Working together to build back stronger

COEUR d’ALENE — Three community leaders outlined the importance of collaboration and creativity to meet employment challenges at the Coeur d’Alene Area Economic Development Corporation’s annual address.

"We need to work together as one to ensure we’re working together to build back stronger," said Jon Ness, CEO of Kootenai Health, during an online presentation.

He was joined by Josh Wright with Emsi Burning Glass and Maggie Lyons with the Panhandle Affordable Housing Alliance on Tuesday

Ness said Kootenai Health has faced challenges with COVID-19.

“There is no hospital in Idaho or the Inland Northwest that has had more COVID patients than Kootenai Health," he said.

Daily operations became even more difficult with the pandemic.

“I have never been more proud of our medical staff and our employees than I've been in the past year,” Ness said. “They’ve done a remarkable job.”

Since Ness arrived at KH in 2010, the hospital has created about 2,000 new jobs. Within the next five years, Ness expects to double that.

The average salary at KH, not including physicians is $72,000 per year, Ness said.

Despite this, the hospital currently has 750 open positions which is over “two times our normal vacancy rate,” Ness said. Positions are open in every single department.

“We feel the challenge in the community like all of you do,” Ness said.

Kootenai Health has developed strategies to address the situation.

“Collaboration with local colleges and universities has never been more important than it is today,” Ness said.

Wright is the executive vice president of Emsi Burning Glass, a labor market analytics firm.

“America does not have enough people to meet the talent needs of the future," Wright said.

Wright said pre-COVID America already had underlying conditions leading to the current labor shortage.

The former labor workforce in the '60s, '70s and '80s was because of the baby boomer generation.

The “retirement explosion” of the boomers began in about 2002, Wright said. More boomers opted for early retirement in the face of the COVID pandemic. Roughly 10,000 baby boomers are retiring on a daily basis, he said.

“This has made the labor force shortage that much worse,” Wright said.

Other factors contribute to the lack of growth within labor force candidates, Wright said.

“Some of the big ones are a decline in immigration, a misalignment in the types of workers out there looking for work, people who need more education or even have too much education for some of the jobs that are out there,” Wright said. “Shutdowns have played a factor. And one I think that shouldn’t go unnoticed is the increase in self-employed workers.”

Wright said companies can expand their labor force by increasing wages, benefits and training. They should also collaborate with education leaders to create a workforce pipeline, he said.

“Fewer workers means that the workers we have need to be more productive, and they need to get more productive quickly,” he said.

Lyons said the lack of affordable housing is a critical part of the puzzle.

Considering an average family of four, with two school-age children, HUD defines area median income for Kootenai County as $65,500.

According to data from the United Way, 12% of Kootenai County households live at the federal poverty level and 28% can't make ends meet, Lyons said.

Many middle-income households are paying up to 70% of their monthly income toward housing, Lyons said.

The current Coeur d’Alene housing market is frightening, Lyons said. As of June, Zillow stated that the average home cost is nearly $500,000.

Most blue-collar workers can't afford that, she said.

“So I think it’s really important to look in terms of where we are as a county in terms of where we need homes priced so that people can afford to buy them,” Lyons said.

Companies looking to hire are faced with the lack of housing for workers.

“A healthy housing infrastructure has to reflect our needs and our incomes,” Lyons said. “And our low income folks according to HUD are our workers. Those making $18 to $50 an hour cannot afford to buy a house in Kootenai County.”

There are solutions being explored, Lyons said, but they take time. Modular homes are one solution, she added.

“We need to start focusing on building homes in the $200,000-to-$350,000 price range,” Lyons said. “We need to always understand that there are different needs for worker housing versus our very poor.”