Labor Market Trends in the Mountain West
A vacant role in a trades or industrial business is not a minor inconvenience. It delays projects, strains the people still on the floor, and compounds in cost every week it stays open. For employers across Montana, Idaho, and Utah who are already operating without internal HR, the hiring pressures hitting those sectors right now are not temporary. This article covers what is driving them and what it means for building a workforce that holds.
Key Trends Affecting Hiring in the Mountain West Today
Several forces are changing how employers find and keep workers across this region. They do not hit every sector the same way.
Experienced Workers Are Exiting Faster Than New Ones Are Entering
Retirement is one of the most urgent hiring pressures in trades and industrial work right now, and the pipeline coming behind those workers is not keeping pace. Since the pandemic, labor force participation rates for workers 55 and older have declined by about two percent, while participation among 16 to 24 year olds remains below pre-pandemic levels.¹ The workers most experienced in construction, manufacturing, and skilled trades are stepping back at the same time the next generation is stepping away from those fields entirely.
Part of what is driving that gap is cultural. A McKinsey survey of 18- to 20-year-olds found that 74 percent perceive a stigma associated with choosing vocational school over a four-year university, and only five percent said their parents encouraged trades or vocational paths.¹ In states like Montana and Idaho, where construction and industrial work drive a significant share of the local economy, this demographic shift hits harder than the national numbers suggest.
The shortage employers feel today is likely to deepen before it improves.
Screening Cuts the Qualified Pool Faster Than Most Employers Expect
Finding candidates is only half the work. Drug screening failures, background check issues, missing certifications, and skills gaps all reduce the number of people you can put to work before you ever reach the interview stage.
The skills gap runs deeper than most employers anticipate. According to McKinsey, 83 percent of construction workers themselves list inexperienced workers as the top safety concern on the job.¹ That is a signal coming from inside the workforce, not from hiring managers. By the time screening is complete, the realistic hiring pool is often a fraction of what initially applied. A large applicant number is not the same as a large qualified pool, and in trades and industrial work, the difference between the two is significant.
A Slow Hire Costs More Than Most Employers Realize
When a key role goes unfilled for 60 or 90 days, the cost goes well beyond lost work. According to SHRM’s 2025 Benchmarking Survey, the average cost per hire for a nonexecutive role is $5,475, before factoring in lost productivity or the strain placed on remaining team members.² The hiring process itself also takes longer than most expect: screening and interviewing alone average eight to nine days each.²
For employers without a dedicated HR function, those days add up fast. Every week a role stays open, the business absorbs that cost in ways that rarely show up on a single line item but accumulate quickly across a quarter.
Degree Jobs Are Growing Across the Region
The cost and speed of hiring matter. So does knowing what kind of worker the market will need next. Across every Mountain West state, the jobs with the highest predicted growth between 2021 and 2031 require a bachelor’s degree or higher. In Utah, that category is projected to grow 24 percent over that period. In Colorado, bachelor’s degree roles already make up the largest share of the job market, ranking second in the nation for that distinction.³
Demand for degree-level workers will likely keep rising across the region, which means more employers competing for the same narrowing pool of qualified candidates in the years ahead.
What These Trends Mean for Employers Hiring Here
Taken together, these trends point to a hiring environment that rewards preparation and penalizes delay. The qualified pool is smaller than the applicant numbers suggest. The workers with the most experience are exiting faster than new ones are ready to replace them. And the cost of moving slowly through a search compounds every week a role stays open.
Employers who work with partners who know the local market tend to move faster through these pressures. They spend less time screening out unqualified candidates, lose fewer searches to slow timelines, and build teams that hold up over time rather than cycling through replacements.
Hire Smarter Across the Mountain West with LC Staffing
Finding the right workers in this region takes more than a job posting. LC Staffing has helped employers navigate the local market and fill critical roles across Montana and the broader Mountain West.
When you are ready to build a hiring plan that fits your area, let’s start a conversation.
References
- Greenberg, Ezra, et al. “Tradespeople Wanted: The Need for Critical Trade Skills in the US.” McKinsey & Company, Apr. 9, 2024, https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/tradespeople-wanted-the-need-for-critical-trade-skills-in-the-us
- “SHRM Releases 2025 Benchmarking Reports: How Does Your Organization Compare?” SHRM, 15 Oct. 2025, https://www.shrm.org/mena/about/press-room/shrm-releases-2025-benchmarking-reports–how-does-your-organizat
- Dwyer, M., et al. “Projected Job Growth by 2031 in the Mountain West.” Economic Development & Workforce Fact Sheet, no. 70, Brookings Mountain West & The Lincy Institute, 2024, pp. 1–5, https://oasis.library.unlv.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1070&context=bmw_lincy_econdev