For Jordan Hunter, being a basketball referee is a way to stay connected to the game he loves.

By day, Hunter is an auctioneer for cattle and classic cars. And three-to-four nights a week, he hits the court to officiate high school basketball games.

"You have to realize that the game is bigger than anything else," Hunter said. "You have to do it for the kids."

For Hunter, his side gig isn't about the money, which he described as supplemental income. But a recent survey found that an increasing number of Americans have become financially dependent on extra part-time jobs or "side hustles."

Bankrate.com — an independent, advertising-supported publisher and comparison service — found that 31% of American adults had a side job in 2022.

High inflation and spiking interest rates have experts worried that a recession is coming. For many workers, side hustles have gone from a way to build up their savings and pay off debt to a necessary avenue to make ends meet.

Bankrate surveyed 1,000 Americans with side jobs and found that 41% needed their side hustle money to cover their everyday living expenses, up from 31% in 2019, when the majority of respondents sought out side hustles to gain extra spending money.

Meanwhile, several Springfield manufacturing companies say they have increased pay but still can't get enough workers in the door to take their jobs.

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Flexibility is top priority for many workers

Vicki Pratt, senior vice president for economic development at the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce, said she was not surprised to hear people have become more reliant on side hustles.

Side hustles, like driving for Uber or delivering packages through Amazon's Flex program, allow workers to choose exactly when they want to work without being bound to traditional 8-hour shifts.

When Pratt was working in Wisconsin five years ago, they did a labor study which found that flexible scheduling was workers' No. 2 priority, behind pay. And living through years of pandemic-related disruptions has only made flexibility and the ability to do remote work more expected.

Pratt said she is curious to learn more about people's working habits in Springfield, and the chamber is considering a large-scale labor analysis in the coming years. She said people may not be aware of some of the well-paying traditional jobs out there.

Unemployment rates in the Springfield area remain low, hovering around 2%, but Pratt said those figures can be "terribly deceptive" because they don't take into account people who are not "in the system" and are not seeking employment for whatever reason.

"We just have a lot fewer human beings of working age that are ready, willing and able to work," she said.

Pratt said people who are making a living by stacking side hustles and part-time jobs might benefit from considering a full-time manufacturing job, if they are willing to make some concessions when it comes to flexibility.

"Are they aware of the career opportunities that exist close to where they are that might actually result in a rise in their household income?" Pratt wondered.

Many companies still facing labor shortages

On Wednesday, the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce hosted a panel discussion with leaders from four different local manufacturing companies — Erlen Group; SMC Packaging Group; Custom Metalcraft, Inc.; and The French's Food Company.

The executives each referenced a shortage of available workers as one of their biggest challenges looking ahead to 2023.

Kevin Ausburn, CEO and chairman of SMC Packaging Group, likened the "now hiring" signs dotting northeast Springfield's industrial district to a field of daisies.

National surveys have found that many employees value things like being able to work from home, which often isn't feasible in manufacturing — so companies have been forced to get creative to attract workers by offering higher pay and giving people more variety in their roles.

The local executives said their companies have tried things like hiring back retirees in part-time roles, increasing automation and creating flexible short shifts aimed at college students that they could sign up for similar to Lyft and DoorDash.

Reggie Davis, plant manager at The French's Food Company, admitted to the crowd at Wednesday's event that pre-COVID he had been a bit of a "dinosaur" when it came to workplace expectations, but now they've made some changes — like at-home work for some roles and faster career advancement — to make the company more appealing to potential workers.

At the end of Wednesday's event, the executives discussed how they are preparing for a possible recession by increasing their inventory and focusing on employee retention.

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How to prepare for a recession

As USA Today reported, economists surveyed in September by Wolters Kluwer Blue Chip Economic Indicators say there’s a 54% chance of recession next year as Americans navigate the increased costs of goods and interest rates.

Figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicate worker pay is not keeping up with inflation. A statistic called "real average hourly earnings," which takes into account cost of living, dropped 2.8% from October 2021 to October 2022.

Locally, Pratt with the chamber said they will not know until they get numbers at the end of the year how much wages are keeping up with the cost of living.

"We know that wages have risen," Pratt said. "To say that wages are actually keeping up with inflation is a different issue."

To steel themselves for a possible economic downturn, Pratt encouraged individuals and small businesses to try to keep savings on hand that would get them through at least three months (ideally six or 12) as a "buffer."

"Spend a whole lot less than you're bringing in," Pratt said.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Springfield manufacturing companies still facing labor shortage