Utah among states where employers struggle the most with hiring

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — Utah is among the states where employers struggle the most to hire employees, a new study from WalletHub says.

According to WalletHub, the labor market is doing well, with the national labor market above pre-pandemic levels. The national unemployment rate is currently sitting around 4%. However, some states are still struggling to hire workers.

In a WalletHub study, WalletHub compared all 50 states and the District of Columbia based on the rate of job openings for the last month and the last year.

Alaska was the top state where employers struggled to hire with Utah following close behind in second, and West Virginia, Oklahoma, and South Carolina rounding out the top five. Georgia, Virginia, Kentucky, Montana, and Maryland make states six through ten.

According to experts, candidates are looking for flexibility and a trustworthy workplace.

“Job candidates want flexibility, a high-trust workplace, and transparent, caring leadership, and they are typically very good at spotting red flags that indicate otherwise during the application and interview process,” Linda Fisher Thornton Adjunct Professor – University of Richmond, School of Professional and Continuing Studies, told WalletHub.

University of Kentucky assistant management professor told WalletHub that this is a challenge influenced by many factors.

“Employers, particularly small businesses within certain industries, are struggling to fill employment positions—a challenge influenced by factors such as talent pipeline shortages, regulatory constraints, and mismatches between employer and employee preferences,” Zhu said.

She stated there has been an explosion of artificial intelligence-related jobs. However, the talent pipeline is not robust enough for it.

Utah’s job opening rate for the last month ranked the highest out of all 50 states and D.C. over the last month (6.7%) and ranked 34th over the last year (5.12%). WalletHub’s methodology gave two-thirds weight to the last month and one-third weight to the last year.

You can view Wallethub’s full list on their website here.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah.