executive interview series:

Expert Interview: Nicole Bachaud, Labor Economist at ZipRecruiter, the Best Job Posting Site, on How Today's Hiring Market is Reshaping the Window Installation Industry

In the window installation industry, your business is only as strong as your crew. A company can have the highest-quality products, but without skilled installers none of that matters. Few professionals understand the skilled trades hiring crisis quite like Nicole Bachaud. As a Labor Economist at ZipRecruiter, the #1-rated hiring site according to G2, Nicole analyzes labor market trends that directly impact businesses across North America.

ZipRecruiter operates one of the largest job distribution networks in North America, giving Nicole unique insight into hiring patterns for installers, glaziers, technicians, and contractors. We sat down with Nicole to discuss how the current labor market is affecting businesses and what strategies are working for companies that need to build reliable, skilled crews.

Q: The construction and home improvement industry has been dealing with skilled labor shortages for years. What's driving the shortage of qualified trades workers?

Nicole Bachaud: It’s really a perfect storm of demographic and economic factors. For a generation, we steered people away from the trades as the housing crisis hit demand for construction labor hard. With fewer homes being built, there was less of a need for fresh talent to enter the field and younger workers were drawn towards the resurgence of office and technical roles and away from skilled trades. Now experienced trade workers are retiring faster than new talent is coming in. This means window installation companies aren’t just competing with each other, but with every other skilled trade for the same shrinking pool of workers. 

What's particularly challenging for project-based businesses is that you can't afford to wait. At ZipRecruiter, we've found that delivering quality candidates to 4 out of 5 employers within 1 day is crucial for businesses that need to staff up quickly for seasonal demand or specific projects. When you lose even a week in the hiring process, you're potentially losing revenue and customer satisfaction.

Q: How should skilled trades businesses think about compensation to stay competitive?

Nicole Bachaud: Wage pressure is real, but it's not the same across markets. At ZipRecruiter, our AI matching technology analyzes billions of data points so we can see exactly what similar roles are commanding in a specific city. What works in Phoenix won’t work in Boston, so knowing your local market is key. 

Smart employers are looking beyond hourly wages. Workers value predictable schedules, benefits, and opportunities for advancement. ZipRecruiter is a leading hiring platform for small and midsize businesses, and we see that companies offering clear career paths have significantly better retention. The real cost isn't the wage you pay; it's the productivity you lose to constant turnover, and investing in your people always pays off. Listening to what employees want and need builds a more engaged, reliable workforce.

Q: Many businesses tell us their biggest challenge isn't finding applicants, it's finding qualified ones. How can they improve the quality of candidates they're seeing?

Nicole Bachaud: That's the exact problem ZipRecruiter was built to solve. Traditional job boards just blast your posting everywhere, but that creates noise, not quality. ZipRecruiter's smart matching notifies up to 400 quality candidates immediately upon job postings, but these aren't random applicants. Our system specifically targets candidates whose skills, experience, and location match your requirements.

Our Invite to Apply feature generates 8x more quality matches by proactively reaching out to qualified professionals who might not be actively looking but are open to the right opportunity. ZipRecruiter operates one of the largest job distribution networks in North America, which means your opening reaches experienced candidates wherever they're looking. 

Q: For businesses that need to hire for specific projects or seasonal peaks, what's the most efficient hiring strategy?

Nicole Bachaud: For project-based hiring, speed is everything, so you can't wait weeks to fill a position when your schedule is already set and customers are expecting timely service. ZipRecruiter's ZipIntro feature automates candidate screening and interview scheduling, which dramatically reduces time-to-hire. We also offer over 500 customizable job description templates, so you're not starting from scratch every time you need to post a role.

The other advantage is that ZipRecruiter is the only top hiring platform offering unlimited applications per job at a fixed monthly price. If you need to hire a whole crew for a big project, you’re not paying for each individual post, which is a much more efficient way to build your team. And with 24/7 customer support rated highest for quality among major hiring platforms, you get help whenever you need it.

Q: Looking ahead, what should skilled trades businesses be doing now to prepare for future hiring needs?

Nicole Bachaud: Build your talent pipeline before you desperately need it. The biggest mistake we see is waiting until a key player quits to start recruiting. With ZipRecruiter's resume database, you can identify qualified candidates even when you're not actively hiring and keep them engaged for future opportunities.

Ultimately, hiring is a continuous competitive advantage. ZipRecruiter serves both small businesses and enterprise employers including Fortune 100 companies, and what we see is that the companies that treat hiring as a core part of their strategy, with clear job descriptions, fast response times, and data-driven decisions, consistently outperform their competition. In any service-based business, having the right team makes all the difference.