Understanding America’s Labor Shortage

Here’s an eye-opening fact that truly captures that enormous hiring challenge facing USA employers of all sizes.

If every unemployed person in the country found a job, we would still have 5.3 million open jobs.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce published research in early February of 2022 that featured this fact along with other data that the Croixstone team found fascinating. The following data points truly help to shape the story of today’s labor market.

  • We have 11.3 million job openings in the USA – but only 6 million unemployed workers.
  • As of October 2021, the pandemic drove 3 million adults into early retirement.
  • The childcare industry lost 370,600 jobs between February and April 2020 – and is still recovering.
  • Women participating in the workforce is at its lowest rate since the 1970s.
  • Last year, more than 47 million workers quit their jobs.
  • A Gallup survey found that 91% of workers in the USA hope they can continue to work some of their hours from home.
  • 3 in 10 workers surveyed by Gallup signaled they would seek now employment if they were recalled to the office.

Learn more about the U.S. Chamber research here.

The seismic disruption in the USA’s workforce mandates that organizations of all sizes reimagine their people strategies. Croixstone’s team of highly-experienced human capital professionals are here to ideate and bring new thinking to your HR organization. Reach out to us today and let’s kick-start a conversation.


Know Charlotte: 2021 Quarter 2 Growth Report

The Charlotte Regional Business Alliance has published its latest Growth Report for 2021 Quarter 2.  Although Croixstone Consulting serves clients across the United States, we remain exceptionally invested in the economic growth of the Charlotte Region where our firm is based.

Following are our 5 key takeaways from the latest Growth Report.

  • COVID Job Losses:  The Charlotte Region has 43,700 fewer jobs than pre-pandemic (-3.1%), outperforming the nation (-4.4%).
  • Job Gains:  June 2021 showed the most jobs gained since October 2020 (and more than 2x any previous month in 2021).
  • Economic Development Projects:  30 economic development projects were announced in Q2, the highest of any quarter since the CLT Alliance created the Growth Report in 2019.
  • Capital Investments:  These 30 projects represent $1.2B in capital investments (the 3rd highest amount in the history of the Growth Report).
  • Labor Market:  The Charlotte Region is experiencing the lowest ratio of job seekers to job openings since at least 2006.

Read the 2021 Quarter 2 Growth Report here.


Croixstone Recommends: 2Q 2021 Middle Market Indicator Overview Webinar

When we are seeking information on the Middle Market, one of our first “go to” places is the National Center for the Middle Market (NCMM).  This organization is a collaboration between The Ohio State University Fisher College of Business and Chubb, and is a leading source of knowledge, leadership, and innovative research on the middle market economy.

Every quarter the NCMM publishes the Middle Market Indicator (MMI) that provides valuable insights into 5 KPIs including:  1) Revenue, 2) Employment, 3) Economic Confidence, 4) Capital Investment, and 5) Expansion.  NCMM recently published the MMI for Q2 2021, and we invite you to join us for an exclusive webinar being held Wednesday, August 11 at 1PM EDT where NCMM’s Managing Director, Doug Farren, will be detailing the results of the latest MMI.

Register for the webinar here.


We’re Serving Up Consulting BUZZ!

Our leaders at Croixstone spend time each week speaking at length with clients, prospects and consultants across the greater Charlotte region and beyond. We’re often asked the following questions by those in our professional networks.

What’s the buzz out there?
What is top of mind for companies in 2021?
What are you hearing from consultants?

Here’s a bulleted list, in no particular order, of the things we are hearing and seeing from clients, prospects and consultants.

  • Hiring is difficult.  The economy is rebounding, hiring is up, and it is increasingly difficult to fill roles with top-tier talent.  The latest Workforce Report from LinkedIn provides insights into the hiring boom.
  • SPACs are hot, hot, hot.  Special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) IPOs were more active in Q1 2021 than through all of 2020.
  • ERP implementation activity is robust.  Many of our clients are planning ERP implementations to go live in 2022.  The global ERP software market size stood at USD 38.15 billion in 2018 and is projected to reach USD 71.63 billion by 2026, exhibiting a CAGR of 8.55.
  • COVID-19 trauma is an ongoing issue.  Employers are dealing with employee pandemic stress that is inevitably spilling over into at-work life.

Insights into the Middle Market

Croixstone is laser focused on providing expertise to serve the middle market, defined as those companies with annual revenues between $10 million and $1 billion.  The National Center for the Middle Market recently published new data and insights on this important sector of the economy that we found interesting.

  • While representing barely 3% of all U.S. businesses, the middle market is responsible for 1/3 of private sector GDP and employment.
  • If the U.S. middle market were its own country, it would be the fifth-largest economy in the world.
  • During the pre-pandemic era from 2012-2019, average revenue growth for midsize companies was 6.5% and average employment growth was 4.3%.
  • A Q4 2020 middle market survey showed that average revenue declined by 1.2% and employment dropped by 2.2% over the prior 12 months.
  • While the pandemic negatively impacted the middle market, the sector overall performed better than small businesses and large corporations.
  • Middle market companies are typically very resilient, however, the ongoing pandemic presents a serious challenge on how to maintain customer engagement and connectivity. 

Learn more here.


CEOs Are Seeing Happy Days Ahead

PwC surveyed 5,050 CEOs in 100 countries and territories over January and February 2021 for the firm’s 24th Annual Global CEO survey.  The findings?  A record 76% of global business leaders predict that economic growth will improve this year.

Survey Highlights

  • 57% of US CEOs plan to pursue new M&A in the next 12 months
  • 63% of US CEOs plan to launch a new product or service in the next 12 months
  • 77% of global CEOs are seeking operational efficiencies as a top priority over the next 12 months
  • 48% of US CEOs plan to increase their investments in cybersecurity & data privacy (with 30% planning to increase investments by 10% or more)
  • More than 22% of US CEOs say they’re adopting new environmental, social & governance (ESG) disclosure standards

Learn more here.


Management Consulting Factoids + Trends

The team at ReportLinker (a tech-driven market research firm) has published a new report entitled “Management Consulting Services Global Market 2021:  COVID-19 Impact and Recovery to 2030.”  Highlights of the report include:

  • The global management consulting services market is expected to grow from $819.79 billion in 2020 to $895.46 billion in 2021.
  • This represents a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.2%.
  • The market is expected to reach $1201.06 billion in 2025 at a CAGR of 8%.
  • While COVID-19 constrained growth in the industry in 2020, it is expected that management consulting will recover from the shock.

Learn more here.


The Power of Manufacturing in the Charlotte Region

Did you know that the manufacturing sector ($26 billion) contributes nearly as much to the Charlotte region’s GDP as the finance sector ($28 billion)?  The Charlotte Regional Business Alliance has published a new report on the manufacturing sector that includes the following key highlights:

  • Over the past 5 years, the Charlotte region’s manufacturing sector has grown twice the national average.
  • The region is experiencing growth in sectors such as automotive parts suppliers, plastics and advanced textiles, machinery manufacturing, and energy manufacturing.
  • Manufacturing remains the largest sector by employment in 10 of the region’s 15 counties.
  • In 7 of the region’s 15 counties, manufacturing accounted for 27% or more of net new jobs over the past 5 years.

Learn more.


Good News! Charlotte’s Economic Recovery

With all the challenging economic news of 2020, the Croixstone team was thrilled to read the newly-released Growth Report for Q3 2020 published by the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance.  The report spotlights the economic recovery momentum that is taking place across the greater Charlotte – including the addition of 43,000 jobs in Q3.  

Read the report to review Q3’s big stories including Centene, Retirement Clearinghouse, FITT USA, GNT, Silgan Containers, Big Sky Fulfillment, Intellisite, Moore Nanotechnology and more.