>>Southwest Florida's unemployment has been hovering for several years at astonishingly low rates. In coastal areas, unemployment has been lingering around 3 percent, or even lower. In the more agricultural, rural inland areas, it's been closer to 4 percent.

That might be great news for job-seekers, but it can be a big problem for employers.

Southwest Florida Workforce Development Board Inc. is a partnership between businesses, employees, educators, government and the community formed through the state to address workforce needs.

We asked Joe Paterno, who's been with the board since 1985, about some of the challenges in the local job market and how employers and the workforce development board, which serves the five-county region, are dealing with them.

1. What kinds of employees are in greatest demand right now?

That always depends on which industry you talk to. There's always been a demand for people in the health industry-especially in the nursing field. If you talk to people in hospitality, they're always looking for workers. Construction was a big one; it's kind of tapered off and leveled out some, but we still have a demand in some of the rural areas for construction workers and heavy-equipment operators. Especially with some of the major projects that are going to be done with the South Florida Water Management District; we see a big demand for the C-43 reservoir in LaBelle.

2. How much does employment demand change during the winter season?

We used to see a lot of people downsizing after season, but over the last five to seven years, it's changed a lot. The hospitality businesses might be downsizing some, but it's not the majority we used to see. We used to be really dependent on a lot of the snowbirds coming down. To a degree we still are, but we've grown to year-round. People want to stay here, work here.

3. With the high demand for employees and the limited pool of candidates, are you coming up with solutions to fill the positions?

Not too many. Companies are spending their own money to recruit out of state. Some of my counterparts have talked about putting billboards up North, "Come to Florida for employment." Then we always get back to the same question: If we bring them down and we can't find housing, then what are we going to do?

4. What's the best way for employers to fill jobs?

You have to look and see: What are the wage rates? What are the benefits? You have to do a comparison. Are you competitive in the market? And if you're competitive in the market then you're doing the right things. Some employers have to increase their wages to be able to find the people to work. The biggest thing you see is a lot of people jumping. They jump from one employer to the next. It just kind of happens. The secret for many places is they need bodies, and they're willing to accept anybody, even if they're unskilled. If they're willing to work, they'll train them.

5. How do the local colleges fit in this equation-are they providing the training?

We are trying to plan a regional career fair for those graduating seniors in April. We really want to focus on local businesses that are trying to keep students who earn their degrees here to stay and work here. Many of them decide they want to leave the area, not knowing what would have been available to them.

-Sammy Mack