Finding the right person to hire should be easy...right?

"Why is it so hard to find qualified candidates with such a high unemployment rate??"


You've probably heard this around the office or in other professional settings.  This is usually a reference to the "headline" unemployment rate,also known as the seasonally adjusted U-3 rate, at 7.7% as of November 2012.

At risk of putting you to sleep, there are actually 6 different major national methodologies for calculating unemployment:

• U-1:  persons unemployed 15 weeks or longer, as a percent of the civilian labor force
• U-2:  Job losers and person who completed temporary jobs, as a percent of the civilian labor force
• U-3:  total unemployed, as a percent of the civilian labor force (official unemployment rate, this is the 7.7% number above)
• U-4:  total unemployed plus discouraged workers, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus discouraged workers
• U-5:  total unemployed, plus discouraged workers, plus all other persons marginally attached to the labor force, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force
• U-6:   total unemployed, plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force, plus total employed part time for economic reasons, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force

Regardless of the calculation used, these numbers are still fairly high, and you could probably see how a hiring manager or recruiter would find be frustrated that quality talent is so difficult to find in this environment.

As second consideration might be what kind of talent is being sourced.

If you require no high school diploma but do need a few years of experience, you will likely be sourcing from a population with an employment rate of 12.2% as of November 2012.  With numbers that high, the pool of qualified candidates is likely large enough to fill a role pretty quickly.

If instead you require someone with a four-year degree and at least a little experience, the headline unemployment rate for this population is 3.8% as of November 2012.  That's a low number, and the unemployed population may not include your best candidates. As a result sourcing may be more difficult, and you may have to pay a premium for someone already working.


People aren't fungible, and finding the right talent at the right price can be challenging.

Best,
Bryan