CareerForce Staff and Partners work with thousands of job seekers across Minnesota every week and offer a great sense of the current job search environment across the state.
We conducted a survey over a four-week period that closed in late April and received more than 275 responses from CareerForce staff and partners who work with jobseekers across Minnesota. Of the 277 respondents, just over half (144) said that jobseekers generally need more time to find employment compared to a year ago. Another 30% said the jobseekers they are serving now need the same amount of time as last year; and less than 10% said jobseekers now need less time to find employment.
Of those 144 of respondents who said it is currently taking more time for job seekers to find employment, 26 said job seekers are needing up to a month more time to find employment, 51 said job seekers need more than a month but less than three months more time, and 67 said job seekers they are working with need more than three months additional time to find employment compared to job seekers they served a year ago.
These are the positions that the most respondents said are taking considerably longer for job seekers to get hired for now compared to a year ago:
- 119 said Managers and Leaders (e.g., Business Executives, School Principals, Construction Managers) are taking considerably longer to find employment than a year ago
- 103 said IT and Math Experts (e.g. Software Engineers, IT Support Specialists, Data Analysts)
- 99 said Business and Finance Professionals (e.g., Accountants, Financial Advisors, HR Specialists, Project Managers)
These are the positions that most respondents said are taking considerably less time for job seekers to get hired for compared to a year ago:
- 128 said Healthcare Support Workers (e.g. Nursing Assistants, Personal Care Aides, Medical Assistants)
- 119 said Food Service Workers (e.g. Chefs, Servers, Bartenders)
- 78 said Cleaning and Maintenance Workers (e.g. Janitors, Landscapers, Housekeepers)
Below are some comments respondents shared regarding the current job seeker experience in Minnesota. These comments represent some of the most common themes among the 111 responses to an open-ended question asking respondents what other perspectives they would like to share about the recent experiences of job seekers they have served:
- Longer hiring time: “Entire hiring process is still very slow. Many of my customers have received job offers that turned out to be put on hold and the time from a first interview to a job offer, if there is one, can be 6-8 months.”
- Employers “ghosting” job seekers: “Companies/organizations share they are hiring but the majority of positions that are open tend to be open longer and job seekers are not receiving call backs/interviews for the position. It seems like these positions are ‘ghost job openings’ and aren't really there.”
- Age discrimination: “Majority of the job seekers I work with were laid off from corporate jobs. They have strong work experience and high-level skills. They face unique challenges re-entering the job market. Despite their expertise, they struggle due to factors like ageism, industry shifts, ‘overqualified’ concerns and highly competitive job market. It takes them about 3 to 18 months to land their next job.”
- Barriers to employment: “Lack of quality, affordable and available child care continues to be a huge barrier for job seekers”
Other barriers to employment mentioned frequently were lack of computer and other digital skills, lack of proficiency in English, lack of transportation and having a criminal record.
- Want help understanding the labor market for your part of Minnesota? Contact an expert in the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development’s Labor Market Information Office. (Link will open in a new tab.)
- Looking for work in Minnesota now? CareerForce staff can help you with your resume, assist you in preparing for interviews and much more, including connections to resources for free job skills training, English language classes and workshops for older workers and job seekers with a criminal record. Contact a job search expert at a CareerForce near you for assistance preparing for and finding work.
