The Weld County workforce, spurred by the county’s shale oil drilling boom, jumped 21.5 percent in four years to a record 95,000 workers.
That has led to shortages across the board.
“We’re in direct competition for some entry-level jobs,” Kevin Aten, chief human resources officer for the Greeley-Evans School District 6.
“It’s here, it’s Loveland, it’s Fort Collins, northern Colorado,” Aten said.
Workers of all levels and pay grades are at a premium in Greeley.
Companies have raised pay and improved benefits and working conditions — they’re even offering sign-on bonuses.
The worker shortage began with an increased number of oil and gas jobs. That took people out of other jobs, creating more openings.
The problem is exacerbated as more companies have to come to the area, enticing workers with pay that is typically three to four times what they could get in other careers.
“I’ve even lost teachers to the oil field,” Aten said.
He’s lost so many bus drivers to the oil fields, buses are being driven by office workers.
“It wasn’t necessarily that our people were leaving the organizations to work in the oil and gas industry as much as it was the domino effect of workers in all kinds of places leaving their organizations,” said Gene Haffner, spokesman for the North Colorado Medical Center.
“It’s not just oil and gas,” Haffner said. “It’s the economic recovery of the Front Range area.”
Weld County’s unemployment rate sat at 3.8 percent in September, the latest figures available.
“It’s got to be one of the tightest labor markets I’ve ever seen,” said Cathy Schulte, senior vice president of Upstate Colorado Economic Development.
