A look into the labor shortage on Labor Day

 

There are about five million more openings than there are people looking for jobs in the U.S., according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Chris Thomas works as an architectural salesman.

“I work for a manufacturer and we’re having trouble finding manufacturing staff,” he said. “It is hard to find professional sales staff as well, even with decent resumes, it’s just hard to find people.”

The trends are nationwide—Michiana is no different.

“Just a lot of help wanted signs, the occasional shorter hours, some places are just closing,” Thomas said.

Food service and hospitality are among the most impacted industries in what the U.S. Chamber of Commerce calls “The Great Reshuffling”—a term used to change the narrative of “The Great Resignation.”

Essentially, many people are quitting their jobs, but getting hired somewhere else.

Employers are now at the mercy of worker demands and have to find a way to keep employees.

“It’s been a little bit short, especially now that school’s started back up,” said Rachael Bainter, co-owner of Whistle Stop Ice Cream in South Bend’s East Bank.

“It is hard keeping the wages competitive, being a small business, starting up. But we still want to make sure we’re not giving just the minimum wage and we want to be paying something more fair,” she continued.

Bainter said she and her husband value offering a good wage over having a full staff, even if they have to put in the extra hours themselves.

Other industries have to get creative.

“We actually hired a few people whose sole job is internal recruiting,” Thomas said. “Instead of hiring outside recruiters, we have in-house recruiters, especially for skilled labor.”

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce reports ways businesses can fight the national labor shortage, including helping with childcare, “second-chance hiring,” and hiring more employees with disabilities.