Help wanted a sign of the times; worker shortages felt here, too

It probably hasn’t gone unnoticed by Chase County residents that some local businesses, most noticeably food-related ones, are facing some challenges on the heels of the pandemic.
Help wanted signs are nothing new, but more so now.
There are a few differing opinions on why this is, but there’s one common belief from some local business managers and employees—why work when you can get paid to stay home?
Upon examining this line of thought, a few facts and/or beliefs have come to light.
The Wauneta Crossroads convenience store has been struggling to fill some positions for awhile now.
Store manager Angie West said she never struggled this much before.
“Sure, during the pandemic, things were slow, but now people don’t even walk in the door to ask for a job,” West said.
She added that she has had only four applications turned in since October.
This has made it necessary to fill positions herself until she can hire more help.
West said she regularly reads trade magazines and is aware that restaurants and other food-related businesses like Wauneta Crossroads are all struggling with no staffing.
“There are some food places in McCook that are remaining take-out-only due to not having enough employees,” she said.
“I don’t want to get political, but I wonder about the government’s stimulus payments and the increase in unemployment benefits,” West said.
“I wonder if that funding is encouraging people to stay home rather than get a job,” she said.
Subway in Imperial has been closing two hours early in the evenings and closed on Sundays for some time now because of staffing problems.
Laura Có is employed as a sandwich artist at Subway.
“People don’t seem to want to work lately. Maybe it’s because of the extra money from the government,” she said.         “The thing is, the extra money will end one day and the bills are still going to be there,” Có added.
 Jackie Gutierrez, sandwich artist and manager in training, said applications are trickling in, but she’s thinking  that the end of school will bring in some more high school applicants looking for summer jobs.
“Plus, our current high school employees who work evenings will be able to work daytime hours. So, I hope we will be back open to full-time hours again soon,” she said.
T-Junction is another business which recently had to cut their business hours back temporarily due to a staff shortage, said Brent Sinsel, Vice-President of Energy for Frenchman Valley Coop. T-Junction is now closed Sundays.
Sinsel said he didn’t want to get into politics either, but he feels that legislation needs to make some changes.
“A lot of the problem stems from the pandemic and government assistance programs like the stimulus payments and additional unemployment money,” said Sinsel.
The problem is everywhere, including rural America.
“It’s just a little less here. Everyone is dealing with hardships,” he said. “It’s not the job so much as what jobs can pay. I think people feel they can stay home and still get paid.”
Staff at T-Junction has been covering shifts and working 14 days straight without a break, he added.
“They need a chance to re-charge. I’m hoping to be back open regular hours by Memorial Day,” said Sinsel.

FVC is experiencing staff shortages across all locations, Sinsel added.
Finding quality candidates is challenging especially in rural communities.
    “The process for hiring is the same, but applicants are much pickier now. Over half of our applicants want the position to fit their requirements­—they don’t want a job that bad,” he said.
    Possibilities have been discussed to maybe bump up wages for long-time employees, but it’s only in the talking stages right now, Sinsel added.
    Another viewpoint came from Tom Alvarez, human resources director at Chase County Community Hospital.
    Alvarez said one problem with filling positions is some  people want to move to bigger cities where there are more opportunities and more things to do.
    “Our wages and benefits are comparable to other locations, but housing problems seem to be a big deterrent for professional applicants,” he said, “more so than excess government money.”
Gathering information
Nebraska, along with South Dakota, Utah, and Vermont, has the lowest unemployment rate in the nation at 2.9%, said Tyler Pribbeno, Imperial Community Development Director.
“I recently sent out a survey to local businesses to find out what their needs are: more employees, employee training, bookkeeping information or other factors that could be causing challenges within the business,” Pribbeno said.
He said he’s hoping the responses will give him a clearer understanding of what he could implement to help area businesses.
“Depending on the responses, we may look into partnering with Mid-Plains Community College to help business owners with more education, training and avenues of improvement,” he said.
There have been some new businesses started in the area, especially home-based businesses, said Pribbeno.
“The trend toward home-based businesses has increased after Nebraska expanded ‘cottage food rules’ to allow food-based businesses from home more opportunities for direct sales—to sell directly to customers without a commercial license,” he added.
Nebraska’s LB 304 was passed in 2019, expanding the state’s food laws to facilitate growth among “cottage food” entrepreneurs, or those who bake and prepare certain foods in their home kitchens and sell them on a small scale.
The legislation also allows producers to sell in farmers markets without restrictions.
In an article from the Washington Post, it stated that many people are still hesitant to return to work until they are fully vaccinated and children are back in school and day care full time.
The issue of full-time school and daycare is not the case in Chase County. Monday through Friday, in-person classes have been held since August.
But the dramatic psychological effect on workers since the coronavirus outbreak, discussed in the article, could apply to individuals in the local area, too.
“People are reassessing what they want to do and how they want to work. The ones who used to work in food-related jobs could be looking for higher paying jobs and positions less likely to be exposed to COVID-19,” the article said.
This could account for more people working from home, as well.
It was also stated in the Post that business leaders and Republicans largely blame labor shortages for the more than generous unemployment payments and stimulus checks for making people less likely to take lower-paying jobs in fast food and retail.
The Democratic economists counter that companies could raise pay if they really wanted workers back quickly.
 Nearly 40% of workers in the U.S. could make more on unemployment than they would earn by returning to work, according to the American Action Forum.
The economy is still 8.2 million jobs below pre-COVID levels.
As of March, the latest month available, Chase County had 37 unemployed workers in the labor force, according to the Nebraska Department of Labor.
In a May 9 article by The Epoch Times, businesses and organizations, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, one of the largest business lobbying groups, have called on the Biden administration to end the federal unemployment benefits.
“It’s clear that paying people not to work is dampening what should be a stronger jobs market,” the group said.
“Normally, the whole idea of getting unemployment is temporary while you look for work. The demand is there. Businesses want to hire more people,” said Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida.
The U.S. jobs growth for April was far lower than what the market had predicted, as stated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The U.S. economy added 266,000 jobs in April versus a projected 1 million, and the unemployment rate rose to 6.1% from 6% in March.
It’s a sign of the times.