In the olden days, finding new employees for a growing Maine small business was pretty simple. The owner would put a help wanted sign in the window and maybe a classified ad in the Portland Press Herald. After just a few days, the perfect candidates would present themselves.
Over the past year, however, Maine’s unemployment rate plummeted from 3.8% to 3.0%. It seems everyone who wants a job has a job. This drop only intensifies the drought of qualified job candidates that is plaguing Maine small business owners.
The state’s chronic labor shortage has even drawn the attention of The Washington Post.
In a recent story headlined, “2018’s Challenge: Too Many Jobs, Not Enough Workers”, the Post reported, “In Maine, where flurries can fall as late as April, the state transportation department is struggling to find snowplow drivers, thanks to the increasingly tight labor market. Ski resorts in the state, meanwhile, are still looking for employees to run the slopes.”
Many Maine businesses cannot grow, let alone survive without an infusion of new employees. To combat this existential challenge, these desperate business owners are turning to Portland radio to help recruit qualified candidates away from their current employers.
These target candidates are referred to as “passive” job candidates because they are already working but are not in the market for a new job. According to a recent study conducted by Nielsen, there are approximately 321,000 passive job candidates working in Southern Maine.
Portland radio is the perfect way to recruit passive job candidates. The medium reaches almost every passive job candidate across York, Cumberland, Oxford, Androscoggin, and Sagadahoc counties. This is more than all other media including TV and internet job sites.
Regardless of the type of job that is open, according to Nielsen, Portland radio reaches practically every type of passive job canidate. Blue collar. White collar. Healthcare workers. Food service workers. Construction workers. Management. Laborers. Every one of the most qualified job candidates tunes-in to a local radio station each week.
Radio Recruitment Advertising Is A Smart MoveLocal businesses who have advertised on Portland radio to recruit qualified candidates have found great success. “It was actually one of the smartest moves we made,” says Ron LaFlamme, former Transportation Manager at Hannaford Transportation.
Doug Martin, President of W.H. Demmons agrees, “Newspaper ads didn’t really do a lot for us. Online ads have been working a little bit. When we started on the radio we got a fairly quick responses.:The ability of radio to reach qualified job candidates in Maine embraces every type of industry and small business including manufacturing, retail, sales, construction, and accounting.
Jeffery Verrill, Executive Vice President of Salt Associates, turned on the radio to recruit disability claim associates with at least two years of experience. After the first week of the campaign, Jeffery said the results were, “Dynamite! We got 12 responses. Three or four were qualified and we are expecting more.”
Terry Skillin, owner of Skillins Greenhouses, said he experienced similar success using radio. “It was a three day campaign with amazing results.”
Doug Martin finds one other advantage of using radio as a recruitment tool. He says, “We call them recruitment ads, but they do accomplish more than recruiting. They get our name out in the community and that’s very beneficial for us.”
More Recruitment Advice For Maine Small Business Owners
- Improve Employee Recruitment: Tell The Story of Your Maine Business
- Portland Radio Offers Remedy for Recruitment Woes of Maine Small Business
- Improve Employee Recruitment By Branding Your Maine Small Business
