As part of a national survey conducted in November 2021, the National Council of Nonprofits released The Scope and Impact of Nonprofit Workforce Shortages, a study of the data collected. In Oregon, the Nonprofit Association of Oregon acted as promotional partner to ensure the state had a robust response to the survey. The below information is an analysis of the Oregon specific data captured in the survey.
Summary
Job Vacancies: Among nonprofits responding to the question “What is your nonprofit’s current job vacancy rate?,” nearly one quarter (26%) of respondents reported vacancies of between zero and 9 percent. One in three nonprofits shared job vacancy rates of between 10% and 19%, and a troubling 34% responded that they had job openings for 20% to 29% of their positions. Another nine percent reported vacancies greater than 30 percent.
Causes of the job vacancies were clear to survey respondents. Approximately three out of four nonprofits (76%) (79%) identified salary competition as a factor preventing them from filling job openings. Nearly three out of ten respondents (29%) stated that the inability to find child care affected recruitment and retention. Vaccination policies affect 27 percent of respondents. Comments from nonprofits identified seven more causes of workforce shortages, ranging from “stress” and “burnout” to grants/contracting abuses.
Relief Programs: Nonprofits participating in the survey reported accessing various relief programs during the pandemic. The Paycheck Protection Program loans were nearly universally (78%) secured; followed by access to state relief funds (39%) and American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds (24%) and local relief funds (26%). Importantly for current public policy debates, 21% of responding nonprofits reported having claimed the Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC).
Solutions: Some of the solutions to the job vacancy challenges identified by survey participants are relevant to all types of funders – public and private alike – such as adopting equity from the outset of reforms, multi-year agreements, investing ARPA funds appropriately, restoring the Employee Retention Tax Credit, and expanding student loan forgiveness. Regarding challenges arising from government grants and contracts, nonprofits called for governments to update reimbursement rates, for the Bureau of Labor Statistics to collect and publish current nonprofit employment data, the provision of cost-of-living adjustments, and recognition and payment of indirect cost rates.