“How many of you have tried to hire someone recently?” That was among the first questions from Friday’s speaker, Press Herald Business Editor Carol Coultas. When a number of Rotarians raised their hands, she continued, “How many of you have had problems hiring people?” The same hands, more or less, stayed in the air. The often-described “demographic cliff” is a massive issue for Maine, from Millinocket to Portland. There is also the so-called “Maine Discount” affecting hiring, in which workers here are paid 15%-20% less than in other states. This makes recruitment from other parts of the country difficult, and though the “way life should be” is a powerful lure, the reality of lower salaries is a real challenge.
Carol talked about what she sees as our state’s somewhat scattershot approach to the issue of coordinating available jobs with our educational system. Lots of organizations are trying to solve the problem of workforce, but at this point we simply don’t have the workforce. We have, for example, a growing veterinary services cluster, but there is no veterinary school in Maine.
Visa problems are still a massive issue, and one that appears to be worsening under the Trump administration. Tourism business owners, unable to find adequate seasonal help, are finding themselves flipping burgers and snapping sheets in addition to the administrative and managerial duties that they’ve always had. With an aging native workforce and serious limits on businesses’ ability to bring new people in from abroad, she predicts that many tourism-based businesses will simply be unable to continue.
Ms. Coultas ended her presentation early in hopes of answering the flood of questions and comments from Rotarians who were eager to discuss Maine business issues while also offering possible story leads. It was a lively conversation that ranged from the changing role of classified advertising to prosthetic hands..JPG)
(Photo L-R: Bob Martin, Carol Coultas and President Don Zillman.)