The Effingham County Chamber of Commerce, along with the Effingham County Industrial Development Authority, Effingham Health System, and EOM Operation hosted the “State of the Workforce” luncheon Aug. 14 at Effingham College and Career Academy.
The purpose of the event was to update chamber members and various stakeholders on the current trends in workforce development in the four-county coastal region with the goal of attracting jobseekers and families to work and live in Effingham County.
“Growth is a good thing,” said Daniela Perry, vice president of the Georgia Chamber Foundation. She outlined how Effingham County will continue to see job growth and population growth that must keep up.
“By 2050, we’re expected to have a 46% increase in the number of jobs and 22.6% increase in population,” Perry said. “You look at the raw numbers, we’re going to create more jobs than people.”
Perry said that the workforce, of course, is made up of multigenerational people, including those who aren’t retiring at the traditional age; but Effingham County needs to work on attracting and retaining younger people to replace older workers as they retire.
And employees need a place to live.
“Workforce housing” and “Home ownership” were the top concerns among executives surveyed by the Georgia Chamber Foundation. A close second was “Workforce development and retraining.”
Soon after Hyundai announced in 2022 it would build a plant in Bryan County, the Joint Development Authority commissioned a study to support the area’s existing employers.
The Joint Development Authority covers Bryan, Chatham, Effingham, and Bulloch counties.
“We want them to be secure in knowing that they have access to the talent that they need indefinitely,” said Anna Chafin, CEO of RISE (Regional Industry Support Enterprise).
“I’m talking about manufacturing, distribution, assembly, industrial services-type companies,” Chafin added.
One of the things the study considered was the geography of the area. The study concluded – and RISE concurred – was that for a good manufacturing job, people would commute up to an hour from home.
As for growth, Chafin said, “We expect in a five-year period, we can have close to 25,000 people moving into our Chatham, Bryan, Bulloch, and Effingham region. That’s a conservative estimate. We may surpass that.”
In addition to a reasonable commute, the study found that the people in the current and future talent pool want certain perks, such as competitive pay and retention efforts such as career progression.
“When you onboard an employee, don’t just talk about the position you’re hiring them for,” Chafin explained. “Let them see what their career progression can look like: job responsibilities, change, compensation increases.
“Also look at things like onsite amenities, whether those are gyms, or cafes, maybe on-site childcare,” Chafin continued.
Prospective employees also look for a positive workplace culture.
Director of Fun
In addition to childcare, Chafin continued with another idea in establishing and maintaining a positive workplace culture.
“(Savannah-based) Thomas & Hutton has actually embraced this idea. Cecilia Arango, a member of their team, part of her title now is ‘Director of Fun’”, Chafin said.
“The consultant suggested maybe hire some ‘directors of fun’ who can work on workplace culture and employee morale,” Chafin added.
While “Director of Fun” sounds like all you do is play games all day, Arango’s full title is “Principal/Marketing Manager” and she’s been with Thomas & Hutton since 2001, according to her LinkenIn profile.
Onsite amenities aside, Chafin then highlighted the workforce challenges the region is facing – jobs that need to be filled by 2027. “Workforce development initiatives must work to draw more high school graduates into the industries, including manufacturing,” Chafin said.
The surveyed executives listed their top-three concerns as, “ensuring students are prepared for the challenges of the workforce,” “cultivating interest in K-12 students to move into the field,” and “reskilling existing employees to meet changes in technology.”
A challenge current companies will have to grapple with sooner rather than later is the 16,000 jobs that need to be filled in the top-ten job titles. Statewide, some of the talent shortages are in nursing, retail sales, and software development. In Effingham County, some of the hard-to-fill positions are in industrial truck and tractor operations, retail sales; and laborers and freight, stock and materials movers.
Students have options, Chafin said. After high school, they can go into the military, attend technical college, or a four-year college or university, or go right to work.
“But just because a high school graduate goes straight into the workforce doesn’t mean he’s going to forego post-secondary forever,” Chafin explained.
“His employer may pay for him to pursue higher education.”
Chafin added that she never wants to discourage a young person from pursuing higher education, but, “We absolutely need to encourage those students that may not have a plan to consider careers like manufacturing,” she said.
Another challenge Chafin said the study highlighted was the low recruitment of military members who are about the separate or recently separated from the military.
“These people are already here. They’re skilled and trained. We just need to do a better job of making the connections,” Chafin said. Military spouses are another overlooked resource. “We’ve got about 3,000 military spouses actively seeking employment.”
Housing, transportation and childcare challenges
“Help is on the way,” Chafin said. Georgia Tech is currently compiling a housing needs assessment for the four-county area, which should be completed by the end of 2024, Chafin said. “It’s going to give local governments data, and in some cases, recommendations to make informed decisions about housing moving forward,” Chafin explained. “And these aren’t going to be one-size-fits-all solutions. What’s right for Rincon is not necessarily right for Richmond Hill, or Statesboro, or Pembroke.
“We’ve got to do a better job of pursuing regional transportation options,” Chafin said.
As for childcare, Chafin said there are areas of the region that are childcare deserts. “They just don’t have facilities.” And, “Other places where we have facilities, they may be operating at only 30-50% because they don’t have the personnel.”
Chafin then highlighted Effingham County Schools’ Workforce PHD program that helps students who may not want to go to college right after high school to learn the “soft skills” necessary to enter the workforce right after high school.
“It’s awesome to see that y’all have such an incredible program in Effingham County,” Chafin added. “We’re sharing it around the region and there’s been lots of interest in it.”
To see the Georgia Chamber Foundation’s Economic Competitiveness Redbook for 2024, click on: Redbook | Georgia Chamber of Commerce (gachamber.com).
