2024 is the start of a new era for the Carolinas PGA and the PGA Career Services department, as this is the first report jointly issued by TWO Career Consultants! A reminder that From a scope of work standpoint, Mike will continue to focus his attention on the Members / Associates, working to provide additional opportunities for Personal & Professional growth. On the other hand, Don will focus his attention on employers and jobs, including the majority of PGA ExecuSearch jobs posted in the section. In addition, he will work to build and maintain relationships with the Club Managers Association and Golf Course Owners Association in an effort to improve the working conditions for PGA Members.

This will actually be two reports in one, as we want to let you preview some information from the Career Consultant Report for the Annual Meeting as well as provide our normal report to the Board. 

2024 CPGA Annual Meeting Report

We can report that the Career Services team, in conjunction with other departments at the PGA have achieved measures of success many areas, including:

• Nationally, our team conducted 137 paid searches in 2023 as part of our Execusearch service. Beginning in 2024, the Execusearch service will exist as its own department.

• To help address the labor shortage, the recruiting team from PGA HQ attended 187 events. These interactions have helped drive a 26% increase in Associates, Affiliates, and Students since 2021.

• Nationally, the Career Services team tracked over $10 million dollars in compensation increases for PGA Members & Associates, with over $1,243,000 in the Carolinas alone. (this number is actually over $1.5 million, but we had to submit the report last month).

• At the section level, our Carolinas PGA Members and Associates continue to complete and update their Job Seeker Preferences and Compensation profiles, giving me powerful data when talking to employers.

Finally, you can see from the numbers below that we had another active year for jobs in the Carolinas, though some categories were down dramatically from 2022. We take this as a good sign, as less job openings likely means that facilities are fully staffed. Maybe the staffing crisis we saw from 2020 - 2022 is starting to ease up! 

Jobs Posted on PGA Job Board (by Job Category) in 2023 (2020, 2021, & 2022 numbers for comparison):

• Director of Golf – 5 (7 in 2020, 7 in 2021, 12 in 2022)

• Head Golf Professional – 40 (29 in 2020, 34 in 2021, 46 in 2022)

• Facility Management (GM, etc) - 22 (13 in 2020, 21 in 2021, 22 in 2022)

• Teaching & Coaching – 32 (28 in 2020, 49 in 2021, 73 in 2022)

• Assistant Professional – 221 (187 in 2020, 252 in 2021, 272 in 2022)

• Golf Operations Support Staff – 46 (80 in 2020, 97 in 2021, 94 in 2022)

• Sales – 1 (15 in 2020, 48 in 2021, 27 in 2022)

• All Others – 23 (31 in 2020, 42 in 2021, 67 in 2022)

Normal February Report for the Board

Compensation Increases Update

Thanks to all Carolinas PGA Members who completed the 2023 Compensation Increase Survey that was sent out late in 2023, we can report over $1.53 million in additional compensation for CPGA Members last year, making the two year total roughly $3.2 million. We can't take much credit, as many of them are using the information we provide in the form of compensation reports and negotiation coaching to  advocate for themselves and their staffs. We will continue to beat the drum for higher compensation throughout the industry in 2024.

Carolinas PGA GROW

The application period for the 2024 Carolinas PGA GROW Cohort ended on January 31st, and the Career Committee will be tasked with implementing the program. Those selected for the cohort will be notified on February 9th, with the first meeting of the group at the Carolinas PGA Supershow. 

Independent Contractor Ruling

In our January 2023 report, we shared that the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has issued a new proposed rule addressing the distinction between employees and independent contractors (IC) under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). It was also mentioned in the April 2023 and June 2023 reports, at which time our patience must have run out when we wrote:

As an update, file this under the "never changing update" category, but I wanted to share that NOTHING has happened with the rule proposed by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) addressing the distinction between employees and independent contractors (IC) under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The proposal is still being debated, but I'll keep my eyes and ears open and will provide an update when I have more information. 

We are happy to announce that there is finally a resolution! The new rule, which is set to apply across the US on March 11, would require that workers be classified as employees when they’re “economically dependent” on the company. The rule is widely expected to increase labor costs for businesses in industries that rely on contract labor or freelancers, and in our industry, that means teaching professionals. The new standard looks at several factors including the degree of control companies exercise over workers and whether the work performed is an integral part of a company's business. 

In hindsight, we should have asked some questions on the Survey around Independent Contractor status ("Are you an IC, or do you have and IC working at your facility?") to get a sense of the scope of the issue here in the Carolinas. 

To learn more, HERE is a fun read from the Department of Labor website, and please let us know if you have any questions. 

Final Thoughts

We think that is enough information for one report, and look forward to seeing all of you at the Carolinas PGA Supershow in a few weeks, and then again at the Spring Chapter Meetings. As always, please let us know if you have any questions. 

Respectfully submitted, 

Mike Mueller & Don Sweeting

All Active Positions

November 2023 Career Services Report Link

December 2023 Career Services Report Link

January 2024 Career Services Report Link

PGA Compensation Profile - Carolinas Section Participation

Job Preferences - Carolinas Section Participation