SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (Good Things Utah) – Utah has a low unemployment rate at 2.4% (March 2023), and a high labor participation rate of 68.5%. This means that companies must compete for talent. The Utah Department of Workforce Services can help employers attract, hire and retain quality employees in a competitive market.

Tips for recruiting and retaining quality employees:

• While competitive wages and benefits are always important when recruiting, job seekers also value flexible schedules, remote work opportunities, a positive company culture, tuition reimbursement and sign-on or referral bonuses. 
• Networking is one of the best ways to find high quality employees and your current workforce is a valuable resource for posting and sharing job opportunities. Provide incentives for them to bring friends and family to you.
• Employers can also build their workforce through tapping into hidden labor pools like refugees, youth, individuals with disabilities, veterans or formerly incarcerated individuals.

On-the-job training, internships or apprenticeships allow employers to train employees to the specific skills they need for their job.

• Employers that implement these programs are eligible for reimbursements or incentives to help cover the cost of training and mentoring new employees.
• This helps offset expenses of new employee training.
• If you are interested in hiring youth (ages 14 to 24) or sponsoring a paid internship for youth we can help subsidize your training and mentoring costs.
• We have Workforce Development Specialists across the state to assist you in developing a program specific to your workforce needs. Visit jobs.utah.gov/employer to contact yours.

With Workforce Services, employers can post jobs, get access to more than 180,000 active job seekers and attain economic information and much more. Workforce Services operates 30 American Job Centers across Utah available for in-person help. And DWS hosts bi-monthly virtual job fairs to connect employers and prospective employees. The next one is coming up in July 2023.

Checkout Jobs.utah.gov/employer for more information.

Social Media: IG: @jobsUT, FB: Utah Department of Workforce Services, Twitter: @jobsUT

Sponsored by Utah Dept. of Workforce Services.