Hartford Business Journal

26 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | May 23, 2022 FOCUS The Great Recruitment Companies increase benefits/flexibility in contest for diminished labor pool By Michael Puffer mpuffer@hartfordbusiness.com W hen Drew Marine advertised for a communications director two years ago, the Naugatuck-based maritime chemicals manufacturer and distributor received about 200 applications. An opening for the same job this year drew seven applicants, and not all of them qualified, said Carrie Fuller-McMahon, Drew's senior vice president for human capital. "It's at every level," Fuller-McMahon said. "Things are totally different than they were two years ago." Facing an unprecedented labor shortage, Connecticut employers are increasing benefits, bonuses and flexibility in a competition for a diminished worker pool. Drew Marine, for example, launched a referral bonus program nine months ago, paying $1,000 to employees — outside of management and human resources — who help recruit a new staffer. The bonus is paid if the hire stays for six months; so far, the company has paid out three. Connecticut had 109,000 job openings at the end of February, but the labor force has shrunk by about 72,000 people in the past two years, said Chris DiPentima, president and CEO of the Connecticut Business & Industry Association. "If every unemployed person in Connecticut got a job today, we'd still have more than 23,000 job openings," DiPentima said. "It's causing a real strain at every job level, every industry sector that we talk to, and employers are just trying to get more and more creative." DiPentima said the tight labor market has prompted employers to increase pay, expand benefits, absorb higher healthcare costs, offer child-care subsidies and, importantly, offer more flexibility with remote work. Employers have also instituted or increased sign-on and employee referral bonuses. Many employers have also begun granting staff paid time off to volunteer with community groups, he said. Employee referral bonuses have always been a particularly useful tool, DiPentima said. They are cheaper than job advertisements. Also, current employees tend to nominate people who are good workers and fit with the company culture. "Using existing employees as an extension of a company's recruiting arm is something that has gained a lot of traction," DiPentima said. Carrie Fuller-McMahon is the senior vice president for human capital at Naugatuck-based maritime chemicals manufacturer and distributor Drew Marine, which has launched an employee-referral bonus program to attract new talent. HBJ PHOTO | STEVE LASCHEVER CT Labor Market Snapshot Unemployment rate Total jobs Labor force March 2019 3.60% 1,686,600 1.944 million March 2020 3.40% 1,691,900 1,944 million March 2021 7% 1.598 million 1.847 million March 2022 4.60% 1.646 million 1.879 million Source: CT Dept. of Labor

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