Employment and Workforce Executive Director William Floyd’s Statement

October 2024 Employment Situation

Columbia, S.C. – “South Carolina’s labor force continued its record-setting growth in October, adding another 4,000 individuals. Year-to-date, the state’s labor force has grown by more than 61,000 people, while labor force numbers month-over-month increased from 2,527,275 to 2,531,314. The October numbers are also the first jobs report since Hurricane Helene and reflect the expected impact of the storm. While the number of people unemployed rose from 113,975 to 118,125, the state did not see a significant spike. However, we did see the payroll number dip from 2,393,900 to 2,390,400 as some businesses lost power or were temporarily closed as a result of the hurricane. We will continue closely monitoring the post-storm effects,” said the S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce (DEW) Executive Director William Floyd.

“We hope that some of the labor force growth includes jobseekers transitioning out of the military as November is Veterans Awareness Month,” said Floyd. “With the 8th highest military retiree population in the United States, South Carolina is an amazing place for Veterans and their family members to live and work. At DEW, we have staff and several programs dedicated to helping connect Veterans with work.”

“One of our most recent and exciting initiatives is the Stay to Apply Your Skills (S.T.A.Y.S.) Program. S.T.A.Y.S. was created to directly connect Veterans to interviews with five different employers. In our research and conversations with job seekers and businesses, we found that while Veterans have transferable skills for open jobs in the state, it can be hard to translate those military skills on applications or resumes so that businesses realize their value. When interviewed, Veterans are able to talk about their experience and explain their military background so that employers can better understand if the individual is qualified for a job,” said Floyd.

“By becoming a S.T.A.Y.S. employer, businesses connect with Veterans by offering to interview a Veteran or Veteran Spouse who participate in S.T.A.Y.S. This supplements DEW’s very active Veteran-focused job connection efforts and increases the chance of employers finding dedicated and qualified Veterans for their workforce while increasing the opportunity for Veterans to quickly find employment in South Carolina,” continued Floyd.

“The S.T.A.Y.S. program is just one of the efforts that we celebrate and highlight this month. There are also job fairs and hiring events, as well as Veteran celebrations at employers like BMW, our 2024 Workforce Champion Award winner,” stated Floyd.

“DEW continues to provide resources for the state’s workforce, and we encourage jobseekers and employers to reach out to us for support as we help make these vital connections. There are dozens of programs, initiatives, and campaigns that we can utilize to help. We are also available to customize hiring processes or personalize a job search,” concluded Floyd.