Majority Report Worker Shortages
Throughout 2018, more than half of responding Maryland businesses surveyed reported experiencing difficulties in finding workers with the skills necessary to fill specific job requirements. In the fourth quarter of 2018, 57 percent of responding businesses reported difficulties in finding workers, up slightly from 52 percent in the third quarter and consistent with the pilot and second quarter surveys.
Figure 5: Percentage of Firms Experiencing Workforce Shortages
When asked if these workforce shortages were long-term, short-term, or both, 42 percent of firms experiencing shortages reported long-term shortages, 27 percent reported short-term shortages, and 31 percent reported experiencing both long- and short-term shortages. Firms reported shortages across all skills levels with firms experiencing difficulty in finding manufacturing workers (36 firms), unskilled workers or laborers (25 firms), and engineers or scientists (22 firms).
Thus, Maryland businesses appear to be experiencing worker shortages across the low, middle, and high-skilled spectrum of occupations. In the fourth quarter of 2018, 48 percent of businesses reporting workforce shortages were forced to recruit workers from out-of-state and 10 percent internationally, higher than the annual average of 44 percent and 8 percent respectively for 2018, and 15 percent of firms experiencing shortages had difficulty finding workers with a security clearance.
Figure 6: Type of Workforce Shortage
