Business managers, labor experts say there is hope amid high unemployment

Looking for work? Here’s when Clark County’s different sectors are most likely to be adding jobs.

January through March

o Professional and technical services.

April through June

o Farming and forestry.

o Construction.

o Information.

o Finance and insurance.

o Administrative, support, and waste management.

July through September

o Manufacturing.

o Wholesale.

o Public administration.

o Arts, entertainment and recreation.

o Accommodation and food

services.

October through December

o Retail.

o Educational services.

o Transportation and warehousing.

Source: Washington Employment Security Department

The bad news about local employment is — well, you’ve heard the bad news.

The good news is that despite a 13 percent unemployment rate, many thousands of people actually landed jobs in Clark County in the past three months.

Yes, growth in the county’s overall number of jobs has been comatose since early 2009, and several high-profile expansions announced recently won’t actually bring jobs for a few years. But for the growing crowds about to cash their last unemployment check and for anyone else in deep need of a job — any job — there’s clearly hope.

“Even though hiring is down, there’s still a fair amount of it going on,” said Scott Bailey, the regional labor economist for the state’s Employment Security Department. “It’s churn.”

For every five jobs in the county, there’s about one new hire in any given three-month period, according to a Columbian analysis of statistics kept by Bailey.

In many cases, they were filling positions with high turnover, such as call center jobs. Other companies have hired temporary workers to meet seasonal needs. But look closely, and you’ll find companies that are creating new permanent jobs in Clark County as well.

When to hire?

Employers often hesitate to create or fill a position, especially when an uncertain economic outlook makes it hard to plan for the future. But when burnout threatens, it’s time to overcome that hesitation, local managers said.

Nancy Newman, chief financial officer at Rising Health Classical & Modern Medicine clinic in Hazel Dell, is hurrying to hire a part-time IV nurse to prevent the other nurse on her team from burning out.

If that happened, she’d have no nurse on staff — a risk she’s not willing to take.

“I always call it ‘overwhelm,’” said Beth Hunter of Vancouver-based AcuNatural Family Healthcare, which is now recruiting a planner for events to market its nutrition and acupuncture practice.

When staff get overwhelmed, it can hurt a company’s ability to take on new clients, Hunter said.

“If you’re wanting to grow, you have to make room to grow,” she said.

Larger companies can use hard numbers to track workload and avoid burnout.

Ron Petti, CEO of Portland-based PBS Engineering + Environmental, said his firm uses software to track how much revenue is generated by each of the company’s 20-some job categories.

When the data reveal a spike in productivity, Petti and his managers consider bringing in a new pair of hands.

With engineering and geological work up and his managers expecting 10 percent growth across the board in 2011, Petti is now looking to hire a civil engineer to join about 30 employees at the firm’s Vancouver office.

Like Hunter, the acupuncture and nutrition office manager, Petti said he began seeing clear signs of economic life during the last three months of 2010.

With skilled engineers so plentiful in the job marketplace, Petti is eager to respond.

“We just weren’t really hiring about six months ago,” he said. “(Now) we’re hiring slowly, but we’re making sure that we’ve got the work there before we bring anybody on.”

Seasonal strategy

Even in industries that aren’t growing, canny job-seekers can time their applications to the seasons. Spring is a good time to find work on a farm, summer is good for entertainment and fall for retail.

Local administrative, support and waste management workers are 25 percent likelier to be hired from April to September than from October to May. For professional and technical workers, winter tax season always brings a temporary hiring spike.

The county’s wholesale and transportation and warehouse sectors hire more rapidly in the summer. So does manufacturing, which had tended to make 50 percent more hires from July through September than from October through December.

Strategic job hunters also can benefit from seasonal spikes in burnout in certain industries. In the construction, transportation and agriculture sectors, turnover among longer-term workers tends to jump in fall — just as the busy season ends — making that a good time to look for jobs in those areas.

Some companies experience high turnover year-round, creating more opportunities for eager job hunters.

Jason Waldron, co-owner of Vancouver-based Olympic Security, employs four telemarketers but said he doesn’t expect even his best hires to stay more than “a couple months.”

These workers spend the day cold-calling potential customers. One in 100 cold calls becomes a solid lead, and one in 500 might turn into the security system installer’s next sale.

“Making outbound calls, it’s not for everybody,” said Waldron, whose 1-year-old company pays callers $9 an hour plus commission. “Two new guys just started two days ago, and they both seem pretty good. After each day, I’ve kind of said, ‘Hey, am I gonna see you guys tomorrow?’”

Still, Waldron and his business partner have continued to fill the positions all year to support their lead salesman.

“Once we find somebody who can sell, we want to back him up with the marketing and support he needs,” Waldron said.