The Alabama Department of Labor released local unemployment statistics for February last week, and the news is good.Unemployment numbers are low with Baldwin County at 2.2% and Alabama at 2.4% for …
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The Alabama Department of Labor released local unemployment statistics for February last week, and the news is good.
Unemployment numbers are low with Baldwin County at 2.2% and Alabama at 2.4% for February.
But are low unemployment numbers making it hard for local businesses to find employees?
According to the sources Gulf Coast Media spoke with for this article, low unemployment numbers are not new for our area. Apart from 2020, when unemployment reached 6.1% in Baldwin County and 6.4% for the state, our area's unemployment is historically low.
The growth of the area is outpacing the available workforce. Recent census population projections show a growth of over 7,000, about 3% in Baldwin County.
"We are one of the fastest growing areas in the country, and the people that are moving here have a lot of disposable income. The issue is that they are not here to enter the workforce. They are here to retire for the most part," Ed Bushaw, executive director of the South Baldwin Regional Workforce Development Authority and vice president of workforce development for Gateway Initiative. "The population moving here has a high level of disposable income, and they frequent our restaurants and the resources that we offer to our tourists.
"We are already 10,000 to 12,000 individuals shy of where we need to be just to support our hospitality and tourism industry. Health care is around 2,000 to 3,000 shy of where we need to be."
Lee Lawson, Baldwin County Economic Development Alliance president and CEO, has gotten different feedback from two of the newest businesses to move into Baldwin County.
"With some of the higher skill and higher pay jobs that we deal with, we have seen a lot of them be encouraged about hiring right now," Lawson said. "ALDI with their regional headquarters had very positive feedback about their opening wave of hiring. Novelis Steel has hired about 40 so far, and they feel really strong about where the initial hiring has been in the local and regional talent pool."
Lawson said that two of the most recent businesses having positive responses to their initial hiring doesn't mean there aren't a lot of other existing businesses and industries across Baldwin County having a hard time.
"I hear from hospital executives all the time that they are having a tough time finding enough bodies to staff the positions there. There continues to be hiring signs out in front of businesses, and we are still in an era of not being able to find enough or the right people for the right fits," Lawson said.
Employers are having to come up with a way of attracting employees in today's environment. Businesses are offering higher pay, referral incentives, health care and more to attract and keep employees.
"I have never seen it so competitive with so many opportunities," Bushaw said. "The hospitality industry has changed. The industry has come a long way. People think you start at McDonald's and there is no future in it. Well, look around. I just finished up our salary survey and in South Baldwin, the average restaurant manager here is making $79,000 a year."
At OWA Parks & Resorts, one of their biggest challenges comes down to balancing local school schedules with winter and spring tourism influxes.
"As the Coastal Alabama tourism market continues to grow, more guests are vising for extended periods in the spring. Some of those guests visit as early as February for winter breaks," said Kristin Hellmich, director of external communications for Poarch Band of Creek Indians. "While we hire all ages (starting at 15 years old), Tropic Falls does rely heavily on high school students to fill many positions in the theme and water park. Many of these students are in class during weekday operations each spring."
OWA's solution has been to shift its business models between the spring and summer seasons.
"The leadership at OWA has done a great job of adjusting operations to become more efficient while still delivering a great experience to our guests," Hellmich said.
The Gateway Initiative and the newly formed South Baldwin Regional Workforce Development Authority have been working over the last two years to find a solution to some of South Baldwin's staff issues like housing, public transportation, child care, education and training.
The project, on 150 acres just south of Foley and north of OWA on the beach express, would build a workforce development campus. It would feature housing for seasonal and opposite-season students with 2,000 units available. The project has a memorandum of understanding from the University of South Alabama, Auburn University and Coastal Community College to offer training services and to extend their regular offerings in South Baldwin County. The campus would also have dormitory housing for students, a 400-child child care center and a transportation hub that would give people better public transportation in South Baldwin County.
The project has been in planning for two years but recently got a few shots in the arm with Foley poised to donate the land for the campus and some funding to begin impact studies and master planning. Bushaw feels positive about this project coming to fruition and what it would mean for the area.
"We have been at this for over two years, and it was just conceptual until the city of Foley stepped up. Mayor Hellmich and Mike Thompson have been champions," Bushaw said. "One of the beautiful things about our area is that Orange Beach, Gulf Shores and Foley sing from one sheet of music. They support this completely. They understand how important it is, and they are going to provide incentives down on the island hopefully with transportation and child care."
Housing for the tourism and hospitality workforce has always been an issue but as the area grows, prices go up and traffic gets worse it has become a lynchpin.
Some of the beach area's largest employers have housing options for employees, such as Flora-Bama, The Hangout and A&R Hospitality. Now, OWA is working to build a dormitory.
According to OWA's Hellmich, OWA's parent company, Creek Indian Enterprises Development Authority has always looked at alternative ways to fill open positions like working with programs to place J-1 Visa students.
"We have been working on plans for several years to create employee housing for these types of programs near the development," Hellmich said. "We are currently finalizing the last details for this element of the project."
State not seasonally adjusted – 2.4% Feb. 2023 (54,401)
Baldwin County not seasonally adjusted – 2.2% Feb. 2023 (2,292)
2.5% Jan. 2023 (2,513)
2.7% Feb. 2022 (2,707)
2022 Alabama – workforce – 2,286, 028
Unemployment – 2.6% (59,358)
Baldwin County – workforce average - 102,849
Unemployment – 2.4% (2,417)
2021 Alabama – workforce – 2,269,672
2020 - Alabama – workforce – 2,269,672
Unemployment – 6.4% (145,263)
2019 Alabama – workforce – 2,272,935
Unemployment – 3.2% (145,263)
Baldwin County – workforce average – 98,965
Unemployment – 2.9% (2,896)
2018 Alabama Average – workforce 2,240,109
Unemployment – 3.9% (87,839)
Baldwin County – workforce average 96,253
Unemployment – 3.6% (3,501
