Minnesota’s rural jobs quagmire drags on

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Although Minnesota unemployment numbers have been on a roller coaster during the COVID-19 pandemic, the bulk of those without work have been concentrated in a handful of occupations that are directly affected by pandemic shutdowns. This mirrors national employment trends.

In rural Minnesota, unemployment is highest for workers in food preparation, sales positions, and office and administrative support. However, jobs across a wide range of occupation groups still sit unfilled in the less-populated regions, not because workers have been laid off, but because employers in many rural areas continue to search for workers with the right skill sets.

At the end of November 2020, rural Minnesota (except for the central part of the state) had the highest number of occupation groups with more job postings than unemployment claims, according to job data from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED).

Occupations currently experiencing the most severe workforce shortages in rural regions include:

• Health care practitioners and technical workers.
• Farming, fishing and forestry.
• Community and social services.
• Architecture and engineering.
• Computer and mathematical.

Pandemic as accelerator

There was a shortage of skilled workers in rural communities prior to the pandemic, but the pandemic has accelerated and deepened the problem, according to Kelly Asche, a research associate with the Center for Rural Policy & Development (CRPD), a nonprofit policy research organization dedicated to evaluating issues from a rural perspective.

“When we look at the workforce projections — some of the models that are coming out — this isn’t a short-term issue, this is a long-term issue,” Asche stated in a virtual presentation of results from CRPD’s recent study on how the pandemic has impacted jobs in rural Minnesota.

Comparing jobless rates

It may surprise some to learn that unemployment rates statewide in 2020 were not significantly different than 2019 numbers. Aside from a peak period when the pandemic first hit and again as COVID cases increased last fall, monthly unemployment rates in 2020 were about 1% or less than the 2019 numbers. This is particularly true for rural communities.

However, the report is quick to emphasize that reported unemployment numbers may not provide a complete picture of how the pandemic has impacted the workforce, because it is believed that decreases in the unemployment rate are partially driven by individuals dropping out of the labor force altogether. This, too, follows a national trend, as some who are out of work and were close to retirement have elected not to look for new work. Safety is also a concern, as many of the unemployed are reluctant to put themselves at risk in frontline jobs such as food service and grocery positions. Also, many parents (most often mothers) have quit their jobs to provide full-time care for children who are attending school from home.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports there were 4.2 million fewer women age 20 and over in the labor force in December 2020 than there were in December 2019.

People leaving the labor force is a big concern, according to Luke Greiner, regional analyst for Southwest and Central Minnesota DEED, which includes the metro area and St. Cloud as well as rural communities. Greiner was one of three representatives of Minnesota Workforce Development Boards who joined Asche on the web presentation.

“We still struggle to fill our jobs,” Greiner said, adding that drops in unemployment rates caused by people leaving the work force “are not the way we want our unemployment rate to decline. That dynamic shifts our economy. Just think of child care. If those mothers who have left the labor force primarily to care for children and aging adults don’t come back, what does that do to our child care system?”

Retraining rural workers

Those occupations experiencing the largest number of unemployment claims in the past year — food preparation and serving-related, sales-related, and office and administrative support — are projected to have workforce surpluses over the next five years. Thus, people looking for new jobs in these fields may have difficulty finding them in the coming years.

Filling the jobs that are expected to be open in rural communities over the next half-decade or more will require retraining. However, leaders at workforce development organizations are finding it difficult to connect with displaced workers who are currently not looking for a job.

According to the CRPD report, Minnesotans who filed for unemployment were traditionally directed to their local DEED workforce division, CareerForce, for an orientation, where they would learn about job search resources being offered, including retraining opportunities. In the process used this year, however, people filing for unemployment are directed to a contact point in St. Paul for information on retraining rather than to their local workforce development organization.

“Although significant credit goes to MN DEED for quickly setting up a new system to connect with unemployed individuals virtually, without the in-person orientations, there is still an inevitable lack of local communication. Due to this, workforce development organizations are concerned over the low numbers of dislocated workers using their services since unemployment is a bit higher and the number of individuals leaving the labor force has increased significantly since this spring,” the report states. “They feel that many dislocated workers are still not aware of the local re-employment services they are eligible for.”

Jinny Rietmann, executive director of Workforce Development, Inc., in Southeast Minnesota, which helps connect unemployed people with jobs and training, says they are not fielding a higher number of requests from people who are looking for help to find work. She attributes that to federal unemployment benefits that have been extended, combined with a hesitancy to shift career directions.

“I could go on for an hour on how different this last year has been to other challenging workforce times, whether it’s the great recession or other times we’ve been through. We are still in a workforce shortage that is being masked by a pandemic. We have opportunities for people that have been affected by the pandemic. We just need to be that middleman that can give them the training that is necessary for those careers.”

Technology limitations

In a separate podcast on the rural unemployment topic, Vicki Leaderbrand, executive director of the Rural Minnesota Concentrated Employment Program, which serves northwest Minnesota, said small businesses in that region’s hospitality, recreation and restaurant sectors have struggled to maintain business and have cut their workforces. Leaderbrand said for skilled workers in the region, the remote areas don’t always have reliable high-speed internet service, so working remotely can be challenging.

What’s more, many DEED services have transitioned to virtual formats during the pandemic, leaving individuals who do not have the technical literacy or access to broadband unable to partake in these services.

The situation demands a concerted effort to extend broadband service throughout rural areas, say Greiner. “Maybe two years ago, we looked at this as a nicety, and now it’s a necessity. I don’t know how you can look at it any differently than the rural electrical project that electrified rural America a century ago.”

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