Local employers still struggling with shortage of workers in post-pandemic era

Last year the country was struggling to recover from a pandemic that disrupted how and where many people worked. Because of stay-at-home restrictions and other COVID-19 protocols many people either lost their jobs, quit their jobs or changed their jobs.

But despite the return to a kind of normalcy and record low unemployment rates, the workforce is still struggling to recover.

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Pam Walton, director of Davidson Works, said many employers across all industries are battling to find and retain workers.

“It is really frustrating for employers,” said Walton. “They hear the work is too hard, the shifts are too long, or they just don’t like the job. It’s like people just don’t want to work. These companies are desperately looking for people who will come to work and stay at work.”

She said that even though many companies have raised their pay, are giving more benefits and even relaxing rules and offering more flexible hours, they are still having trouble recruiting new employees.

“It is definitely a job seekers market,” said Walton. “People will go to work somewhere for a week or two, then leave to go across the street to someone paying more. Also people are chasing signing bonuses, they will stay for 90 days to get the bonus and then leave. It is a very short-sighted plan.”

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In North Carolina, the statewide unemployment rate in April 2022 was 3.4%; a year earlier it was 5%, which is a 1.6% yearly change.

The 2022 April unemployment rate in Davidson County was 3.2%, which is a 1.6% decrease from the previous year. In 2021 the unemployment rate in Davidson County was 4.8%

In Alamance County, the April 2022 unemployment rate was 3.4% which is 1.5% decrease from the 4.9% 2021 April unemployment rate.

In Randolph County, the unemployment rate for April 2022 was 3.2%; it was 4.9% in April 2021, which is a 1.7% decrease.

Walton said this shortage in the labor market has had an especially big impact on small businesses. She said many restaurants and retailers have had to limit their hours of operation because they can’t keep cooks and wait staff.

Main Street Deli, owned by Jackie and Joe Hearn, opened in Lexington in 1984. Because of the shortage of wait staff, the restaurant has scaled back its hours of operation to lunchtime service only during the week. Because of the shortage of waitstaff, all of the current employees are family members.

“Instead of people being upset about having to wait or (effecting) the quality of our food, we thought it would be best to scale back our hours. We have been here a long time and we don’t want to hurt our reputation in the community,” said Rachel Skinner, granddaughter of the owners who also works as a waitress.

She said ever since the pandemic hit, the business has had a lot of trouble getting workers.

“We just can’t keep anyone,” said Skinner. “Anytime we hire someone they either start calling in sick or just don’t show up. If they do show up, most of the time they don’t want to work or complain about the job.”

Skinner said that the family is hoping they will eventually find enough workers to go back to their regular hours to include dinner service.

“It's just really hard,” said Skinner.

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Walton said that although the pandemic did have an impact on the workforce, with parents having to stay at home with their children while schools were on remote learning and people retiring earlier, numbers have yet to recover now that restrictions have lifted.

“We all thought things would be getting back to normal by now. We thought the pandemic was driving a lot of the issues... I have been asked by everyone where are all the job seekers and I really don’t know what to say. It is scary because I don’t know how long this can continue,” said Walton.

Walton said she thinks the recent increase in inflation, including gas, rent and grocery prices, may drive more people back into the workforce. She said the workforce today is a different world from 10 years ago when the unemployment rate was in the double digits.

“For so many years the chant was “We need more jobs, we need better jobs”. Well, they are here now so where are all those folks who were screaming about how we needed more jobs,” said Walton.

General news reporter Sharon Myers can be reached at sharon.myers@the-dispatch.com. Follow her on Twitter @LexDispatchSM.

This article originally appeared on The Dispatch: Local NC employers continue to struggle with shortage of workers