Recruiters spanning the state and municipal government, non-profit organizations and businesses have been impacted, with Doug Pine, Vermont’s deputy director of human resources, saying that the state government’s recruiters began noticing problems over the last 12 months.
“The actual number of people is not that huge, but when it does happen, it kind of hurts,” Pine said. That hurt stems from the problem being especially prevalent with candidates seeking high skilled positions that are “very hard to fill right now,” he said. These include healthcare, engineering, information technology, finance and attorneys.
About 20% of applicants for jobs in state government are from outside Vermont, Pine said. Montpelier Roxbury Public Schools could not hold on to two people who were offered jobs because they could not find housing, Superintendent Libby Bonesteel said. “They can’t accept our offer because they looked for housing and can’t find it,” Bonesteel said, adding that those positions remain open.