Utah employers struggle to fill jobs

Employers are scrambling to hire qualified workers as the state's unemployment rate hovers at a record low.

From fast-food restaurants and financial firms to hospitals and construction companies, Utah jobs are up for grabs.

Employers are not only offering higher wages but also are having to offer more attractive benefits, better working conditions and flexible hours to hire new talent, according to Susan Smith, vice president and Utah regional director at Manpower Inc.

"All of those things now really have to come into play in terms of being able to sell yourself over someone else," Smith said. "All companies now need to look at what is it they are offering, not just the basics."

At MediConnect Global in South Jordan, the company is launching a campaign to hire 300 new employees over the next three months.

Amy Rees Lewis, CEO and co-owner of MediConnect, said the company offers all of the traditional benefits — medical, dental, 401(k) and vacation time — but is now offering flexible scheduling and home-based work for employees.

"We're trying to work with people that have situations," Lewis said. "Maybe that comes from me being a single mom and knowing how hard that can be on people."

Lewis said the starting pay at MediConnect is $10 an hour. But with call centers, restaurants and carpet cleaning companies matching that wage or offering more money, the competition is stiff.

"My thoughts are that they are not going to find all of the workers they are hoping for in that short period of time," said Mark Knold, senior economist at the Utah Department of Workforce Services. "There are a lot of other companies paying more that are having trouble finding workers.

"There is a huge amount of people out there that are in the low-skilled area, so it's not like there is a lack of bodies out there, it's just that the economy is so good that most of those bodies are probably already doing something."

Aside from less-skilled jobs, the state also faces an acute shortage of experienced and formally trained workers.

In December, the Governor's Office of Economic Development said there were roughly 1,000 unfilled engineering jobs in Utah.

Kevin Gifford, owner of Kevin's Construction, a commercial and residential builder, said finding skilled labor in the construction industry is difficult.

"I had a couple of framers and concrete guys working for me, and you pretty much had to steal them to get them," Gifford said. "I tried to find some laborers at SOS and they just kind of laughed at me. They didn't have anybody."