Business View Magazine l November 2022

121 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 9, ISSUE 11 SUPER IOR STAFF ING AND SERV I CES staffing shortage, but Hawaii is experiencing its worst labor market and first decline of the Gross Domestic Product in more than a decade according to the state’s Department of Labor and Industrial Relations Labor Market Dynamics Report 2020 which says “the growth rate has not been negative since the 2009 Great Recession.” and “data by industry reveal that leisure and hospitality endured the steepest drop from March to April 2020 but regained 57 percent of those jobs by July 2021.” The unemployment rate was 6.1 in July 2021, as compared to the national rate of 5.7, and Kauai County suffered some of the most severe shortages. Staffing shortages aren’t linked to the number of job seekers. The report states, “in July 2021, the ratio was 1.21 with 44,350 job seekers to 36,683 openings.” Companies just aren’t finding the right candidates and that’s where Superior Staffing & Services comes in. Danielle De Lima founded the staffing firm in January 2022 offering to bridge the gap between companies and potential workers. To not only find qualified candidates but also to ensure they are a good fit for the role, both professionally and personally. De Lima prides herself on the company’s local, small business, and non-profit sector focus and 100 percent native-owned company. De Lima has specialized in human resources and has worked in Alaska with multi-national natural resource companies, as well as having in-depth knowledge of the staffing industry. She boasts, “I thought this would be the perfect company to start and then offer our services on the market, just from the local perspective having the knowledge of the culture, the businesses and people in general, but also bringing that national experience. I got to work for some top global oil companies and so I really got to see what that looks like in this space of managing people, staffing, and human resources, so it’s definitely a passion of mine and I think what’s