Northern Virginia has regularly dipped into a labor shortage, according to a top state economist, but officials appear unworried about the outlook for the region’s work force.
Most recent figures from the Virginia Employment Commission put the region at a minuscule 2.4 percent unemployment, only 0.4 percent from what experts consider to be a labor shortage, said William Metzger, the commission’s chief economist.
“Around 2 percent or less unemployment is nothing particularly new to some of the Northern Virginia jurisdictions, and employers seem to be able to make it work even at those low rates,” he said Wednesday.
Officials who monitor the labor market are optimistic about the ability of the local work force to sustain area businesses, especially with the region’s proximity to the federal government, which acts as a stabilizing force.
And they say working in a high-employment environment is far preferable to dealing with a lack of jobs.
While the environment is ideal for workers, some companies have struggled to retain the types of skilled labor they need, said David Hunn, executive director of the Northern Virginia Workforce Investment Board, which administers U.S. Department of Labor training dollars.
“What we’re seeing is that many companies are becoming more flexible,” he said. “They are willing to look harder to serve workers than they did in the past.”
Fairfax County Economic Development Authority President and CEO Jerry Gordon said there is an immediate issue in staffing in the local technology sector, where universities are not producing as many engineers and scientists as are necessary.
