Where have all the workers gone?

After years of worrying about the jobless rate on the Hi-Line, there may be a problem of an extreme shortage of workers in the not too distant future.

Participants at a Havre Job Service program, "Where Have All the Workers Gone," Tuesday were told that employers will have to come up with a whole new way of attracting millennials to work for them.

The jobless rate in Hill County is 4.5 percent, slightly higher than Montana as a whole, but lower than the national rate, said Amy Watson, an analyst with the Montana Department of Labor and Industry's Research and Analysis Bureau.

The department's projections are that the jobless rate will plummet in coming years as baby boomers retire. There will be fewer millennials in the job market to replace the retiring boomers, she said.

"We are in an applicant market," said Carol Lamey, manager of the Havre Job Service.

She advised people that they are going to have to be careful in pursuing employees, looking at people they might have cast aside in the past.

For instance, she said some people who might be good candidates are:

• Overqualified. She said employers have a tendency to automatically reject potential employees if they feel they have more than the minimum qualifications.

"If they took time to fill out an application, they are interested," she said.

People have a variety of reasons for seeking employment, she said, people shouldn't automatically reject candidates who may be overqualified.

• Job jumpers. It was once assumed that people who jumped from job to job might be malcontents, she said.

"That's not the case any more," Lamey said.

If an employer can offer an even slightly higher wage or more opportunities to schedulework around the employee's family or school needs, the employee will quickly jump from one to another employer.

• Young workers. There are state and federal limits on how many hours young employees can work, she said.

"But 14-year-olds are so excited," she said. "They really want to work for you."

• Retired workers. Many older workers want to come back to work, she said.

"They would love to work for you, but on their terms" she said.

"Older workers feel entitled to go fishing when they want to," she said.

• Veterans. Recently discharged veterans are "going to show up for work and they are going to work hard," Lamey said. "Maybe they don't have civilian work experience, but boy, they have a work ethic."

Lamey also said people should be wary of some forms of employee screening that many have become accustomed to.

Warning people they will undergo a credit check or a background check may needlessly scare some people out of even applying for a job.

People with bad credit are afraid they will not be considered, she said.

But she advised employers to ask themselves whether a credit check is needed for the job. Some people looking for the job are unemployed, she said.

"Someone who has been unemployed for a while isn't going to have good credit," she said.

While some jobs require a background check, such as jobs that involve caring for young children, sometimes checks are not needed, she said.

If a middle-aged prospective employee had a felony conviction for drugs when he was 18, he may well have reformed his life and gotten back on track, she said. He might make a good worker. But he may not even apply for fear that his record will come to light.

She said it would be wrong to eliminate from consideration anyone who is on probation or parole.

There has been a decrease in the number of people on probation and parole since 2008, she said, but estimates are the number will increase 35 percent in coming years.

These people can be good employees, she said.