Image by Michal Jarmoluk
As a result of AI, companies must identify new approaches to attract workers.
-May 18, 2026
So the economy is strong but companies continue to struggle in employee recruitment, as a result of the shortage of blue-collar workers and developments in artificial intelligence.
In his second term, President Trump is busy strengthening the economy. However, the U.S. still has more than 6.9 million unfilled jobs across all sectors. That’s according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Despite adding 115,000 jobs in April, 2026, the U.S. unemployment rate is still 4.3 percent. That’s good but isn’t as low as it was in the first Trump term. Most unfilled jobs are driven by essential services, specialized trades, and healthcare.
Most unfilled jobs are driven by essential services, specialized trades, and healthcare.
The average hourly rate has surged by 3 + percent under the Trump Administration but the soaring inflation continuing from the Biden Administration negated the gains in wages. This impacted employee decision-making about working, and the labor participation rate had plummeted under President Biden.
An emerging factor: The labor market is affected by artificial intelligence. AI disproportionately hurts entry-level workers. AI automates white-collar tasks.
In other words, companies are embracing AI and adopting technology for productivity, so that’s evolving faster than they can recruiting competent workers. Fortunately, AI not hurting trade workers.
The labor market is affected by artificial intelligence.
Other issues include:
- Not enough workers as many have stayed home to get those extra payments via the $2.2 trillion Cares Act.
- The pandemic created a child-care crisis for families.
- Too many lack the needed skills for the increasing use of automation.
- Retirement of baby boomers.
- Employers complain about the lack of soft skills among applicants for enhanced teamwork and communication.
You might recall in 2017, more than 300 companies pledged to support President Trump’s workforce initiative, “Pledge to America’s Workers,” to provide skills training for 12 million workers. But are they doing enough now?
Be aware that the skills gaps are the reality for years to come.
You’ll have to consider applicants from nontraditional backgrounds, provide more human resources training, create healthier cultural environments where employees want to work, provide non-financial incentives for worker retention, and when possible offer competitive wages and benefits.
For sustainability, companies must identify and implement new approaches to attract and keep workers:
Recruitment procedures
Focus on diversity and target all demographics, for instance:
- Design strategies to encourage discouraged unemployed Americans to apply.
- Strategize to entice women to return to work.
- For non-fiduciary positions, recruit certain types of ex-convicts. (To alleviate the challenges of the tight labor market, some states are issuing conditional commutations on non-violent prisoners.)
- Take a hard look at disabled people.
- Consider older workers who’d like to keep working or need to work.
- Double down on recruiting veterans.
- Zero in on immigrants.
- Focus on gig workers.
Move operations
Once you identify regions with your ideal pool of employees, relocate your operations.
Evaluate your recruiting and interviewing processes
Identify what you really need. Update your job descriptions to target what your business needs. There’s a big difference between what you’d like to have vis-à-vis what would be nice to have.
Recruit for your cultural needs
Remember skill sets are not always paramount. Any new employees must be capable of more than doing the job. They must have superb soft skills and be a fit for your organization’s values and work ethic.
Key is to heavily target people who have self-awareness skills. They already know their strengths and weakness and are constantly looking for self improvement.
Training dilemmas
You can train for skill sets. But attitudinal training is much more arduous.
Probably two-thirds of American workers need reskilling or upskilling training in STEM – science, technology, engineering and mathematics. And college degrees aren’t necessarily a requirement.
Visionary managers will provide such training to future-proof their companies.
Consider every training option
Depending on your industry and business model, rethink your approach to training. Implement the latest methods including experiential, gamification platforms and MOOCs (massive open online courses).
MOOCs are free and open to enrollees, as well as flexible. Furthermore, take prudent steps to get strong results from your training investment.
Implement non-financial incentives
Typical non-financial incentives can be listed in four categories: Recognition, reward, opportunity and flexibility.
Upgrade wages and benefits where feasible
Despite AI in this labor market, you will have to pay competitive wages to attract and retain workers.
Good luck!
From the Coach’s Corner, editor’s picks:
In Tight Job Market, How to Market Your Company to Applicants – With the unemployment rate at the lowest it’s been in more than five decades and with seven-million unfilled jobs in America, this is a tight market for attracting talented employees. So, if you need to fill a position, the last thing you want is to be turned down by an applicant who appears to be a perfect fit for your culture.
For Best Performance, Inspire Employees with Non-Financial Rewards – Money talks, of course, and is a way to motivate employees. But money is not always the chief motivator. Here’s why plus the four categories of ideas to inspire your employees.
10 Talent-Recruitment Strategies that Lead to Business Profit – By developing strategic recruiting plans, human resources professionals will make significant contributions to the bottom-line profit goals of their employers. So, it’s imperative to innovate in your recruiting processes and market your strategies to senior management and hiring managers.
Hiring? 4 Pointers on Negotiating Wages with Applicants – Some employers have had difficulty in successfully extending job offers to applicants, especially Millennial professionals. Here’s what to do.
Risk Management for When Competitors Raid Your Employees –If competitors are raiding your employees, here are risk-management tips.
Home-Grown Succession Planning Helps Financial Performance –Companies that promote their chief executives from inside vis-à-vis recruiting from the outside have a much higher financial-success rate. In other words, successful companies identify and nurture their intellectual capital. It’s not just my experience. It’s been confirmed by a global human resources study.
“It is very hard to transform your culture and your workforce to be a relevant company in the digital world if all of your processes are stuck in the traditional world.”
-Julie Sweet
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