Triangle Talent: The Workforce of Tomorrow Event Recap

​Our area continues to grow and shows no signs of slowing down. A major reason for that growth is our incredibly strong talent pipeline. But, as our area grows and the world changes, the needs of that talent pipeline are changing.

With that in mind, we must start thinking about how we will adapt to the needs of our future workforce. At our forum, Triangle Talent: The Workforce of Tomorrow, we took a closer look into what that future will look like.

Rob Humphrey, a key account executive with LinkedIn, showed us how Raleigh is both gaining and losing talent. We are gaining talent from Northeast cities including New York City and Boston, along with people moving from Fayetteville, N.C. Humphrey said the people from Fayetteville could be because of the strong focus locally on helping veterans find employment. But, he said, despite our growth, we also are seeing some people leave the Triangle to cities including San Francisco, Seattle, and Charlotte.

“This should help you inform your hiring and retention strategies,” Humphrey told us.

He also said that there are certain skills that, over time, have become more marketable.

“Fifty-seven percent of leaders say soft skills are more important than hard skills,” said Humphrey. “Creativity and adaptability are what employers are trying to discover.”

As a way stand out, he advised both employers and employees, “Don’t just market your company, your school, or yourself, but get involved in your community.”

Gary Greene, the owner of Greene Resources, moderated a discussion about the latest talent trends, based upon the impact of technology.

“Talent remains one of our area’s competitive advantages today,” opened Greene.

The panelists included Kimarie Ankenbrand, managing director at JLL in Raleigh, Briana Landis, Meredith College, Class of 2019, Jannaeé Sick, front end developer at MedThink Communications, and Lindsay Tarabocchia, assistant vice president of channel management at Credit Suisse.

“The worker of the future is going to work very differently,” said Ankenbrand. “There’s so much more to companies than just having a big brand. Big brands don’t guarantee that people will come work for you.”

She added that, by 2025, 75 percent of the workforce will be the millennial generation or below.

Landis spoke from the perspective of someone about to enter the workforce.

“My priorities are finding somewhere where I could gain long-term employment and could stay in Raleigh,” she said. “As a woman, I also need to look at a company’s maternity policy.”

Sick left the workforce to raise a child. She then found it difficult at first to restart her career with a gap in her resume. She talked about the importance of networking.

“It was absolutely important to go make those human-to-human contacts,” said Sick. “It helped me show that I am hungry for this opportunity and it put me out there.”

Tarabocchia said it is not just job seekers who should be the ones doing things out of their comfort zone.

“Employers also need to get uncomfortable and do something different,” she said. “What we did 20 years ago isn’t working today.”

Sick also advised employers, “When you are putting applicants through the same traditional screening process, then you’re getting the same traditional employees.”

No matter what your skillset is and what your resume looks like, Ankenbrand said applicants need to make sure they have a story.

“At the end of the day, you need to be memorable,” she said. “You have to be known for something. You need to have a story.”

We want to thank all of our speakers for their great stories, perspectives, and insight.

This was our second annual Triangle Talent forum and the discussion generated a lot of interest outside of the event, as well. Our official Twitter hashtag, #TriangleTalent, was the top trending topic for the Raleigh area that morning, in spite of the fact that the Carolina-Duke game was that night!

We also want to thank our sponsors whose support and partnership made this event possible. Paragon Bank was our platinum sponsor and Credit Suisse was our bronze sponsor.

Please also join us on May 15 at our Economic Development Forum. We will analyze what our community will look like in 20 years with strong, sustained growth, including how our economy will evolve.
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We hope to see you there!