Survey Finds Challenges in Hiring and Retaining Staff

Labor shortages have presented a challenge in many industries the past few years, a fact reinforced by CMM’s 2022 Building Service Contractor (BSC) Benchmarking Survey.

When asked about their biggest challenges concerning labor and employees:

• 85% of respondents replied it was recruiting and hiring qualified individuals
• 41% reported challenges paying staff enough to keep them from leaving for jobs offering more pay
• 38% reported difficulty in retaining existing staff
• 31% said they were having trouble creating growth opportunities for staff.

With the difficulty in finding qualified employees, most respondents reported using some type of background checks. Criminal record checks (89%) were the most commonly used form of background screening, followed by:

• Drug screening-53%
• Reference checks-49%
• E-verify-45%
• Driving record-40%
• Social media check-18%
• Credit report-10%

Benefits can be an incentive to attract and retain employees. Most survey respondents (78%) provide uniforms for their employees. Other benefits respondents offer to employees include:

• Paid holidays-71%
• Paid time off-66%
• Health insurance-62%
• Sick time-61%
• Dental insurance-46%
• Life insurance-30%
• Maternity/paternity leave-30%
• Disability insurance-26%