For all of you ready to throw in the towel, here's an article of interest. Maybe licensed agents will be in high demand in short order. (That's me in the chair on the left)
http://www.cnbc.com/id/41885629
Jobs Go Unfilled Despite High Unemployment
For the 15 million Americans who can't find jobs, the labor market is like an awful game of musical chairs. There are many more players than there are available seats.
Yet at Extend Health, a Medicare health insurance exchange firm in Salt Lake City, Utah, the problem is just the opposite—a growing number of chairs to fill and not enough people with the skills to fit the jobs.
"It seems like an oxymoron in this environment that you can somehow be challenged to find great workers," CEO Bryce Williams admits, almost sheepishly.
Extend Health's call center workers help retirees navigate the process of signing up for commercial Medicare Advantage and drug coverage plans.
For this fall's Medicare Enrollment season, the firm will need close to a thousand workers. The ideal candidate is over 40, with a background of financial services in order to qualify for insurance licensing.
"They need to be able to pass the state of Utah exam, which is not easy," Williams explains. "They need to have a background in comparing the financial metrics of trying to help someone compare and analyze and give great advice."
Williams has hired a recruiter, plans to roll out billboards along Interstate 15 in Utah, and is now looking at establishing a new call center out of state where the firm can find more people to train and hire.
"We like being in Utah but at a certain point you max out on the total pool of people that you can tap, " Williams says. "So, we're going to have to look at other states."
Extend Health's Bryce Williams is actively looking at options beyond his company's base in Utah, and beyond that is also trying to develop a home-based model so that he can bring his jobs to the workers he needs. But he's worried he won't be able to ramp up hiring enough, and that would kill his company's growth.
"What it could require us to do is meter the number of clients we can take on, in any given year," he says.
With the health care exchange sector poised for rapid expansion over the next two years because of the health reform law, Williams is determined not to turn business away.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/41885629
Jobs Go Unfilled Despite High Unemployment
For the 15 million Americans who can't find jobs, the labor market is like an awful game of musical chairs. There are many more players than there are available seats.
Yet at Extend Health, a Medicare health insurance exchange firm in Salt Lake City, Utah, the problem is just the opposite—a growing number of chairs to fill and not enough people with the skills to fit the jobs.
John Cumming | Digital Vision | Getty Images
"It seems like an oxymoron in this environment that you can somehow be challenged to find great workers," CEO Bryce Williams admits, almost sheepishly.
Extend Health's call center workers help retirees navigate the process of signing up for commercial Medicare Advantage and drug coverage plans.
For this fall's Medicare Enrollment season, the firm will need close to a thousand workers. The ideal candidate is over 40, with a background of financial services in order to qualify for insurance licensing.
"They need to be able to pass the state of Utah exam, which is not easy," Williams explains. "They need to have a background in comparing the financial metrics of trying to help someone compare and analyze and give great advice."
Williams has hired a recruiter, plans to roll out billboards along Interstate 15 in Utah, and is now looking at establishing a new call center out of state where the firm can find more people to train and hire.
"We like being in Utah but at a certain point you max out on the total pool of people that you can tap, " Williams says. "So, we're going to have to look at other states."
Extend Health's Bryce Williams is actively looking at options beyond his company's base in Utah, and beyond that is also trying to develop a home-based model so that he can bring his jobs to the workers he needs. But he's worried he won't be able to ramp up hiring enough, and that would kill his company's growth.
"What it could require us to do is meter the number of clients we can take on, in any given year," he says.
With the health care exchange sector poised for rapid expansion over the next two years because of the health reform law, Williams is determined not to turn business away.
