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Tampa Bay Radio: The Best Way To Recruit Construction Workers

Written by Larry Julius | Feb 14, 2023 2:42:35 PM

Tampa Bay area construction companies will need to recruit 5,580 more workers in 2023 in addition to the normal pace of hiring. This forecast is a per capita estimate based on research from Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC).  

The frenetic pace of recruiting construction workers in Tampa Bay is expected to extend into 2024, with an incremental 3,311 workers needed next year, as well, in addition to the normal pace of hiring.

Overall, the demand for construction workers in America has been increasing at an epic rate.

According to ABC, the construction industry averaged more than 390,000 job openings per month in 2022, the highest level on record, and the industry unemployment rate of 4.6% in 2022 was the second lowest on record, higher than only the 4.5% unemployment rate observed in 2019. In addition, national payroll construction employment was 231,000 higher in December 2022 than in December 2021.

Right now, filling open jobs at any Tampa Bay company is a struggle.

A recent survey by the National Federation of Independent Business Owners found that after inflation, the most critical problem facing these businesses is the inability to recruit and retain quality employees.

Right now, says the Federal Reserve,  unfilled jobs remain near an all-time with 1.7 openings per unemployed person.  As a result, only one person is being hired per every four job openings.  To put this dismal hire-to-opening ratio in perspective, ten years ago, there was one hire per every job opening.

Compounding the recruitment woes of Tampa Bay's small business owners is the very stubborn quit rate.  According to the Federal Reserve, for every ten hires made, seven current employees quit. 

So, how can local builders and contractors fill the open jobs at their companies? Most metrics indicate that advertising on Tampa Bay Radio may be the best way.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the people quitting jobs are in no hurry to return to work anytime soon.  Consequently, Tampa Bay small business owners need to focus their efforts on candidates that the Society For Human Resource Management (SHRM) calls "passive" job candidates. 
 
SHRM defines passive job candidates as "individuals who are currently employed and not actively looking for a new job, but who may be open to a good career opportunity if one came along."

The SHRM website goes on to explain that "many employers target passive job seekers because they are looking for candidates who have positive employment records and who are satisfied with and successful in their work.  Employers often target passive job seekers because of the lack of qualified job candidates to fill critical roles.  Locating, wooing, and successfully luring passive job seekers are vital for organizations to remain competitive in a tight labor market."
 
According to Nielsen, 344,295 passive, blue-collar job candidates tune-in to a Tampa Bay radio station. This is significantly more than all other media options including online job boards and LinkedIn.
 
In addition to radio's mammoth reach among Tampa Bay's coveted passive job seekers, radio advertisements have an exceptionally high recall rate among consumers who hear them...an attribute that captured the attention of Zip Recruiter.
 
If you were one of the 2.2 million adults who tuned in to a Tampa Bay radio station during August of 2021, then chances are excellent that you heard advertising for ZipRecruiter.  That's because the company purchased 1,436 advertisements to air on local stations during that month, according to Media Monitors.

ZipRecruiter is an online recruitment site that helps companies of every size advertise open jobs.  Overall, more than 2.8 million companies have posted an opening on ZipRecruiter.com.

During the first line of their radio commercial, ZipRecruiter's announcer proclaimed, "82% of people remember radio ads."

"That means," the announcer continues, "82% of you listening right now will remember this is an ad for ZipRecruiter. 

During the entirety of its 60-second commercial, ZipRecruiter mentions '82%' a total of seven times and the word 'radio' six times.

By the way, ZipRecruiter didn't pull the 82% commercial recall statistic out of thin air.  Many studies confirm radio advertising's high memorability advantage.

One of these studies was conducted by Nielsen.  They looked at advertising campaigns for four specific brands.  Although recall varied by the advertiser, on average, 82% of consumers exposed to one of the target company's commercials remembered it...just as ZipRecruiter claims.

A similar study by research firm Local AdRecall also found that, on average, brand recall was five times greater for 18 companies that invest in radio advertising.

For more information on these two studies, click here.

That data is conclusive. The enormous reach of Tampa Bay radio, combined with the exception recall of radio commercials, provides the best way for local business owners desperate to fill open construction jobs to reach qualified candidates.
 
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