As many American business owners and employers are aware, the state of our workforce has changed rapidly since the start of the pandemic. Unfortunately, many people were forced out of their positions to limit the spread of COVID-19, putting several industries out of work for some time. Occupations involving face-to-face customer service became obsolete for a majority of the quarantine lockdown, causing millions to file for unemployment.
Today, these job positions are coming back into demand, but our workforce has significantly changed post-lockdown, leaving most of these job openings unfulfilled. To fully understand the current state of the workforce, we need to analyze the Nevada unemployment rate and assess some of the obstacles faced by employees and employers.
With that in mind, the TAC team wanted to take a deeper look at what is affecting the changes in the workforce and what your company can do to better understand and be prepared for these changes. We will first be analyzing the state of Nevada unemployment rate versus that national data and then dive deeper into what your company can do to stay ahead of the game.
In April 2020, the national unemployment rate skyrocketed to over 14 percent, the highest its been since the Great Depression. The current state of the workforce has improved some over the last year and a half, but the numbers are still relatively high. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the national unemployment rate was at 4.8 percent in September 2021.
In comparison, Nevada’s unemployment rate was and continues to be recorded as the highest in the nation. In April 2020, Nevada’s unemployment rate was a staggering 28.2 percent, which was double the national average. Since then, the rate has dropped significantly, but Nevada’s current unemployment rate remains above 7 percent. We should acknowledge these rates are driven largely by Southern NV. The unemployment rate as of September in Reno is 3.5% which is back to pre-pandemic levels.
With the numbers continuing to decline, we are seeing some improvements in the workforce. However, these statistics aren’t the only aspect of the workforce that has changed.
To understand what this all means for your organization, working with a professional workforce administration company, like The Applied Companies, can help set your company up for success. TAC has been part of the Reno community since 2002 and prides itself on thoughtful solutions and authentic relationships.
Our Reno staffing solutions help employers in need of a professional, reliable, and ambitious workforce. We work to provide you with quality candidates to help you grow your business and decrease turnover to save you time and money. Connect with us today for help growing your team.
Spring is the season where nature returns to full bloom after a long winter. It’s a season of renewal and a chance to plant the foundation for growth in the months to come.
Since spring is a time of new beginnings, you might feel energized to search for new opportunities and land a new high-paying job in Reno. Before heading out on the job hunt, however, it’s important to lay down roots and make sure you have a direction for long term career growth.
Flexible work schedules are defined as schedules that don’t stick to the traditional 9-to-5 day of an office. With flexible work schedules, employees may come in or leave earlier or later than conventional times dictate. Some flex-time employees also compress work weeks, and may work four 10-hour days rather than five 8-hour ones.
In the end, the goal is to find the best schedule that allows your team to perform optimally. What do you need to consider if you’re thinking of offering flexible work schedules? Here are the pros and cons.
A company’s culture can be a key component in ensuring that employee morale and retention are strong. Employees who enjoy the culture tend to be happy and engaged, and will stay with the company for a long time. Cultural fit can help teams worth at peak productivity. Companies known for a culture their staff loves, moreover, tend to attract top employees.
But how can you build a stronger culture and become an employer of choice? Follow these three tips.
The United States Government was recently locked in the longest shutdown in our country’s history, with wide-ranging consequences. While this development had negative effects on government agencies, services and the economy as a whole, hundreds of thousands of federal employees across the country are feeling the pain personally.
If you were living paycheck to paycheck during the shutdown, you may now be struggling to make ends meet or even put food on the table. In the event of another government shutdown, what can furloughed federal employees do to avoid financial issues?
If you’re an executive at mid level or above, you might be interested in working with a recruiter to seek new opportunities or advance a search. Since executive recruiters work on positions that are not broadly advertised, it’s a method of accessing a job market.
Working with recruiters in Nevada can be quite different from other types of recruiters or past job searches. Here’s some tips you need to know about executive recruiters.
Throughout the United States, unemployment is at record lows. The unemployment rate nationally stands at 3.7 percent, the lowest it has been in decades – and in Reno, unemployment is even lower than the national average at 3.5 percent.
With record-low unemployment in Reno, businesses are hard-pressed to find qualified candidates. If you’re thinking about finding better jobs in Reno, now is a great time to do so! Employers are eager to find high quality candidates.
If you’re looking for jobs in Reno or throughout Northern Nevada in the new year, here are four tips on how to get ready for the job search.
If you’re looking for people to hire, an employee referral program can have many benefits. That’s especially true in today’s environment, in which employment is at record levels. It can be difficult to find qualified people, and the search can be extensive.
If you have employees who go above and beyond in their work, and they know more people who could help your organization grow, having an established referral system makes those connections possible. What benefits could your organization gain from setting up a referral system?
Most employers do not spend time thinking about the interviewing process, which can be a strategic error in the long run. Far too often, the process is overly reactive. Interviewers and hiring managers jump to a quick decision and hire one of the first candidates available as opposed to hiring the right candidate. They end up with an unstructured interview process that may or may not net the best candidates.
There’s a real need to use the interview process to identify the best candidates. The cost of employee turnover ranges anywhere from 40 to 70 percent of the position’s annual salary for service sector jobs. For supervisory positions, the cost may be over 100 percent of the annual salary.
Everyone approaches an interview with some level of anxiety and worry about whether they will get the job or not. Making a good first impression is key, so managing the start of the interview with confidence and carrying that throughout the hiring process goes a long way.
What can you do as an interviewee to prepare for success and land your next job?
Attracting and hiring executive-level talent can be a complex and time-consuming process. If your current human resources team is stretched too thin, lacks the expertise, or is struggling to fill high-level positions, it’s time to consider partnering with an executive search firm. These firms specialize in identifying and securing top talent, ensuring your business makes the right hire efficiently and effectively. Learn from The Applied Companies about how an executive search firm can help your Reno business thrive.
New roles can be difficult to recruit for because your team might not know what they’re looking for. There are no established metrics or benchmarks. They may not be unanimity about what the role should encompass. Outreach into the community and established networks may be limited or nonexistent. All of these factors can come into play if the role you need filled is beyond internal expertise.
An executive search firm has the reach and expertise needed to define new roles and those beyond internal expertise. Executive search teams will have connections you need in the relevant community of professionals.
Many organizations do not have full human resources departments, but rely on hiring managers to recruit and hire needed positions. Others have human resources departments, but find the resources for recruitment and hiring limited. These departments play a number of roles, including onboard, benefits and compensation, and handling promotions and terminations. They will not always be able to devote full resources to executive recruiting.
An executive search firm will be able to devote the resources needed until the position is filled.
Executive searches can take a good deal of time, especially if they are handled internally. All key members of an internal search team typically have other duties, which means that executive search activities are juggled, and may sometimes take a back seat.
Utilizing an executive search firm means you’ll be utilizing a resource that can expend all its time on the task. As a result, valuable time is saved.
In some executive searches, maintaining internal confidentiality is crucial both to initial talks and ultimate decisions in addition to external confidentiality. Strict confidentiality levels can be difficult to maintain with an internal team. An executive search firm has multiple safeguards, ensuring the required confidentiality can be met.
Candidates in an executive search must be handled with professionalism, tact and discretion. With an experienced executive search firm, you can be assured that all aspects of the search will be handled to your satisfaction.
Looking for executive search assistance in Reno and across northern Nevada? Contact The Applied Companies today to learn more about how our personal approach and expertise in executive search can benefit your team.

Whether you’re a native of the Battle Born state or have just moved here, Reno and Lake Tahoe are full of exciting activities of all types. Here are 10 winter activities our employees identified as some of their favorites.
HOURS OF OPERATION
Monday - Friday:
8:00 AM - Noon | 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Saturday - Sunday:
CLOSED