Don’t Blame Demographics if You’re Struggling To Hire Staff

Employers, what if we told you that you didn’t have to sit idly waiting for the mercy of demographic changes and government policy to increase the pool of talent available to you? Although the labor market has cooled, recruiting remains a challenge, as the labor force participation rate—despite a recent uptick—has struggled to fully recover to its pre-COVID level. Structural demographic changes, especially driven by declining birth rates, are attributed as a leading cause of the low labor force participation rate. As employers, there’s nothing you can do about that. However, there are millions of people who are available to work under the right circumstances—and employers can create those circumstances.

The labor force is defined as all people age 16 and older who are either working or actively looking for work. In July 2024, there were 5.6 million people who were not considered in the labor force but wanted a job. Then there are those who are not looking due to personal reasons. For example, a skilled accountant who has to give up work to take care of their child because daycare is unaffordable. 

A study by the Hamilton Project found that the labor force participation rate among prime-age women with children under 5 reached its all-time high of 71% in September 2023, significantly above the 2014-2019 average rate of 65%. Interestingly, the rise in participation rate among this group coincided with the rise of remote, hybrid and flexible work arrangements. Unfortunately, the rate has slightly fallen since its peak. The fall also coincided with the increasing efforts by employers to bring workers back to the office on a traditional schedule. 

Employers have the power to set job conditions to attract workers—whether it’s flexible work arrangement or other benefits that truly matter to people. Next time you walk in a meeting about long-term planning for talent acquisition, you can either put your hopes on artificial intelligence, praying for sci-fi fictions to become reality, or choose a solution that works for humans today. The choice is yours.