local business owners to investigate the media habits of localconsumers is on the advice section of AdvertiseInAugusta.com.  

Here are the top five most-read articles on the site in 2021:

According to the US Census Bureau, there are 212,351 businesses in the Augusta, Georgia area. Some of these companies are small. Some are large. Some sell machine parts. Some sell software. Some provide legal services. Some provide eyecare.

Regardless of the size of the business or what it sells, all of these local companies have one thing in common: they are struggling to fill open jobs with qualified candidates. This is true in Augusta as well as Aiken, Evans, Martinez, and every point in between.

Right now, across the country, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are 10.9 million open jobs. This is an all-time record.

To put this mammoth number of open jobs in perspective, the Federal Reserve says there are now five job openings per every four unemployed people.

Attempting to recruit CSRA workers from the ranks of the unemployed has proven fruitless for local companies. This is because many people who lost their jobs during the pandemic have no intention of returning to the workforce anytime soon.

There are several reasons so many CSRA workers are not coming back.

First, older workers have opted to retire earlier than expected. Second, childcare issues are making it necessary for some parents to stay home. Third, other workers cite health safety issues for the reason why they chose not to work. Finally, some of the unemployed are choosing to live off the savings they amassed during the pandemic.

So rather than focusing recruitment efforts among former employees and the ranks of the unemployed, local business owners need to target the 210,000 passive job seekers in the CSRA.

The number of job openings in the Augusta, Georgia area has exceeded pre-pandemic levels, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.  Businesses of all sizes are adding employees in a big way, according to the ADP Research Institute, but still, large numbers of positions remain unfilled.

With the Central Savannah River Area (CSRA) unemployment rate still at 4.8%, Augusta area business owners wonder why they are having difficulty attracting applicants for open positions.

According to a recent article posted in The Economist, there are two major reasons why many sidelined workers aren't anxious to come to work. The first is fear.

In January, Central Savannah River Area small business owners were in a panic. The unemployment rate was at a record low 3.0%, and there were not enough workers to fill their open jobs. 

As of today, though, Georgia is reporting that at least one-in-four of the state's workforce have lost their jobs for COVID-19 related reasons. Yet, many small business owners are still struggling to find employees.

According to The Wall Street Journal, "For some workers, unemployment benefits are now paying more than their old jobs did. For others, safety concerns or a lack of child care, as most schools and day-care centers remain closed, are making them hesitant to go back."

“That’s going to get in the way of any real recovery,” Douglas Holtz-Eakin, president of American Action Forum and former director of the Congressional Budget Office, told WSJ.

The struggle to hire employees creates an additional threat for those CSRA small business owners who received loans under the SBA's Paycheck Protection Program.  

To qualify for the loan forgiveness provision of the PPP, business owners must restore its workforce to pre-Coronavirus levels. This must be accomplished within eight weeks of receiving the monies.

So, just like in January, local small business owners are under pressure to fill open jobs. Advertising on Augusta radio is a potent way to attract and hire the needed employees.

Central Savannah River Area small business owners need employees...desperately.

According to a report from the National Federation of Independent Business, 26% of small business owners say finding qualified workers is their number one problem. 

The report goes on to say that 88% of small business owners looking to hire new employees are finding there are no qualified candidates.

The historically low unemployment figures in the Augusta area appears to be the root cause of local hiring woes. The metro area's jobless rate stands at 3.0%. There are just not enough qualified workers to go around.

Most small business owners have exhausted the traditional methods of recruitment. These include online job board posts, newspaper ads, referral bonuses, and help wanted signs. All to no avail.

To successfully attract the qualified applicants they yearn for, local small business owners need to command the attention of 'passive' job seekers. The number one source for these candidates is Augusta radio.