Increase in workforce participation, hiring in service industry seen in West Virginia
February 22, 2022
CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (WV News) A recent report from the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics showed greater workforce participation and growth in several industries.
Total non-farm payroll employment rose by 467,000 in January, but the unemployment rate saw little change, at 4.0% compared to a 3.9% a month prior, according to a Feb. 4 report from the bureau.
Despite the unemployment rate moving from 3.9% to 4.0% workforce participation reportedly grew, meaning the number of individuals actively seeking employment increased.
The report attributes the slight increase in unemployment to many of those individuals simple not finding employment yet.
Employment growth continued in leisure and hospitality, in professional and business services, in retail trade, and in transportation and warehousing.
Finally getting some promising news, West Virginia’s business officials are understandable excited about this development.
“Getting more people into the workforce is fantastic news. Our nation has seen a steady decline in participation in the workforce over the last decade,” said Steve Roberts, President of the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce.
“The West Virginia Chamber of Commerce recognizes that the reduced impact of COVID and the need to return to a more normal level of activity is bringing more workers into the workplace. This is good news for the economy, helps business and provides work skill training opportunities for workers,” Roberts said.
In West Virginia, this increase in hiring has been to fill shortages left in these industries, officials said.
“We’ve had a shortage of most of those jobs, especially hospitality – a shortage of workers for those jobs,” said Lewis County Chamber of Commerce Director Ray Smith.
“The hospitality trades are growing at least in this area because I think we’re seeing new businesses opening that will require that kind of training,” said Marion County Chamber of Commerce President Tina Shaw.
One such opening that is promoting the service industry in Marion County is a new restaurant opening through Pierpont Community and Technical College’s culinary program.
“Our culinary school at Pierpont Community and Technical College is actually opening up a restaurant in the Middletown Commons for their students to give them opportunity to deal directly with the public and learn their trade, and I think it’s great. I think it’s a win-win for everybody,” Shaw said.
In Lewis County, Smith also attributes much of the area’s growth to new businesses.
“Growth-wise, what we have experiences here in the last quarter or last couple quarters has been several small businesses opening up that employ two to 10 employees. So that has been the main growth of our jobs in Lewis County,” Smith said.
These businesses, Smith said, are still in need of employees, but a seasonal hiring surge is looking to begin soon.
“As always, right now there is a shortage of people for hospitality – almost any kind of job, we’re short workers. That’s the main thing with our businesses. If you talk to them, the need qualified people to work,” Smith said.
“It will start next month, maybe some of this month. Basically, the motels and these seasonal things like the resort with summertime coming, that’s their main push. A lot of the restaurants and our tourist (attractions) – the museum, the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum, they’re summer events, so they start hiring,” Smith said.
Officials comment hospitality business leaders for adapting to the tough market from the pandemic.
“I think those folks have risen to the occasion because of the demand that they have for labor, their labor salaries have gone up a little bit. So that has people thinking about moving into that kind of the economy,” said Kurt Zende, president of the Wheeling Area Chamber of Commerce.
In areas where hiring is lagging behind, officials are making extra efforts to help combat shortages and stimulate the workforce.
“We’re in the process of working with the Marshall County Chamber of Commerce and the regional economic development partners up here with us, the Wheeling Area Chamber of Commerce and the West Virginia Northern Community College. We want to put on a workforce symposium here in the next month or so,” Zende said.
“There are still extreme shortages, but I don’t know if it’s as bas as it was six months ago,” Zende said. “Some of the folks I’ve talked to, they still have issues with developing that labor.”
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ report, in January, the share of employed persons who teleworked at some point because of the coronavirus pandemic increased to 15.4%.
These data refer to employed persons who teleworked or worked at home for pay at some point in the 4 weeks preceding the survey specifically because of the pandemic.
Shaw noted that remote work is still widely used in the area and employment should improve.
“Of course we’re all touting the remote worker trend that’s going on. The region is seeing a lot of people look into that right now, at least in North Central West Virginia, and things are only going to get better,” Shaw said.
Currently, employment is high in Marion County and North Central West Virginia as a whole due to growing industries such as healthcare, Shaw said.
“As far as Marion County, our unemployment rate is fairly low compared to a low of other places in the state. I think that’s just part of being in North Central West Virginia,” Shaw said. “It is a growing area for the state, and there are so many growing job opportunities within the region, especially in health care.”
Shaw is also hopeful that further growth will come to the region with new manufacturing jobs coming to West Virginia, such as the Nucor steel manufacturing plant set to open in Mason County.
These manufacturing jobs will likely benefit the area’s community and technical colleges as well, Shaw said.
“Now that we’re going to see some manufacturing come back to the state, I think some of our community colleges are going to be able to train students or even high schools, to go straight into these high-paying jobs,” Shaw said.
Story by Josiah Cork at WV News