Human Resources Group

Human Resources Community Breakfast Comments, April 14, 2005

What trends will affect the way you do business in 5 years?

Economy	Global economy; increased competition from outside the U.S.; pressure to reduce cost of our products Labor markets: continue to bring in people from out of the area; salary expectations will continue to rise; can we continue to increase pay and benefits? Insurance rates continue to increase; cost to the organization continues to impact ability to provide a fair benefit plan to employees. Trend away from U.S. manufacturing; lower profit margins. Headlee limits income from SEV; reduced revenue from State & Federal Government. Increased pressures from residents with low incomes, people from other countries, especially on health department. Labor issues-employees dealing with increase cost of living, but we aren't able to keep up. Growth of needs-space, jail beds, courts. The rising cost of gas and transportation, along with increased tuition, could affect student ability to attend. The Little River Casino Resort is already the biggest employer in Manistee and we will continue to grow in every area; the gaming industry management skills need to be at a higher level in the future in finance, regulations of compliance, etc. Decreased reimbursement; rising health care costs. Loss of manufacturing companies; influx of retail business. Some small office growth. Increase in healthcare services. Will continue to trend towards a resort community. Lack of affordable housing is pushing lower social economic families with children out of the area. Competition regarding funding and services Economy recovering; continuing to increase in tourism and retail trade Higher cost of gas (and therefore transportation, trucking) and of plastics needed for our business Finding cuts will require more analysis of spending and budget. Less hiring; do more with fewer people; reduce number of employees through attrition, not layoffs. Retooling of fringe benefits for younger workforce.
Government	Increased government regulation on conducting business. Regulatory compliance in HR continues and increases as laws are passed. Decrease in state funding for nonprofits. Limits on foreign staff.
Technology	The available workforce shrinking and those available are not trained for the new high-tech positions. Increased technology needs—computer, software, upgrades, and training needs. Need for highly educated/motivated employees to work in technical medical field. Technology is increasing beyond imagination
Demographics	Challenge of attracting diverse workforce. Needs of workers will change as baby boomers retire. An aging population (with assets) that will demand health and recreation services. Ability to attract high quality employees from outside TC area. Continued staffing challenges; aging nurse population. The applicants for jobs are older each year; young people are leaving our area; we are developing low wage service jobs (retail, hospitality) and losing high paying jobs. Increased number of retirees. Retirements will not be replaced one-for-one.
General	Continually looking for process improvements to be more effective and fiscally responsible.
Education	Need on-going education; new hires need skill sets. Workers in the near future will be required to have degrees. Increased need for specialization to stay competitive. Increased need for employee to have capacity to be “cross trained.” Increase needs for managerial skills—need HR skills.

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