SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) — The New York Department of Labor is seeing new employment trends in the Syracuse area. Some businesses and companies are experiencing labor shortages due to population shifts throughout the city.
The widespread job growth and low unemployment rates are at a record high as of December 2018, however Karen Knapik- Scalzo, an Associate Economist for the department, says labor shortage could impact the stability of the city’s job market.
“The baby boomers are retiring out of the job market,” she said. “That’s a huge number of people that are leaving the job market and the number of new workers coming in isn’t as large to necessarily replace all of them.”
The unemployment rates from 2017 to 2018 decreased 1.2 percent, but there are some industries who cannot find workers with those skills in younger generations.
Knapik- Scalzo says she is seeing labor shortage trends in the construction and manufacturing industries because those jobs tend to be geared towards older generations.
“We’ve seen some trends that not enough new workers are coming in with those skills, not enough students may for instance chose the construction sector, the manufacturing sectors,” Knapik- Scalzo said. “Issues that employers are finding is trying to find people that are entering those fields to replace those existing workers.”
Because the economy is doing so well, Knapik- Scalzo finds that labor shortages will be an area that many employers will have to focus their attention on. She says that employers are beginning to reach out to educational training facilities or offering on the job training to help prevent this issue.
Knapik- Scalzo encourages people to look into industries that they may not have previously considered as a career choice because there are plenty of jobs in the market.
“If someone is considering about entering the job market, now is the time,” she said. “Now is a very good time and it is a bright time to enter job market.”
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Unemployment rates for the Syracuse area, selected surrounding counties, and the nation.
© 2019 Information obtained from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
