Policies that Increase Labor Demans

I was at a great seminar this week sponsored by CALED - Keys to Successful Economic Development. Bruce Stenslie of Ventura County made a nice point about workforce development, identifying that there are TWO ways to increase workforce/job expansion, one is to increase labor SUPPLY -- i.e. to produce more and better trained workers, the other is to increase labor DEMAND by being more innovative in job situations, benefits, perqs so as to increase the worker's interest in going to these jobs. With the common complaints these days about the Gen X/Millennial workers, this is a place of great opportunity. Work from home situations, family involvement, child care resources, advanced training opportunities, team contributions, a vision of the big picture -- all of these opportunities will increase a business' supply of great workers and retain them to grow and prosper. With the turnover costs of hiring new employees at almost 7 times retention costs, figuring out how to make good workers want to be at your company is a boon. Also see Sac Bee yesterday on best 100 places to work, VSP of our fair city made the cut!