NEW YORK — It looks like something to celebrate: small businesses posting \u201cHelp Wanted\u201d signs as the economy edges toward normalcy. Instead, businesses are having trouble filling the jobs, which in turn hurts their ability to keep up with demand for their products or services.<\/p>\n
Owners say that some would-be workers are worried about catching COVID-19 or prefer to live off unemployment benefits that are significantly higher amid the pandemic. Child care is another issue \u2014 parents aren’t able to work when they need to tend to or home-school their children.<\/p>\n
When Steve Klatt and Brandon Lapp set up interviews for their restaurant and food truck business, they\u2019re lucky if one out of 10 or 15 applicants comes in.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe people who do show up, all assume their unemployment is running out,\u201d says Klatt, whose business, Braised in the South, is located in Johns Island, South Carolina. The maximum weekly unemployment benefits in the state are $626 including $300 in federal coronavirus relief payments; in some states, maximum unemployment is over $700 a week.<\/p>\n
Klatt and Lapp need 20 people to run the business well but have only five staffers. Former chefs, the owners and their wives are working in the kitchen and on the truck to keep things running. Klatt and Lapp recently decided to curtail their Sunday hours and close Mondays to give everyone a break.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe hit to the bottom line will be noticeable, but it\u2019s not worth burning out the few awesome people we do have working for us,\u201d Klatt says.<\/p>\n
Businesses of all sizes are struggling with hiring even with nearly 10 million Americans unemployed and as increasing numbers of people get vaccinated and look forward to a more normal life. But smaller companies that often can\u2019t offer pay and benefits as generous as larger companies have a tougher time. The National Federation of Independent Business found in a March survey of its own members that 42% had job openings they couldn\u2019t fill. Owners cited higher unemployment benefits as one factor.<\/p>\n
\u201cA shortage of talent is nothing new for small businesses, but the circumstances surrounding this shortage are entirely different,\u201d says Jill Chapman, a consultant with Insperity, a human resources provider.<\/p>\n
Companies whose work is done inside homes \u2014 including plumbers, contractors and pest control businesses \u2014 find many prospective hires are afraid of contracting the virus on a job. Meanwhile, demand for their services is up because there\u2019s more wear and tear on houses and apartments as people spend more time at home.<\/p>\n
At Jake Romano\u2019s Ottawa, Ontario, plumbing business, job candidates are gravitating toward commercial plumbing rather than having to visit five to 10 homes a day. Even when Romano finds a good prospect for his company, John the Plumber, he\u2019s often disappointed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had a really good applicant, who I found on Facebook. He agreed to come onboard, everything was looking good. I was excited, he was excited. Then, bam! He changed his mind,\u201d says Romano, who\u2019s looking for two licensed plumbers to add to his current staff of 10.<\/p>\n
Economist Joe Brusuelas says child care is another issue that may extend owners\u2019 struggles to find workers.<\/p>\n
\u201cUntil the schools are reopened and avenues of child care normalized, small firms in general, as well as food, beverage, leisure and hospitality, in particular, are going to face staffing challenges until later this fall at the earliest,\u201d says Brusuelas, chief economist with the consulting firm RSM.<\/p>\n
Child care is one reason why the pool of available workers has shrunk dramatically at Let Mommy Sleep, which hires nurses and health aides to provide in-home care for babies and give new mothers a respite. Founder Denise Stern says some of her caregivers want to work overnight and sleep during the day, but if they have their own children to care for, that’s not possible.<\/p>\n
Stern also is being hamstrung by concerns about the virus.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can\u2019t hire candidates with second jobs where exposure might happen, and honestly, a lot of candidates don\u2019t want to work in a closed environment where we know transmission happens,\u201d Stern says.<\/p>\n
Stern has had to turn business away, and so have the owners of seven Let Mommy Sleep franchises around the country. Stern, who works in the Washington, D.C., area, says her revenue is down by half.<\/p>\n
Revenue is down 30% at Filter King, based in Miami. Demand for air filters is jumping as people work from home and run their air conditioners more, but owners Mike Jacob and Rick Hoskins need to double their staff of 20 to keep up with orders.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe unemployment benefits continue and it\u2019s hard to get people off the couch and into the warehouse,\u201d Jacob says.<\/p>\n
But even when people are willing to work, Filter King is at a disadvantage compared to companies that can pay more, Jacob says. He\u2019s lost staffers and candidates to a competitor funded by a venture capital firm.<\/p>\n
Stonehedge Farms, a popcorn manufacturer in Dover, Pennsylvania, raised its hourly pay to $13.50 from $12 in hopes of attracting more workers but co-owners Shannon and Anthony Tsonis haven\u2019t been able to find enough people to fill the factory\u2019s two shifts. They have 30 staffers and need another 10; the Tsonises and their office staffers have to fill in at the factory.<\/p>\n
Before the pandemic Tsonis could rely on one of three applicants showing for interviews. Now, it\u2019s more likely to be one in 10.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis would lead me to believe they are simply applying to meet the (job search) requirements of unemployment, which is frustrating. It\u2019s frustrating because we need people, and it\u2019s frustrating because it\u2019s a waste of our time and resources for recruitment,\u201d Tsonis says.<\/p>\n
Seven Sisters Scones, a bakery and cafe in Johns Creek, Georgia, has struggled to find staffers not only because of unemployment benefits, but because parents need to be home with their children, co-owner Hala Haider says. The shop has 15 staffers and needs four more.<\/p>\n
Because of the shortfall, Seven Sisters Scones can\u2019t make deliveries and they\u2019ll be selling at fewer farmers\u2019 markets than usual this summer. And Haider and her co-owner, her sister Farrah, have had to turn down some new business. But they draw the line at scaling back their online business, which allows them to reach customers across the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is one thing we don\u2019t compromise on \u2014 it\u2019s a priority,\u201d Hala Haider says.<\/p>\n