Why some people aren’t sticking to their jobs in SWFL

Southwest Florida is quickly growing, and with that comes the demand for jobs. But while there are plenty of places open to hiring this season, many have not been sticking to their jobs.

Amir Neto, an Assistant Professor of Economics at the Florida Gulf Coast University, studies the populations living in Southwest Florida who participate in the labor market. He said while there are more people applying or looking for jobs, it’s not a significant amount when compared to the state and nationwide employment numbers.

“So there may be a mismatch in that sense,” Neto said. “We can think about construction where not everyone is willing to take home the construction job. We also see where neither one has the training because either they didn’t see the incentive ongoing that and decided to pursue different careers.”

And that’s exactly what Patrick Gunther sees every day as the co-owner of PrideStaff, a Fort Myers employment agency that has been operating for four years now.

He said many people believe changing careers or moving from job to job will land them a position with higher pay, when that may not always be the case for everyone.

Another factor that has affected the current job market is job qualifications. Many apply for positions but don’t have the skills needed for that job.

PrideStaff offers numerous resources for their candidates like trade schools or online courses to pick up some of the skills employers may be looking for, but Gunther said companies should take the time to invest in their employees’ training.

“Hire the attitude, hire the commitment, hire the character, right?” he said. “And train later, I mean, because, like you said, there are so many folks that are in a change mode right now in a career change mode, that they may not have the specific skills that they’re looking for. But they have something relative that would allow them to learn fairly quickly.”