Four years ago, when the pandemic caused a “massive resignation” and a nationwide workforce shortage quickly followed, employers at Kalispell's Greater Valley Health Center went for weeks without seeing a single job application for a particular position.
Work challenges emerged during a critical period when healthcare workers faced an increase in burnout and longtime employees received early retirement packaging. With demand for services exceeding supply, a transition to independence was necessary to expand facilities.
In 2022, Greater Valley purchased Sykes Pharmacy, expanded its behavioral health services at schools, and opened a clinic in Evergreen in 2023, contributing to another 2,000 patients since last year. Next month, the new 33,000-square-foot facility in South Carispell will be open to patients after it has historically been operating in several buildings around the city. This is an extension that adds nine test rooms.
The Greater Valley has since expanded, and the labor market has slacked off since the peak of Pandemic Day, but CEO Mary Stelhan said the struggle continues while employees are improving.
“It was difficult to hire every position,” Stelhan said. “Some of them are getting applicants, some of them get applicants who appear in interviews but not for work. It was really odd. I've been doing this for a long time. I've never seen an environment where people don't show up for interviews or they accept positions and don't show up on the first day.”
This action was more common than when labor shortages peaked during the employment crisis during the pandemic era, but most employment sectors see loose markets in response to policies that sparked the trade war.
In August, the US unemployment rate rose to 4.3% in 2022 and 2023 compared to the rates of around 3.5%. In the same month, Montana's unemployment rate was 2.9%, breaking records for less than 3.4%, with unemployment rates of over four years.
Even though employment growth has slowed nationwide as the US added only 22,000 new jobs in August, Montana is still growing steadily among most employment sectors.
According to the Montana Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) 2025 Labor Day Report, more than 560,000 Montanan records were employed in 2024, driven by immigration. Employment grew 0.5% last year, adding more than 3,000 jobs.
Industry like the manufacturing industry struggles with unemployment, but last year, medical employment grew with 1,450 positions.
Kalispell's Logan Health has dramatically expanded its services over the past decade, becoming Montana's largest independent healthcare system, which has recently merged with Billings Clinic. In addition to the increased demand for Kalispell, which has doubled over the past decade, the hospital currently oversees nearly 70 clinics in the area, including Highline's Eureka, Polson and facilities.
Austin Niese, vice president of human resources at Logan Health, which currently has staffed around 4,500 employees, said that while labor shortages have been eased since the pandemic, the department is constantly working to recruit experts.
“Some of the workforce needs have changed since the pandemic,” Nees said. “Some of the most urgent needs lie in the RN (registered nurse) space, which has changed over time.”
Currently, according to Neese, openings in the surgical technician position are the most difficult to hire and allow healthcare providers to fill those gaps as they recruit director-general employees.
Logan Health currently has between 60 and 70 travel staff at any time, Nice said.
As of September 23, Logan Health had 306 employment vacancy positions, ranging from security guards to cardiologists, according to CareerOnestop, a partner with the U.S. Department of Labor.
However, Logan Health's staffing shortage is not unique in the healthcare industry. DLI Commissioner Sarah Swanson attributes the tough labor market to Montana's aging population, combining it with more retired practitioners.
According to 2020 census data, the demographics of citizens over the age of 65 have increased nearly five times the total population over the 100 years from 1920 to 2020. In Montana, 19.7% of the population is considered elderly.
The statewide, over 74,000 healthcare workers and DLI officials project employment, continuing to grow at an average annual rate of 1% over the next decade. The agency expects more than 6,000 job openings will open annually by 2032.
While some industries, such as mining and timber products, are declining in Montana, Swanson says that despite slowing down in other states, most employment sectors are on the rise largely due to movement.
“We've seen incredible growth for the second year in a row,” Swanson said. “If we look at that trendline, we still outperform pre-pandemic growth. It happened right after the pandemic with a 6.6% growth in the economy. We've added nearly 60,000 new jobs to Montana over the past five years.
Flathead County had an unemployment rate of 2.7% in August, and in 2024 it added 870 new jobs, accounting for 1% of the state's growth.
“We're filling some of these important vacancies with net migration and new Montanan moving here,” Swanson said.
But despite the unemployment rate in Montana remains low, economists say that data doesn't always reflect the job market, as it measures only individuals seeking employment.
Jeffrey Michael, director of the University of Montana's Bureau of Business and Economic Research (BBER), says unemployment remains low, but the market is loose.
“We've seen the shift in the labour market since employers couldn't find any workers,” Michael said. “It's normalised and if you're used to all of your employment and it's easy to get a job. It's not as tight as it was in the past.”
Recent debates over national data reflecting weak labor markets highlighted how those figures will be revised, Michael said. The Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics announced earlier this month that it had added 911,000 jobs from March 2024 to 2025 than initially reported in the same month.
Michael said it is important to note that Bber has historically waited for the release of his tax return data. This is more accurate than monthly employer survey data.
Montana employment rose 0.64%, while Flathead County rose 0.7% from March 2024 to March 2025, according to quarterly census data reflecting wages from employer tax returns.
The decline in employment includes mostly due to last year's closures of Pyramid Mountain Lumber and Roseburg Forest Products, the two largest employers of Missoula County, the company's closures of two of the largest timber products. Other losses include mining and construction, but leisure, hospitality and professional services will continue to add jobs.
Government work has seen decline after the Trump administration's plan to reduce federal workforce was launched with the “Fork in the Road” program. This allowed employees to resign from their positions, maintaining their salary and benefits until September 30th.
DLI's Swanson estimates that around 700 jobs have fallen statewide. However, economists say these numbers are difficult to measure as employees who accept a “deferred resignation” remain on their pay until the end of the month.
“There's a lot of confusion about how much federal jobs have been reduced,” Michael said. “For employees who received a “Fork in the Road” offer, they were still paying for this month. Federal employees have left but not replaced, a decline in the number of people. ”
Additional federal governments, such as tariffs, have contributed to unemployment in other Montana industries that have primarily affected agriculture and construction.
Construction demand continues to be strong in Flathead County, but buildings are slowing amid high interest rates, at around 6.5% in recent years. Meanwhile, tariffs have raised the prices of materials. However, despite declining demand, the workforce remains tough as employers struggle to find workers.
According to CareerOnestop, he employs 20 positions at Kalispell, with positions ranging from specific workers to principals.
“In the non-healthcare industry, things have slowed down,” Michael said. “Employers are cautious and have confirmed that there is some pullback in consumer spending. Certainly there is a great deal of uncertainty about the tariffs that have affected certain businesses that appreciate the increasing caution in the future.”
“Unemployment is still in the low national range, and Montana is expected to slow all year round in 2025,” added Michael. “So far, the data we can see seems to correspond to it.”
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