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THEY’RE HIRING: Chattanooga businesses say they need help, but can’t find the employees to work for them. Rib & Loin says they had to close their in-house service today because not enough people showed up to work. Businesses say the hiring problem has gotten worse since covid.
The Wood Gallery says they’re also struggling to find people to work in their shop.
Owners Chris and John say prior to the pandemic they were getting 3-5 applications a month to work in their shop. That number now down to “1 a month, if we’re lucky.”
The owners we spoke to across industries say their wages are competitive for their respective industries with starting salaries at $12 and $13 an hour. We asked them about raising those wages, some say they are considering ways to keep their jobs attractive.
We spoke to Andrew Stettner, a senior fellow with @TCFdotorg. He studies unemployment and says it& #39;s important to remember that despite "anecdotal cases," their are not enough jobs to support the people receiving unemployment benefits. @BLS_gov says that number is 9.7 million.
"You have to step back and look at this on a macro basis, there& #39;s still many people still out of work, and the economy is not back enough for them to get a job. If we were to change the system,the unemployment system, the damage to the economy would be far greater," said Stettner
He says it could be time to up wages. "The minimum wage is at a very low level in many states. That& #39;s an issue with people going back to work, especially if they switch from doing a job that maybe was well paid before, and that& #39;s unavailable." (In Tn that minimum is $7.25)
"As the economy grows, as jobs get open, not just in restaurants, but more broadly, throughout the economy, you& #39;re going to see this work itself out. You& #39;re going to see people go back to work," adds Stettner.
Lots of thoughts on this story and my reporting in the comments here. I appreciate the conversation! I also want to invite everyone to take a moment to both watch this clip and read the published story.
STORY HERE: https://newschannel9.com/news/local/chattanooga-businesses-face-hiring-strugglewe-cannot-compete-with-the-federal-govt">https://newschannel9.com/news/loca...
STORY HERE: https://newschannel9.com/news/local/chattanooga-businesses-face-hiring-strugglewe-cannot-compete-with-the-federal-govt">https://newschannel9.com/news/loca...
