The Adobe Flash Player is required to view this multimedia interactive. Get it here.

Available jobs rise; hiring still flat

Many employers say they can’t find qualified candidates.

Name of third injured firefighter not released yet
Updated 1 min. ago
Lebanon Police Officer of year inspired by grandfather
2:21 p.m.
Sheriff to target drug trafficking on highways
11:59 a.m.
Ohio can finally collect $2.3M in fines
10:22 a.m.
Top grads plan challenging careers
10:17 a.m.
> More headlines

By Randy Tucker, Staff Writer 10:57 PM Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Job openings in Ohio and across the country were up sharply in December, climbing to their highest level nationally in nearly three years, according to the latest government figures released Tuesday.

But the numbers also showed employers were slow to fill open positions and the pace of hiring remained flat, underscoring a common complaint among local employers that they can’t find enough qualified workers for those available jobs.

“A lot of our customers tell us if you can find the right person, I’ll take three,” said Gus DeLucia, team leader at Belcan TechServices, an IT recruiter. “That’s how heavy demand is; it’s for multiple positions, not just one. But it’s a challenge finding the right people for the right organizations.”

Nationwide, nonfarm employers posted nearly 3.4 million online advertised vacancies in December, up more than 300,000 from the previous month, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Those figures included about 83,000 job openings in Ohio, which has seen stronger labor demand in recent months after a lull early last year, according to the state jobs department.

Job openings in the U.S. have risen 39 percent since the end of the recession in June 2009, although openings are still well below prerecession levels of about 4.5 million, the government reported.

Labor demand has been greatest in the private sector, while government openings have declined steadily amid widespread budget cuts.

In Ohio, registered nurses, truck drivers and computer systems analysts were the most heavily advertised positions in December, accounting for more than 16,000 online job listings.

However, there were nearly three unemployed workers for every job opening in Ohio, about the same as the national ratio and much higher than the one or two workers per job opening that marks a healthy economy, the BLS said.

Bill Even, a labor economist at Miami University, said structural changes in the economy have prevented hiring from keeping pace with job openings.

“As the economy recovers, what we’re seeing is the jobs that are resurfacing aren’t the same as the ones we lost,” Even said. “Workers and firms alike are having to go through the process of having to find a new match, and that takes time.’’

Many laid-off workers may be reluctant to apply for open positions if the pay represents a significant pay cut, he said. Workers laid off in the latest recession, on average, saw their wages cut by 10 percent to 20 percent when they found new jobs — largely because they moved from full-time to part-time but also because wage growth has been stagnant, according to a recent Labor Department report.

“If you were earning $25 an hour in your old job, and now all the openings are paying $10 or $12 an hour, you might hang on to your unemployment for a while rather than take that kind of wage cut,’’ Even said.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2437 or rtucker@coxohio.com.

Share this article