Kitchen & Bath Business May/June 2022 - 8

INDUS TR Y
CHALLENGE S
Talent Show
Five tips for recruiting in a tight labor market
THE PANDEMIC HAS RESULTED in an unprecedented
boom in home improvement spending,
and while labor markets everywhere are tight,
fi nding candidates in the skilled trades for the design,
construction, remodeling and home services
industry is particularly diffi cult. As your business
navigates this challenging environment of elevated
consumer demand with very limited supplies
of pros to recruit, train and hire, here are fi ve tips
from us at Angi based on our market research and
insights that will help you on your journey.
1. Word of Mouth Is Not Your Friend. Word-ofmouth
recruiting is the traditional way our
industry has recruited, remaining even this
last year as the number-one method of recruitment
in the trades, with roughly half of
all trades businesses relying on word of mouth.
But with labor market competition high, demand
elevated, the need to recruit from other
sectors and the necessity of expanding the pipeline
to a broader range of candidates, word of
mouth will not be as successful as it has been in
the past. Working directly with high schools,
community colleges, online job boards, digital
platforms and employment agencies should
all be just as important - if not more so - than
word-of-mouth recruiting. Online job platforms
in particular - think LinkedIn, Indeed,
Glassdoor, etc. - should be in your toolkit to
fi nd candidates.
2. Look to the Leisure and Hospitality Industry. Willingness
to work and a good attitude are the top
two attributes home remodeling businesses
look for in potential employees. And there is a
sector of the economy where there is an excess
of workers who have these exact attributes, but
the job market has not fully recovered: leisure
and hospitality. Th e sector includes other service
businesses like bars, restaurants and hotels,
where employees must work hard and possess
a strong focus on the customer.
While specialty trades contractor markets are
even tighter than before the pandemic - there's
already been 5.1% growth in the residential
trades since the onset of the pandemic - leisure
and hospitality is still down by 9% over the same
08
/ MAY-JUNE 2022
period. Th is means that more than a million jobs have not returned for
workers in that sector, and with some upskilling and training they could
enjoy a career bump transferring into the trades... if you recruit them.
3. Highlight the Meaning and Value in Home Services Work. When recruiting
people from other sectors, you should highlight our industry's largest
strength: extraordinarily high job satisfaction. Residential trades workers
(83%) are either somewhat or extremely satisfi ed in their career choice.
What's more, the number-one reason for this extremely high job satisfaction
is that people fi nd the work meaningful and rewarding. When so
many people are looking for long-term happiness and meaning in their
lives, a career that brings so much satisfaction is something to brag about.
" When recruiting people from
other sectors, you should highlight
our industry's largest strength:
extraordinarily high job satisfaction. "
4. Be Prepared to Pay More for Talent. Even though you should be highlighting
the meaning and value of the work in our industry and the very high
job satisfaction, you should also still remember we are in an infl ationary
environment, with strong wage competition from other sectors. So be
ready to set your starting wages higher than at any time in the past. (Of
course, it also means you should be exploring setting your prices higher to
compensate for higher labor and material costs, too.)
5. Expand Your Talent Pipeline. Th e skilled trades are overwhelmingly male -
95% or more in some categories. But women in the trades show similarly
high levels of job satisfaction as men; the main diff erence between the two
are that women are more likely to think that providing a clear pathway for
more women to enter the trades would make an important diff erence in
successful recruitment. Develop intentional strategies around recruiting
underrepresented people. For women, this is highlighting things like fl exibility
and the ability to have a say in working hours. Attracting diverse
talent will make a big diff erence for the trades.
It's an exciting but challenging time in home services. According to our
research on the trades labor shortage, it got 10% harder to hire during the
pandemic, and that's on top of what was already a very diffi cult hiring environment.
Th e high level of consumer demand - and home equity gains -
should serve as a meaningful tailwind for our industry and for your business,
but only if you can expand and grow to take advantage of it. Following these
fi ve strategies should help you along that journey.
Mischa Fisher is chief economist at Angi, formerly Angie's List, Angi.com.
http://www.Angi.com
Kitchen & Bath Business May/June 2022

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