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U.S. employers are struggling to find good workers after years of pandemic

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President Joe Biden defended his economic record on Monday, as U.S. employment data reveals a unique figure: Millions remain unemployed after losing their jobs in the pandemic, but companies say they can’t find enough people to hire.

The inability of companies to attract new employees has sparked a polarizing debate over potential causes, with Republicans and some companies saying that the generous benefits of unemployment encourage people to get jobs.

The main culprit, they say, is the Biden administration’s increase in the $ 300 weekly unemployment insurance burden. In states with higher pay, combined benefits can be as high as $ 600 a week, the equivalent of nearly $ 16 an hour. That’s more than double the federal minimum wage.

The unexpected struggle to find workers will prevent many economists and business owners from expecting a strong economic recovery.

Speaking at the White House, Biden said his economic plan was “working” despite a slowdown in job creation last month in business. He hired 266,000 new workers, economists expected much less than 1m. He stressed that there is “little evidence” that extending unemployment insurance as part of it flat stimulus the work was commendable.

“We need to focus on the real problems we face: overcoming this pandemic and creating jobs,” he said.

Employers say there is a real shortage of jobs in sectors such as food service, transport and construction.

Shop owner franchise chain 7-Eleven he begged the company not to force them to return to 24-hour operations because they could find no one to work night shifts. McDonald’s managers, who have few Texas employees, put up a sign asking for patience on their menu drive, saying “no one wants to work anymore,” making the restaurant famous for TikTok.

Post Holdings, a breakfast cereal maker, said the shortage of workers has caused major delays in production. On Monday, Donnie King, chief operating officer of Tyson Foods, the largest meat processing company in the U.S., said “we’ve had about five days to work five days due to turnover and absenteeism” on his pork plants. du the most serious in the early months of the pandemic.

The National Federation of Independent Business, a small business group, said 42% of small business owners could not fill the role. Among them is Matt Glassman, owner of Greyhound Bar & Grill in Los Angeles.

Two weeks before it reopened, Glassman arranged 15 interviews to hire kitchen staff. However, he said a dozen candidates did not show up. Of the three who did, one was “completely wrong with the job” and another left on the first day, leaving with only one hire.

“We’ve done traditional things, we’ve done Craigslist [hiring website] Poached cooking agencies, I tried Instagram, I tried to talk to my staff, I tried to walk up and down the street, “Glassman said.” It hasn’t been successful. ”

As the risk of working in person in the Covide crisis has increased, many low-wage workers have questioned whether their jobs are worth the pay, say entrepreneurial workers and economists. For those with children, the permanent closure of schools and other kindergartens has made it even more difficult to return to work.

“The idea that I need to go back to work and put my family at risk and get a third [the tips] What I was taking before was just a decision I probably wouldn’t have made if I had been my employee, ”Glassman said.

Others say unemployment benefits have discouraged potential hiring. Between oil fields In the western Permian Basin of Texas, “a lot of people are being hired and oil and gas activity is receding and they are ready to hire,” said Wesley Burnett, economic director of the Odessa city chamber of commerce. “But the federal program they launched has pushed everyone back to the extent that they want to stay home instead of going to work.”

Henry McMaster, the Republican governor of South Carolina, led his state to stop paying the added federal benefits in late June, two months before Washington planned to stop funding them.

“What was intended to be short-term economic support for the vulnerable and displaced during the pandemic has become a dangerous federal right, encouraging and paying workers to stay at home instead of returning to work,” McMaster said.

Liberal groups say there is an easy way to attract more employees: pay more.

“Employers are now saying,‘ Well, we can’t find people to fill those jobs, ’but what they really should say is,‘ We can’t find those in the salaries we’re filling those jobs, ’” said Melissa Boteach of the Liberal National Center for Women’s Law. “So you see that when you have a job demand, wages should be increased to increase supply.”

Data from the U.S. Department of Labor suggests that some employers have begun to do so. The leisure and hospitality business raised wages in April, although profits were below the previous trend of Covid.

Others go beyond that. Uber launched its own $ 250 million “stimulus” program to attract new drivers. The company said it had 22% fewer drivers last year than it did this year, although demand for cyclists increased, raising fares.

Fabio Sandri, CEO of Pilgrim’s Pride bird processor, told analysts his company spent $ 40 million to raise salaries in the first quarter of the year. He also said they continue to invest in automation to make employees less confident.

Many economists expect labor shortages to disappear as Covid cases dwindle, schools reopen and when additional unemployment benefits expire in September, they have announced the return of doubtful workers.

But some may never return to work they were doing before the pandemic. Glassman said his employees have fled California.

Additional report by Derek Brower

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