Amid labor shortage, Minnesota Chamber of Commerce spearheads effort to find untapped talent

The Minnesota Chamber of Commerce is launching a statewide campaign Thursday to address the severe worker shortage by finding talent in overlooked populations.

A new training series called "Overlooked Talent" will teach Minnesota employers how to find and hire skilled workers with disabilities, people of color, military veterans or former inmates.

"We really want employers to think about these talent pools that often get overlooked," said Jennifer Byers, executive director of the Minnesota Chamber Foundation. "They should not be considered second tier. These are very talented individuals and should be given a chance to work."

The first session on Thursday is called "Building a disability-inclusive workplace."

Besides training sessions, future efforts will include Chamber road trips, inclusivity coaching at individual companies, training sessions for local Chambers and the building of a library of instructive videos for use by any of the Chamber's 6,300 partners and members.

With record numbers of Minnesotans quitting their jobs, flat population growth and job vacancies hitting a record 205,000, the outreach effort is needed. Companies have had to cut hours or decline orders because of the shortage of staff.

"The need for workers is more critical than ever," Byers said. "Minnesota is a loser in domestic migration, and the need for employees is the No. 1 issue we hear from people across the state. We need everybody off the sidelines and everyone to be in the workforce who wants to be."

Officials from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) are expected to assist in the effort.

"I think that employers want to access these pools of talent but they might not know how and might not have the language or access. But it's important to help them make those connections," said DEED Commissioner Steve Grove. "This has long been needed in Minnesota. It's really important for the business community to have a proactive and forward-leaning orientation during a time of true crisis as it relates to our workforce."

Some 70% of Minnesota's population growth will come from people of color in the next 10 years. Yet "there is no question that Minnesota faces gapping disparities in hiring between people of color and whites," Grove said.

Minnesota's jobless rates for African Americans and Latinos were 6.2% and 4.7%, respectively, in December compared with 3.8% for white Minnesotans.

The U.S. unemployment rate for people with disabilities in January was 9.7%, compared with 4.3% for people without disabilities. according to the U.S. Labor Department.

Many potential employers falsely assume disabled workers can't contribute at a high level and are costly to employ, said Black, who is helping the Chamber with its first session.

But many disabled workers have at least an associate's degree. And "specifically because of their disability" they bring strong skill sets and are "highly adaptive, creative and innovative" problem solvers, which benefits employers, he said.

A recent Job Accommodation Network survey of 1,029 employers found 56% paid nothing to accommodate disabled workers. Another 39% paid a one-time amount less than $500.

Employer assumptions and a tendency to use computerized job application screening systems often hurt job seekers who are disabled because nuanced answers to applications questions often get tossed out, Black said.