Highly Skilled

Employers report continued difficulty finding workers for highly-skilled jobs

Report: The Federal Reserve Board's latest Beige Book says employers have jobs but not the right workers for them
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All year, we’ve heard from employers who say that they are having trouble finding workers with the right skills, making those workers even more in demand.

The latest Beige Book report from the Federal Reserve – out this morning – backs up that trend.

The Beige Book is an anecdotal survey from the Fed’s 12 banks, each representing a different region of the country. It highlights some of what the banks are being told by local employers about their labor markets, specifically the ability to fill open jobs.

Here is a sampling of what they’re saying about efforts to find workers:

From Richmond: “The supply of labor remained tight with several contacts noting difficulties finding workers with necessary skills. One company that was looking to hire an experienced worker decided to hire an entry-level worker instead and pay for their training.  New construction continued to experience supply chain disruptions as well as a shortage of skill workers.”

From San Francisco: “Labor supply was particularly constrained in agriculture, hospitality, health care, retail, food services, transportation, and skilled trades. A few contacts mentioned increased efforts in employee training.”

From Cleveland: “Nearly half of contacts indicated that finding workers with the right skills was the primary impediment to hiring.”

From St. Louis: “Firms reported softening consumer demand, but labor shortages for high-skilled jobs remained a key issue. However, a rising share of firms reported being able to find and retain low-skilled workers.”

There’s a lot more on the demand – and lack of – skilled workers in the Fed report, which you can read here.

Dana Beth Ardi

Executive Committee

Dana Beth Ardi, PhD, Executive Committee, is a thought leader and expert in the fields of executive search, talent management, organizational design, assessment, leadership and coaching. As an innovator in the human capital movement, Ardi creates enhanced value in companies by matching the most sought after talent with the best opportunities. Ardi coaches boards and investors on the art and science of building high caliber management teams. She provides them with the necessary skills to seek out and attract top-level management, to design the ideal organizational architectures and to deploy people against strategy. Ardi unearths the way a business works and the most effective way for people to work in them.

Ardi is an experienced business executive and senior consultant who leverages business organizational transformation through talent strategies. She uses her knowledge and experience to develop talent strategies to enhance revenue and profit contributions. She has a deep expertise in change management and organizational effectiveness and has designed and built high performance cultures. Ardi has significant experience in mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, IPO’s and turnarounds.

Ardi is an expert on the multi-generational workforce. She understands the four intersecting generations of workers coming together in contemporary companies, each with their own mindsets, leadership and communications styles, values and motivations. Ardi is sought after to assist companies manage and thrive by bringing the generations together. Her book, Fall of the Alphas: How Beta Leaders Win Through Connection, Collaboration and Influence, will be published by St. Martin’s Press. The book reflects Ardi’s deep expertise in understanding organizations and our changing society. It focuses on building a winning culture, how companies must grow and evolve, and how talent influences and shapes communities of work. This is what she has coined “Corporate Anthropology.” It is a playbook on how modern companies must meet challenges – culturally, globally, digitally, across genders and generations.

Ardi is currently the Managing Director and Founder of Corporate Anthropology Advisors, LLC, a consulting company that provides human capital advisory and innovative solutions to companies building value through people. Corporate Anthropology works with organizations, their cultures, the way they grow and develop, and the people who are responsible for forming their communities of work.

Prior to her position at Corporate Anthropology Advisors, Ardi served as a Partner/Managing Director at the private equity firms CCMP Capital and JPMorgan Partners. She was a partner at Flatiron Partners, a venture capital firm working with early state companies where she pioneered the human capital role within an investment portfolio.

Ardi holds a BS from the State University of New York at Buffalo as well as a Masters degree and PhD from Boston College. She started her career as professor at the Graduate Center at Fordham University in New York.