ecruiting the right talent can be challenging for employers—even in a loose labor market with ample job candidates. In today’s tight labor market, companies have a tougher time finding qualified applicants for hourly, entry-level, and managerial positions.

The labor shortage is causing organizations in Alaska and elsewhere to be more resourceful when pursuing prospective employees. Take, for example, Providence Alaska Medical Center (PAMC) in Anchorage. PAMC is part of Providence Alaska and the Providence St. Joseph Health (PSJH) system. With approximately 5,000 employees throughout Alaska, Providence Alaska is the state’s largest private employer.

As the state’s largest hospital, PAMC depends on having enough skilled employees to offer a full spectrum of care. That’s why the healthcare provider goes out of its way to “meet candidates where they are,” according to Providence Alaska Chief Human Resources Officer Florian Borowski. This includes asking managers to try to accommodate candidates’ scheduling preferences. “We often find that our leaders are able to do that when they find out what a candidate’s needs and limitations are—especially those with special skills and unique backgrounds,” he says. “Flexibility is really important.”

It’s also important for Providence to move expeditiously when screening, interviewing, and hiring potential employees. This can be particularly challenging in the healthcare field, where background checks can take thirty to forty days and there are other requirements to ensure employees can safely care for patients. “Candidates who are out in the marketplace have a lot of options, and they move quickly,” Borowski says. “We’re calling on our core leaders, our supervisors and hiring managers, to stay in touch with those coming on board so they know where they are with the background check process. Communication with our new hires is more important now than ever.”

The labor market is particularly tight in Alaska, which is dealing with an aging population, migration losses—especially of working-age individuals—and lower workforce participation. “Alaska has historically been a young state and remains so relative to the United States as a whole, but the number and percentage of older people has grown dramatically over the last couple of decades, increasing fivefold as a percentage of our total population,” reports the January 2023 “Alaska Economic Trends” published by the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development (DOLWD).

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Florian Borowski
Providence Alaska

Alaska is also grappling with lower labor force participation as people opt out of the job market due to health problems, caregiving responsibilities, retirement, and other reasons. The state has fewer jobs now—about 11,000 below 2019—but there are fewer workers to fill open positions than before the pandemic, according to the DOLWD. However, the percentage of the working-age population either employed or available to work had already been declining nationwide for decades. As Alaska’s economy continues to recover and add new jobs, the worker shortage will make it difficult to fill these positions.

Despite the employee-driven job market today, many workers are feeling a level of unease about their jobs. “Forty percent of employees in the workforce are worried about layoffs in the next six months,” Bradison says, referencing research by the American Staffing Association. “That wasn’t the case six months ago.”

This “plague of uncertainty,” which Bradison says employers and employees may have not anticipated, is also infiltrating Alaska, adding another invisible force to an already-strained labor market.

“In the current market, the better performing companies are those that recognize they need to look for talent—before they have a vacancy,” Bradison says. “And then they should augment those efforts with outside recruitment tactics to reach target audiences that they may not already be reaching.”

One strategy for filling the hiring gap, Bradison says, is to consider workers who are newly retired or near retirement as well as over-qualified candidates. Another tactic is for employers to reach out to certain universities that might be graduating potential talent either within or outside their industry. “You want to be recruiting to Alaska as much as the position,” she says. “This means looking at universities in places that share similarities with Alaska [such as having comparable weather or geography].”

Providence Alaska employs a wide variety of methods to identify future caregivers and other employees. Providence’s Clinical Academy, for example, places new registered nurse and nurse practitioner graduates directly into specialty positions through a year-long standard program. “It allows us to work really closely with the schools and, as they have students exiting their programming, graduating, we can bring them straight into Providence through a program that’s really going to support them and help them achieve their long-term goals as a nurse,” says Nicole Kennard, director of talent consulting at PSJH in Renton, Washington.

Paula Bradison
People AK

Providence is also using other education-related practices to target individuals at the start of their healthcare career. For instance, the Earn While You Learn Program pays potential candidates as they train to fill certified nursing assistant positions at various Providence healthcare facilities throughout the state. The project, administered by the Alaska Hospital and Healthcare Association, is funded by the State Training and Employment Program through DOLWD.

In addition, Providence operates apprenticeship programs for certified medical assistants, phlebotomists, and other specialties to enhance access to healthcare careers. And Providence’s ambassador program connects healthcare staff with middle and high school students to build their early awareness about the healthcare field. “Healthcare is amazing,” Kennard says. “And I think there are a lot of folks who don’t even realize the multitude of possibilities and types of careers you can have within the healthcare industry.”

The goal is to offer more illustrative and engaging video content that draws a positive response from candidates. Kennard explains, “That’s a big part of creating broad awareness in a way that it resonates enough and motivates that action of actually applying to a position. When applying to a position that is much farther away, candidates need more information to consider a position in Alaska. We want to meet people where they are and inspire confidence about working and living in Alaska.”

The objective was to use videos and photos to create dynamic imagery to attract job candidates in the Lower 48. Social media campaigns, primarily on Facebook and Instagram, steered away from static graphics. “We wanted to create something visual that would allow them to imagine themselves there,” Weaver explains.

Digital ad campaigns were highly successful for Thompson & Co. and its clients, Weaver says. And they proved to be a valuable complement to the agency’s more traditional recruitment tools: newsletters, organic social media, job boards, and media releases.

Thompson & Co. and its sister agency Blueprint Alaska rely heavily on their partner network as another recruitment strategy. “We get a lot of fantastic hires through referrals from our partner network,” Weaver says. “It’s important to remind companies to tap into their own networks.”

Weaver also encourages businesses to be creative with their recruiting efforts. “It’s a really great time to try new ideas that you haven’t tried,” she says. “The job market is so competitive.”

Charles Bell | Alaska Business

The Society for Human Resource Management indicates that companies are offering an array of new and enhanced benefits, including more flexible work schedules. Stocked kitchens and free lunches are increasingly offered as perks, too.

Employers are also increasing their healthcare and dental plans as well as mental health and wellness benefits. And some companies are allowing employees to customize benefits based on their personal preferences and values. They give workers an annual budget to use on a wide range of options, such as gym memberships, college tuition and loan-assistance payments, and pet insurance.

A recent survey by People AK found that some of the most sought-after incentives among top executives are unique benefits. According to Bradison, many of these chief officers were interested in tuition reimbursement—not necessarily for themselves, but for their children. They also valued the ability to bring their dog to work, to have a flexible schedule in and out of the office, and to have executive coaching as a budget item.

At Thompson & Co., many job candidates inquire about opportunities for personal development and growth within the agency. They are also keenly interested in the company’s vacation and sick leave policy.

Caitlin Weaver
Thompson & Co.

Incidentally, Thompson & Co. was named one of PR News’ top twenty places to work in 2020.

Providence, like many employers, is using sign-on and referral bonuses to support its recruitment practices, as well as professional development opportunities as incentives. For example, Providence offers tuition reimbursement of $5,250 annually for their caregivers’ education. It also recently enhanced its tuition program to provide additional options for assistance. “We recognize that people may not be able to pay for school up front and then get reimbursed,” Borowski says. “We’re now paying for school for select programs through designated learning partners on behalf of our caregivers, so they can pursue education without first having to pay out of pocket.”

Providence’s efforts to identify, attract, and hire suitable employees are part of its five-prong staffing strategy to build Alaska’s local workforce, recruit experienced talent to come to Alaska, borrow talent when necessary, retain existing employees, and reimagine ways to utilize talent.

“At this point, we don’t expect to be able to fill all our open positions with local Alaska talent,” Borowski explains. “We have a duty to our communities to make sure they receive the care they need. So, while costly, we often ‘borrow’ talent by employing travelers, people who live elsewhere but come up to Alaska for a short-term assignment. These travelers help ensure that we have the expertise and staff needed to deliver on the quality of care that our patients know and expect from us.”

Providence is also focused on retaining employees through various efforts. This includes providing career advancement opportunities.

“Providence is continuously reimagining and rethinking ways to utilize the talent it has recruited and developed in Alaska,” Borowski says. “It’s important for our communities throughout Alaska to know that we have a staffing strategy and are executing on that strategy. We’re working diligently to meet our current and future healthcare staffing needs.”