In the last two years I have not spoken with a business owner or human resources manager, regardless of the industry, that is not having difficulty finding employees. 

Many of us know that great companies like Honda Motorcycle failed and Levis Jeans is not nearly the dominating force in the jeans market it once was. What many of us don’t know is that both of these companies faced the same problem; not enough people of the right age to buy their products. This same shortage of consumers contributed to the great recession because there simply were not enough people to buy the inventory of homes.

Today’s labor force shortage is a direct result of a decline in our birth rates made worse by the fact we teach our children how to go to college, not how to join one of many industries that will pay them a fair salary, offer benefits and long term employment.

In 2017 less than 3.9 million babies were born, that is the lowest rate since 1987. For women age 15 to 44 that was less than 61 births per 1,000 women, the lowest since the rate was first recorded over a century ago.

Since it appears a shortage of employees may persist for some time. You should take action to address it. If your company is a part of a trade group, I suggest it make a concentrated effort to visit middle schools and high schools meeting with the faculty and students to tell them what benefits are available to those who enter your industry.  You should also reach out to areas outside of Dane County to let future employees know about the quality of life that we have to offer.