Help wanted in Lee County

With the unemployment rate dropping, finding good people has become a chief concern among business owners.

Consider: In a recent survey of Lee County executives by Florida Gulf Coast University and the Horizon Council economic development group in Fort Myers, 48% of respondents say they're having trouble finding qualified employees.

But executives aren't giving up. According to the survey, the most effective recruiting tool, cited by 58% of respondents, is networking, referrals and business contacts. After that was private and public job websites (50%), company's own website (42%), internship and apprentice programs (34%), college and university placement offices (32%), social media (24%), recruiting firms (23%), and newspaper advertisements (11%).

Positions that companies are having trouble filling run the gamut. It's everything from accountants and architects to plumbers, Web developers and welders, according to the survey.
The employee characteristics executives seek also run wide, falling just short of perfect. That list includes a clean background, education, communication and writing skills, creativity, customer-service skills, dependability, a desire to learn, organization skills, professional appearance, related work experience and a team mentality.