Buoyed by Greater Gainesville’s growing employment opportunities, employers feel the pinch of fulfilling spousal needs
By Tracy Wright
The Greater Gainesville region is experiencing a surge in growth from all areas—an expanding science and technology hub, the University of Florida’s quest to become a top public university and a burgeoning health care system. All of this equals more highly trained professionals being drawn to Gainesville employment opportunities along with families and equally talented spouses.
According to the United States Census Bureau, two-thirds of families rely on dual income. Business leaders and hiring professionals in the metro area have experienced the challenge of recruiting and keeping high-level employees when their significant others — often called a “trailing spouse” — are not able to find a job as quickly that is happening in many growing advanced degree communities.
Gainesville’s Growing Employment Opportunities
The UF Preeminence Initiative, which began in 2013 with funding from the Florida Legislature, helped the university undergo explosive growth in the recruitment of additional faculty and researchers at the top of their fields. In addition, in 2018, UF pledged to hire 500 additional faculty members within the next two years. A survey by Stanford University’s Clayman Institute found that 72% of full-time faculty at U.S. research universities have partners working outside the home, half of which are not in academia.
“UF Human Resources’ Talent Acquisition and Onboarding team as well as UF’s Office of the Provost provide resources and services to ease the transition of new faculty and staff to the UF and the Gainesville area. In some instances, we assist with job search skills such as resume development, effective interviewing and networking,” said Mercedes Swan, Manager, Strategic Talent Group, UF Human Resources. “As we learn about the Dual Career Partner’s career goals and professional experience, we may reach out to professional contacts and other employers within the Gainesville area.”
Coming Together
Major employers in Greater Gainesville including the Veterans Affairs Hospital, Infotech, Exactech, Fracture and RTI Surgical are actively recruiting a growing number of professionals for Gainesville employment opportunities. Once that person is recruited, major employers in the area try to help each other find the right fit for that talented person’s partner.
A group of major HR Professionals and recruiters have come together to assist each other by sharing resources. GNV Talent Connect has 51 HR professional member consistently communicating about opportunities.
“In the Greater Gainesville community, we have a very collaborative group of talent management professionals. We want to keep talent in the area so when we see someone who may be a good fit for another company, we try to help them,” said Lindsey Day, senior assistant director of Talent Acquisition and Development at Infotech. “StartGNV has a great jobs portal we use that helps pull together local career openings. We all share that information with each other. It is typically unheard of to have that level of collaboration.”
For example, the current financial controller at Infotech was a trailing spouse of someone recruited to the area. She was referred to the position from a direct connection of talent management professionals.
Besides working through these dual career issues, local HR professionals also have discussions about marketing the city overall.
“I think one of the greatest things that differentiates this community from others I have worked in, including bigger cities, is the spirit of cooperation from all local employers. We do not see each other as competition for employees, even those in the same type of market,” said Jody Swanson, chief human resources officer at RTI Surgical, a global industry leading surgical implant supplier headquartered in the area. “We know that growing Gainesville intelligently only benefits all of us and this amazing and vibrant community.”
Infotech has a “family first” mentality throughout its whole organization, including in its hiring philosophy.
“When we hire someone, we are in essence hiring their entire family as well because we are welcoming them to our organization and our entire community,” Day said. “After we hire someone, even if it’s a perfect fit for them, if their spouse or family isn’t happy then they won’t stay.”
“That is why it’s so important for all of us in the community to work together to help people find their place. We haven’t fully solved the problem, and we all know there is so much more we can all do together. It’s nobody’s job but it’s everybody’s job. As the saying goes: ‘A rising tide lifts all boats.’ Even if they don’t find their place at our company, we still try and help them out.”
Beyond job referrals, Infotech also works with other local resources to ensure the best family fit.
“It’s not just employers but also helping individuals and families relocate to area/we have the long-term view. Realtors in town like Team Dynamo help our families envision living in our community—where they could live, the school systems—all of this plays a role in relocation,” Day said.
Many local HR professionals are continuing to have collaborative discussions to put some formal structures in place for trailing spouse recruitment and career connections for finding Gainesville employment opportunities. UF is “starting up new online resources that will support spouses and partners of new hires in their exploration of opportunities for their career development,” Swan said.
“Talent recruitment for all members of the family is really nobody’s job, but it’s everybody’s job. We have the community in place to attract and retain talent. Our collaboration is a beautiful example of how we are making the greater Gainesville community an attractive place to live and work,” Day said.
Trailing Spouses: Experiences Vary
When Liam McClay was recruited by Santa Fe College in 2015 to be their director of governmental affairs and innovation and special assistant to the president, the opportunity was perfect for him. But as a married man with three children, he had other factors to consider—one of the key ones being the need for his wife Ami to find a fulfilling career position.
Ami received ample assistance from Santa Fe and the Greater Gainesville Chamber of Commerce who worked with her to get her connected to potential Gainesville employment opportunities. However, even with those resources, Ami said it was very difficult at first to find a position matching her marketing skillset and background.
Ami eventually found an employment opportunity with the Chamber and now works at NCCER (National Center for Construction Education and Research) in Progress Park.
Ami’s experience makes her feedback about trailing spouses valuable. Her advice is that the hiring company step in immediately to help facilitate the needs of the recruit’s spouse in finding Gainesville employment opportunities.
“When hiring one spouse, HR needs to be ready to jump into action to assist the other if they would like the help,” Ami said. “The circulation of a resume is appreciated. Hiring companies also need to realize that many times the spouse is also a highly qualified professional. People make a move for higher positions and the spouse is normally not an entry level worker.”
Lissa Murillo’s husband was recruited to the area as a financial adviser at Raymond James 3. As a physician, Lissa had a successful private practice in Ashland, Kentucky. She was fortunate to find a position on her own with the VA and UF.
“I work with an amazing group of physicians, fellows, NPs, PAs, nurses and staff. Everyone knew I was new to the area and new to the system and they were all so helpful,” Lissa said. “As with all transitions, it’s been a steep learning curve. There definitely have been challenges, but I’ve never felt that any of them were insurmountable. I feel very lucky to be doing what I love and also being able to support my husband as he does what he loves.”
Gareth Fraser was recruited to UF as an assistant professor of biology and got an offer in 2019. He and his wife, Connie, visited the area to make a final decision and to inquire about Gainesville employment opportunities and spousal hires. Although she felt dismissed at first, her husband’s department chair actually began reaching out to her in the weeks after about potential opportunities in the same department. Even after Connie found out she was pregnant with her first child, the chair was still very supportive.
Ultimately Connie was hired as a lecturer in the department through the Dual Career program. In this program, UF provides support for academic partners/spouses of newly hired tenure track faculty through funding from the provost and the two departments.
“Our chair has been one of the best parts of moving here- she was so incredibly helpful, supportive, and wonderful. Outside of her, the best thing about UF is the emphasis on making the transition easier for spouses who can work at the university,” Connie said.
To make the process easier, Connie suggests that large organizations offer potential temporary housing for recruited couples and families. She also recommends having more of a guide for overall transition.
“The only suggestions I have on how to make things better are just with starting general life here. It would be great if they had that as well as some way to make the social transition a little smoother. Maybe something similar to a mentor, but more for social acclimation. Overall, we’ve been so happy with how welcoming and helpful UF, and our department in particular have been,” Connie said.
Tara Blythe, Vice President, Talent, Strategy and Communications at Infotech, agrees that recruiting organizations need to keep under consideration the totality of a move for a couple or family.
“We hire people at Infotech whose spouse is just as qualified, maybe more, than the recruit themselves,” Blythe said. “Recruiting talent to the area means being highly attuned to the needs of that family and how we can retain them in the area.”