News

Labor Shortages Likely to Persist: What this Means for Employers

9/24/2023

Our clients are wondering what is causing the U.S. labor shortages, when they will end and what are the implications.  According to our research, the U.S. labor shortages will be with us for many years to come.   

Reasons for the Labor Shortages 

The primary reason is due to the retirement of Baby Boomers (those born between 1946-1964).  Boomers are leaving the workplace in droves and the last of the Boomers will be age 65 by 2030.  The challenge is that the Boomers and the generations that followed had fewer children than prior generations, creating a significant gap in the labor pool. This gap was widened during the COVID and the Trump administration when immigration slowed significantly.  These factors contributed to the August unemployment rate of 3.8%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.  

The Congressional Budget Office projects the potential labor force will expand by a mere 3.6% between 2022 and 2031; one-eighth of the pace in the 1970s.  Over the following decade, that growth is projected to slow even more, to 2.9%.  The available labor pool will continue to diminish and employers will face decades of essentially stagnant labor resources. 

What do these Labor Shortages Mean for Employers 

The typical response to labor shortages has been to increase the value proposition for employees with higher pay, more workplace flexibility, better working conditions, and increased benefits.  Employees can also expect to see more promotions, as the Baby Boomers leave the workforce. 

Perhaps the biggest change prompted by labor shortage will not be how employers hire, but who they hire.  Facing a constrained supply of workers, companies will be forced to employ those they have long shunned or ignored.  As examples, the federal government is relaxing drug testing requirements for job candidates and more businesses are hiring people with criminal records.  Companies are also making jobs more flexible to attract mothers and fathers with young children and people with disabilities.   

More companies are turning to older workers to fill their labor shortages.  Either keeping employees past their normal retirement age or hiring older workers into full or part-time jobs.  In fact, according to AARP, 20% of workers over age 65 are still working, this is double what it was in 1985. 

In addition, high priced labor is expected to spark innovations to expand the labor supply and ultimately lower prices.  These innovations may include offshoring work, using technology, or robotics to redefine the number of employees needed or to replace workers.  The bottom line,  employers will find alternatives to accomplish the work required. 

Strategic Business Solutions Can Help 

Strategic Business Solutions can assist employers in identifying the professional services talent our clients need to bridge the workforce shortage gap.  We find and place qualified and experienced individuals as consultants including individuals choosing to work beyond their normal retirement age.  

Partnering with SBS has helped our clients accomplish projects or perform work they may not have been able to do given the shortage of experienced and knowledgeable resources. 

Strategic Business Solutions Acquired by SJ Casla Inc.

8/8/2023

Bellevue, WA – SJ Casla Inc, a Washington company, announced that on June 18th, 2023, they completed the acquisition of Strategic Business Solutions, Inc. of Lake Oswego, Oregon, a professional services company serving clients in Oregon, Washington, and California. The new company will continue to do business as Strategic Business Solutions and will continue to partner with companies to identify and place skilled professional consulting resources to perform program and project management, information technology, and engineering services.

As a result of this acquisition, Strategic Business Solutions is a certified minority and woman-owned business, with a strong team of employees experienced in serving clients in multiple industries including technology and utilities. The business is majority owned by Paola Casla Taylor, an immigrant from Spain. Ms. Taylor will be serving as the Chief Executive Officer of the Company. She will leverage her extensive knowledge in strategy, business development, and operations in support of organizational growth.

The Company was acquired from Joseph R. Brisley, who founded the business in 2017. Mr. Brisley said, “I was delighted to find a buyer with a similar commitment to employees and clients. I firmly believe Ms. Taylor will continue to lead the Company with similar values and commitment to excellence.”

“Strategic Business Solutions is exactly the type of organization I was looking to acquire. The business built by Mr. Brisley and his team will provide a strong foundation which we can leverage for additional growth and expansion”, said Paola Taylor.

About Strategic Business Solutions

For more than 6 years, utility, technology and other business leaders have turned to Strategic Business Solutions to support their most complex projects. As a professional services consulting firm, we partner with businesses to provide the resources needed to implement new business systems and processes. We work together with clients and help them realize their vision. To learn more about Strategic Business Solutions, visit www.sbsnw.biz or contact (503)387-3130.

Enhancing your Onboarding Process: Benefits and Methods

4/28/2023

If you are looking for a way to boost employee engagement and retention, there may be opportunities to do so by enhancing your onboarding process.  Onboarding is not just an HR function!  In addition to the role played by HR, it is also critical to onboard new employees into your department and work team.  According to Bamboo HR, a good onboarding experience will increase employee commitment by 18 times. Further, a thorough onboarding program increases employee retention rates by 82% according to Zippa.  This is some superpower!  

On the other hand, a bad or poor onboarding experience, will promote disengagement in the workplace and subsequently lead to increased staff turnover, increased hiring expenses, a reduction in productivity, wearing out of your active workers, and declines in productivity. 

If you are now convinced, you may wonder what makes up a strong onboarding program?  Our research shows the following 5 elements contribute to effective onboarding: 

1. Be Proactive 

Onboarding begins during the selection process, giving your prospective employee a clear idea of your culture, working conditions, scope of work and what they can expect from a typical day in the life of your company.  Paint a clear picture of what your company is all about and “sell” it. 

2. Be Prepared 

It is essential to be fully prepared for your new employee’s arrival.  Prepare employment and benefits documents.  Set up their work station with everything they need including their new business cards, phone computer and office supplies.  Set up access to any tools or spaces they will need (email, passwords, alarm codes, keys, etc.).  Alert the other members of the team of their arrival and designate someone to be their mentor.  Think about the questions they may ask and have the answers ready. 

3. Be Welcoming 

Everyone likes gifts and this is a perfect time to give a gift that shows how much you appreciate your new employee becoming part of the team.  A shirt with the company logo, a welcome aboard card, flowers, or whatever is representative of your culture.  Take them and other key team members to lunch the first day.  But don’t just do it all on day one.  Keep up the special touches and communication until they are rooted into your workplace. 

4. Be Open 

Schedule weekly one-on-one meetings between the new employee and their supervisor and use these meetings to go beyond project status discussions. Set up site visits or desk audits so they can better understand the operations of and people in the business. See to it that needed training is provided in a timely manner.  Talk about career goals and interests early in the employee’s tenure.  These actions are opportunities to deepen the employee’s connection to your company and to the people with whom they work.  Foster regular and healthy communication about what is going well and where there is a need for improvement.  

5. Be Alert 

The first few months are critical in setting the groundwork for commitment and retention.  If concerns arise, deal with them swiftly and appropriately.  Small issues can become big problems if not dealt with effectively and can have a significant impact on your ability to retain good talent. 

We hope these five tips will help you see the value gained in by an effective onboarding process. Once you’ve hired the right person, get them off to a good start and keep them engaged and productive!  Make onboarding one of your superpowers. 

SBS Engagement of Early Retirees

01/19/2023

Last January we sent our clients a report on how companies are using retirees to supplement the workforce.  Because last year’s article, attached, drew significant interest from our readers, we decided to explore other reasons a retiree may find themselves still working.  Further, because our business strategy has always included the utilization of a “retired” workforce, we continue to monitor trends on this topic.   

Many people going into retirement expect to continue working but are ready for a change as we reported last year.  However, millions of others were driven to retirement due to COVID, and, according to AARP, inflation and other unexpected life events are causing them to return to the workforce. According to the job search website Indeed, of those who were retired a year earlier, 1.7 million, or 3.3 percent, are employed again. The majority of these so-called unretirees are working part time.​ 

The factors some of these unretires are facing include: 

1. Changing Workforce Landscape 

Prior to the pandemic, most people went to the office daily. That all changed when COVID-19 shutdowns forced companies to embrace remote workforces. Now, to get the job done, employees of all ages and skills had to learn how to log on to Zoom, send a message through Slack, or otherwise embrace technology. For people in retirement, that changed the equation. Suddenly they could earn a living without leaving their homes.  

2. Inflation 

At last check, inflation ran about at an annual rate of 7.7 percent, the highest since 1981. This resulted in soaring prices for everything from food to gas. Inflation causes pain for everyone, but it’s particularly brutal for retirees on a fixed income.  

3. Stock Market Volatility 

During the pandemic, the stock market soared as people flush with cash and sitting at home poured money into stocks, bonds, and other asset classes. Retirement accounts saw a nice uptick, prompting many people to pull the trigger and exit the workforce. What a difference a year makes. Since the beginning of 2022, the stock market has been in a decline amid rising interest rates and soaring inflation.  

4. Health Insurance Expense 

The cost of medical care services continues to increase which has an exponential impact on an older person.  

5. Loneliness 

Loneliness among older adults, already a significant problem in this country, was made worse by the pandemic. As it stands, about one-third of U.S. adults age 45-plus report feeling lonely, and those in low income brackets are particularly vulnerable. Not only can loneliness impact one’s mental state, but studies also show it’s just as bad for physical health as being overweight or smoking. For retirees, a way to overcome loneliness is to return to work. * 

Whatever the reason, SBS welcomes qualified and experienced individuals as consultants.  The employment of unretires is a strategy which has been successful for our clients, our unretiree consultants, and our business. We are well positioned to help our clients with the placement of consulting talent.   

Security and Continuity Management for Businesses

8/16/2022

Over the years, SBS has assisted companies in identifying the contract project management resources they require to help them avoid and/or prepare for business disruptions which can be caused by natural disasters, pandemics, cyber events, flooding, and fires.  Our consultants have worked on projects to ensure business continuity, business resilience, and disaster prevention.   

We were surprised to learn that while most small and mid-sized businesses have embraced some level of planning for these events, there remains a substantial opportunity for improvement. To support this conclusion, we found the following data to be very telling: 

  • A break in continuity can cost even the smallest businesses $10,000/hour at minimum and range up to $5 million for larger businesses (Source: Datto) 
  • One out of every two businesses have experienced an extended break in continuity in the last five years and 54% reported downtime lasting greater than 8 hours. (Source: DataCore) 
  • Nine of ten small companies permanently close if they are slow to reopen following a break in continuity.  Further data shows that 90% of businesses fail within a year if they are unable to get back up and running within 5 days after a disaster. (Source: FEMA) 
  • 28% of security breaches affect small businesses and many aim to disrupt small and medium sized businesses.  In 2020, 28% of breaches affected small businesses, 43% were due to attacks on web application and 83% of the attacks were financially motivated.  (Source: Version) 
  • 100,000 small businesses were forced to close permanently during COVID-19 (Source: Washington Post) 
  • Fifty one percent of companies don’t have a business continuity plan (Source: Mercer via Economic Times) 
  • External threat actors make up 70% of threats and 30% are due to internal actors (Source: Verizon via Small Business Trends) 
  • 75% of companies have suffered supply chain disruption (Sources: Supply and Demand Chain Executive and Interos) 
  • 45% of data breaches involve hacking and in some industries like health care, the organization can face large fines or penalties (Source: Verizon via Comparitech) 
  • 45% of small and medium business experience downtime from hardware failure (Source: Veritis) 
  • 1 in 3 organizations have been infected by malware: corrupting data, crashing applications, bricking servers or causing other disruptions. (Source: DataCore) 
  • 37% of small and medium businesses have lost data in the cloud. (Source: Backupify) 
  • 1 in 6 small and medium business executives don’t know their own recovery objectives (Source: Infrascale via Small Business Trends) 

Don’t let your business become another statistic! Reach out to SBS for assistance with project managers to support your critical business continuity and business resilience projects.  

SBS Engagement of Early Retirees

3/11/2022

At Strategic Business Solutions, Inc. (SBS) our business model has always included the utilization of a “retired” workforce. In fact, about a third of our professional consultants had retired but desired to stay engaged in the workforce under different circumstances.  Many only wanted part-time work while others were willing to work full-time but wanted to do so in a different type of job or a different environment. 

In fact, SBS’s engagement of “retirees” as consultants is a strategy that has been a win-win for our clients, our “retiree” consultants, and the company. Further, it has benefited the economy during this period of the “great resignation.”   

Interestingly, the majority of American workers (55 percent) plan to continue working in retirement, with 41 percent going part time and 14 percent full time, according to the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies. Research cited by AARP’s Public Policy Institute shows that workers 65 and older are twice as likely to work part time as workers ages 25 to 64. 

Their reasons for working in retirement vary: Most (53 percent) of those polled by Transamerica who expect to work in retirement say it’s because they want the additional income. Others (35 percent) report needing to work because they couldn’t otherwise afford retirement. Many also point to health advantages, wanting to stay active (47 percent) and keep their brains sharp (39 percent). And some enjoy working and see their jobs as giving them a sense of purpose (34 percent) and a way of maintaining social connections (21 percent). 

SBS is perfectly positioned to help our clients with the placement of qualified and experienced individuals, including those who are retired.   

Testimonial from a “retired” IT professional and SBS consultant:  

“When I first considered retirement from my 18-year employer, I knew I wasn’t ready to stop working with technology. It was important for me to stay engaged and keep up to date with new trends in technology. With my professional experience, wisdom, and broad knowledge, SBS was able to quickly place me with a client for the hours and duration I wanted.  These jobs have been extremely positive for all, and I greatly enjoy continuing to add value and working on new projects and technologies. Also, the team at SBS has been amazing to work with. They consult with me at every step regarding client job opportunities and are up front about everything.”  -Dave- 

Business in a Post Covid-19 Era: Predicted Trends for 2021

6/20/2021

Barring any unexpected catastrophes, individuals, businesses, and society can look forward to reshaping their futures.  A recent McKinsey report revealed these predicted business trends for 2021: 

  1. The return of confidence will unleash a consumer spending rebound. 
  2. Leisure travel will bounce back but business travel will lag. 
  3. Innovation and entrepreneurship will continue after being unleased in 2020. 
  4. Digitally enabled productivity gains accelerate to create the “Fourth Industrial Revolution”. 
  5. The COVID crisis created an imperative for companies to reconfigure their operations providing an opportunity for ongoing transformation. 
  6. Consumer shopping behavior is forever altered in this e-commerce/digital era. 
  7. To avoid a repeat of 2020 vulnerabilities, supply chains will rebalance as they shift to Artificial Intelligence (AI), data analytics, human-machine interaction, and robotics.  
  8. The future of work arrived ahead of schedule with large segments of the population working from home and this trend is expected to continue. 
  9. A “Bio Revolution” revolution started with the COVID-19 crises and the need for a faster paced vaccine solution was imperative. 
  10. Stock, bond, and other investment portfolio restructurings will accelerate. 
  11. “Green” is the color of recovery as environmental sustainability is increasing appreciated. 

Strategic Business Solutions, Inc. (SBS) is your partner in identifying professional consulting talent. We have outstanding talent finishing assignments as Project Managers, Business Analysts, IT Technical Leads and IT Architects. One of these professionals or others, in our pool of resources, may be the ideal match for your business needs.