I dove into 2024 in late December with an appearance on “New Hampshire’s Business” with WMUR host Fred Kocher and editor Matt Mowry, my counterpart at Business NH Magazine. We talked about the challenges that will continue to rattle the Granite State’s economy in 2024 — a tight labor market and shortages of both affordable housing and child care.
On that last issue, I’d dock myself a few points for answering the question by talking about something else. Both Kocher and Mowry had already mentioned efforts the state has been making to increase child care services, so when it was my turn, I chose instead to mention how some parents evade the child care problem altogether by taking remote jobs and staying home.
I was inspired by a conversation I had recently with a middle school teacher who was pondering such a plan, with the premise that said teacher could be working for an employer based outside New Hampshire, which poses yet another challenge for employers competing for workers.
If I had had more time — “New Hampshire’s Business” is a fast-paced five-minute TV segment — I could have countered my own comment with how that remote option is not available for thousands of jobs.
I know a young woman who spends her workdays driving to retailers around New England to stock shelves with her company’s beverage products. She’s a single mom, so when she gets called in on the weekends, she relies on her parents to watch her two children.
The workforce shortage continues to be the top concern among the 400 members of the Business and Industry Association, the BIA said Monday in a news release about its legislative agenda. Close behind is the housing crunch that contributes to those workforce woes.
“It’s estimated that New Hampshire has 41 available workers for every 100 open jobs, ranking it among 13 states most affected by labor shortages,” the BIA said, citing a 2023 report by New Hampshire Housing that estimates New Hampshire needs 90,000 more housing units by 2040 to meet the expected demand.
You don’t need a crystal ball to know these shortages won’t go away any time soon, and will require consistent problem-solving over many years to effect true change.
Remote control
I predict employers will learn how to best balance remote versus on-site working long before we resolve the shortage of workers and housing. One of my favorite cartoons from the 2023 page-a-day New Yorker calendar featured an ant resting comfortably on a recliner-shaped leaf, tapping away at a laptop. Behind the ant were a couple of colony managers: “You really think they’ll come back to the hill after they’ve gotten used to working remotely?” At Yankee Publishing, I’ve been learning to manage a hybrid workforce. We have editorial staff for NH Business Review and New Hampshire Magazine scattered around the state. I appreciate what long commutes mean to their personal and professional lives.
We meet regularly via video and communicate all day long through chats and emails. That works efficiently most of the time. I would not endorse a completely remote workplace, since I’ve witnessed the collective power of all us being in the same place at the same time. Our brains function differently when we’re together: We solve problems more quickly and spar each other to be creative.
At Fidelity Investments, one of New Hampshire’s largest private employers, associates are assigned one week each month to work at the office and must show up five consecutive days during their assigned week. The Boston-based company employs nearly 7,000 workers in New Hampshire, primarily at its sprawling campus in Merrimack.
Depending on the roles, some positions require workers to be on-site 50% of the time. Even team members who work one week on campus per month might be required to show up on additional days.
“Our goal is to blend the best of working off-site with coming together in person,” a Fidelity spokesperson said via email.
Mike Cote is the editor of NH Business Review. Contact him at mikecote@yankeepub.com.