Local businesses may have unique advantages in facing one of Montana’s most prevalent economic problems.
According to reports from the Montana Department of Labor and Industry Montana is experiencing a labor shortage. In October 2022 the Montana unemployment rate was only three percent. When so many people are employed, businesses can have a hard time finding new employees, but local businesses may have the remedy.
Joe Malisani the Store Manager at Gary and Leos IGA said, “we’ve built a culture with the rest of our crew that really brings them on and people love being here.” Then about the labor shortage he said, “it’s not a big issue for us.”
Ashley Callahan from Bear Paw Meats highlighted a personal approach to hiring. She said, “well right now because our foundation is so strong, people that we’re looking into, we definitely want to have them to have something that is beneficial to them when they join our team. We want to look at it from a personal aspect.” When questioned about the labor shortage impacting her business she said, “we have been very fortunate over the past few years to have a really solid team. Of course, we are always looking to hire new employees because we want to be a growing company, but it has to be the right person.”
Sarah Manual of Farmer Meets Foodie based in Havre agreed with the need to hire the right people as well as create a good work environment. She said, “I take a very selective approach to hiring. I believe that there is a lot of really bright, amazing, talented people out there, and so for me, my objective is just to become the type of employer who is going to attract that person that I want to hire. The next step is creating a realistic expectation of what that job is going to look like, and then from there it’s constantly checking in and really being intentional about the culture that we have within our team, and then continue to provide them with basically a growth path.”
When asked if she is experiencing hiring troubles Sarah replied, “in general, we actually have more help than we need a lot of times. Which is a fantastic problem to have!”
