'I recruit hard:' North Dakota worker shortage persists amid low national unemployment

BISMARCK — When Scott Wirth took the job of human resource manager at Roers three years ago, he had no trouble finding carpenters and laborers for construction projects.

“We had people walking in the door every other day filling out applications,” he said. “I almost joked the first year, there’s not a whole lot of recruiting I have to do.”

That’s not the case anymore at Roers, a development, construction and property management company with offices in Fargo and Dickinson. Wirth attributes the change to an upturn in the construction market with many commercial projects underway the past few years. On top of that, the company is navigating a gap in technical skills education as well as the retirement of longtime employees.

Read full article.