Tyler Holmes left a Portsmouth job fair with a water bottle, a bouncy ball and the confidence he would snag a summer job.
Melissa Terrio looked for job leads virtually from London in hopes of moving to New Hampshire, where she has family.
Fifteen-year-old Ishaan Parmar searched for his first job to make money over the summer.
A 69-year-old man from Kensington wanted another sales-related job after facing a demotion.
And Glenn Mathews inquired about post-retirement part-time work while waiting for his luggage to come off the baggage carousel at Manchester-Boston Regional Airport.
People decades apart in age searched for jobs this month in what many consider the state’s toughest hiring market for employers ever. Several job fairs this month were less attended than ones held only a month or two earlier.
Starting in March 2020, the pandemic threw tens of thousands of people out of work.
The reasons people were unemployed changed in the year leading up to May 2021 and the 12 months since.
“The biggest differences are in the much smaller percentage of ‘job losers’ in the later time period and higher percentage of ‘job leavers’… and ‘re-entrants’ into the labor force,” said Brian Gottlob, director of the state Economic and Labor Market Information Bureau.
People who lost their jobs made up 71.4% of the unemployed between May 2020 and April 2021 compared to 48.3% in this past year.
Those leaving their jobs accounted for 14% of the unemployed in the more recent year, compared to 6.4% in the previous year. Those reentering the labor force made up 28.1% of the total unemployed for the year ending in April 2022, compared to 16.4% in the prior year.
“New Hampshire had a very large increase in quit rates from mid-2021 on, although it is easing back,” Gottlob said.
Unemployment falls
New Hampshire’s unemployment rate dropped to 2.3% last month, lower than March’s mark.
“It baffles me that employers can’t find help,” Mathews said. “I’m a worker, so I don’t think it will be very hard to find a job.”
Getting people interested in a position is one thing.
“We get plenty of applications,” said Eliot Davis, director of human resources at two Taylor Community retirement centers in the Lakes Region.
“Getting the applicant to show up for an interview is hard,” Davis said. “I had a candidate for an HR position that I filled who ghosted me.”
The New Hampshire Sunday News checked into four job fairs this month — two online and two in-person. Here are a few of the job seekers we talked to.
College student
Tyler Holmes of Exeter was easily spotted at the job fair at Great Bay Community College in Portsmouth.
One of only a handful of job seekers, he was in high demand as he walked by tables filled with free stress balls, logo pens and candy treats.
Holmes liked his odds of finding a summer job.
“95% to 100%” certain, the University of South Carolina student said after talking with employers.
The job fair was on a Tuesday. He applied for a position with the Adecco staffing agency on Friday and heard the same day he got the job.
On Monday he got his paperwork for the job, so he could start two days later.
Record high gas prices steered him away from finding an events-related job working weddings and banquets.
“A quarter of my paycheck every week (would be) going to my commute,” he said during a follow-up interview last week.
The advertising major is happy with the pay and shorter commute to his summer stocking job at Cole Haan in Greenland.
Live from London
Melissa Terrio joined a virtual job fair from London, where her husband, Rick, is stationed in the military. That same day, Rick had three job interviews.
They plan to move back to the States in July.
“I’m getting some idea of what is out there and what I could possibly do,” said Terrio, attending a job fair featuring predominantly banking jobs.
“I think you can make an offer to them of what you’d like” in pay and perks, Terrio said.
A company’s culture is important to her.
“It’s about flexibility,” she said. “I have two young kids,” said Terrio, who previously taught at Plymouth High School.
“We’re going to go where the job takes us,” Terrio said. “New Hampshire is where we’re looking.”
Fliers and appliers
Decked out in shorts and a polo shirt on a cool day, Glenn Mathews flew into Manchester after attending a family event in Georgia. While waiting for his luggage to arrive at baggage claim, the corrections worker talked to a United Airlines employee at a two-day airport job fair.
“I’d love to be a (flight) steward,” said the Concord resident. “I think that’d be kind of cool.”
With 23 years in at the state Department of Corrections, Mathews plans to retire late this year and has started looking to line up a part-time job.
“To be honest with you, I don’t think it will be difficult to find a job,” Mathews. “If you want to work, you can find a job.”
Teen’s summer job
At a virtual job fair the next day, Ishaan Parmar, a freshman at Nashua High School South, searched for a place to make money this summer.
“I’m just looking for a job I can have fun in. It’s not too stressful,” Parmar said. “I didn’t expect so many (jobs) to be there.”
He knew the basics of supply and demand in an economy short of job-seekers.
“I guess more demand, so the pay will be higher,” Parmar said.
Older worker
A Kensington man nearing 70 said he had been out of work for about six weeks.
“My company downsized and wanted to change my position and I wasn’t interested,” said the man, who declined to give his name.
He said his former company wanted to cut his pay by $15,000 a year.
He had “good luck” on online job sites looking for sales-related jobs.
With so many job openings, many Americans have grown choosier in accepting or switching jobs.
“Two offers, but not a good fit,” he said.
What’s Working, a series exploring solutions for New Hampshire’s workforce needs, is sponsored by the New Hampshire Solutions Journalism Lab at the Nackey S. Loeb School of Communications and is funded by Eversource, Fidelity Investments, the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, the New Hampshire College & University Council, Northeast Delta Dental and the New Hampshire Coalition for Business and Education.
Contact reporter Michael Cousineau at mcousineau@unionleader.com. To read stories in the series, visit unionleader.com/whatsworking.
