OOH Helps Employers Battle the 'Great Resignation'

With employers more desperate than ever for high-quality workers, they're starting to turn to Out Of the Home (OOH) advertising. You may have already seen it; billboards and signs everywhere proclaiming "We're hiring!" What's going on in the job market — and why isn't anyone filling these jobs?

A Two-Fold Problem: Older Retirees and Younger Demands

Older employees have retired early in droves, making it so that employers are left without skilled positions. Meanwhile, younger employees are refusing to work jobs with low wages or inflexible hours. This has left many employers without employees and struggling to attract new ones. Employers who haven't been able to find employees through traditional methods are using creative advertising, such as OOH.

Is OOH Effective for Job Seeking?

Traditionally, billboard advertising is effective. It can be highly targeted toward region, which means you can try to find employees within fifteen minutes of your location. A billboard is much like an online advertisement that can't be blocked. People will see an ad every day on their commute or their drive home — and they may consider calling.

But that's only if the job appeals to them. What jobs appeal to employees has dramatically changed. Employees are increasingly looking for flexible hours, work-from-home, and the ability to achieve greater work-life balance.

The Best Places for OOH Ads

Gas stations, corner stores, grocery stores — these are places that have high traffic, including people who may be looking for a position. A single gas station can serve hundreds of customers a day. Further, they're a largely captive audience because they will be sitting there waiting for their gas to pump, waiting for their transaction to complete, or finding things to buy. 

When it comes to employment, you want to target everyone in the area. Signs at gas stations are very effective because you'll be able to capture anyone who has a commute through the area, who lives in the area, or who already works in the area.

Using OOH Advertising More Effectively

Ideally, OOH advertising is used to target a specific area. It can be used to target prospective employees who are unemployed (by targeting areas such as grocery stores, where they still would be) or employees with a lengthy commute (those who are commuting into town from a suburb). But, like a banner ad, it has to show the major benefits of working for an employer right away. 

A common advertising tactic is to have word-of-mouth advertising integrated into the ad, such as a billboard that says: "Working with XYZ Corp lets me spend more time with my family!" or "Thanks to my job at XYZ, I just closed on my first home." These billboards have specific value statements.

OOH advertising still needs a great position to back it up. But with the right billboards and signs, you can be sure to bring in talent. Contact PWM today to get started.