Meat+Poultry - August 2021 - 114

LABOR
Help (really) wanted
With about one half of the US
population already vaccinated and the
dramatic drop in hospitalizations and
positivity rates, the pandemic appears
nearly over. Almost every state has
reopened for business with few if
any lingering restrictions. However,
the long-anticipated reopening of
the economy has hit an unexpected
roadblock - a lack of applicants to
fill millions of job openings. With
the massive loss of jobs during the
pandemic due to layoffs and business
closures, the reopening was expected
to see a rapid return of sidelined
workers. It has proven more of
a trickle.
Recent monthly jobs reports confirm
that hiring has been much below
expectations. Employers added only
266,000 jobs in April, far below the 1
million forecast by economists. In April,
there were 8.1 million job openings.
One month later that number stood
at 9.3 million job openings. While the
inability to hire has been most acute
in the hospitality industry, especially
restaurants, other industries, including
manufacturing, warehousing and food
processing have been affected as well.
A recent US Chamber of
Commerce poll found that one in
three unemployed workers do not
expect to return to work in 2021 and
approximately half indicated having
no plans of returning to work at
all. The reasons for this reluctance
have been the subject of intense
discussion, with the conclusion
being that the reasons are varied and
complex. Many see the $300 federal
supplement in addition to state benefits
as disincentivizing a return to work.
The federal supplement is scheduled
to end on Sept. 6, 2021. In addition,
the governors in some 25 states have
decided to halt the federal jobless
benefits earlier than its scheduled
expiration, with little pushback from
the Biden Administration.
The enhanced unemployment
benefits are not the sole reason for the
lack of returning employees. For some,
school closures and lack of childcare
has made returning an impossibility.
Still others cite concerns over potential
exposure to coronavirus if they return
to the workplace. With the success of
the nationwide vaccination program,
this claim becomes less viable each
day. In some cases, baby boomers
nearing retirement age who lost their
jobs early in the pandemic have simply
decided to retire earlier than planned.
Some workers have been slow to
return because they are being choosier
about their applications, are switching
jobs, or may even be seeking a career
change. These all require more time to
connect with a new employer. Finally,
for some unemployed workers, there is
the problem of a lack of skills needed
for the jobs available.
Private employers have taken
a variety of actions to help attract
workers. These include wage increases,
hiring and retention bonuses, college
tuition reimbursement, paid family
leave, and even healthcare benefits by
some restaurant groups. For example,
Amazon is offering $1,000 signing
bonuses in addition to increasing
wages up to $3.00/hour for over 500,000
employees. Chipotle, McDonald's,
Tyson Foods and countless others are
all raising wages to attract workers.
In McDonalds' case, it plans to raise
wages for more than 36,500 employees
by an average of 10% over the next
several months.
These efforts to spur hiring
underscore the increasing concern that
the economic recovery is in serious
jeopardy just as the country is fully
reopening. Whether the recent failure
of the hiring rate to approach the
numbers forecast by economists is a
trend that will continue, no one can
tell. It may well be that the efforts to
make jobs more financially attractive
in a rapidly expanding economy,
coupled with an end to the enhanced
federal unemployment benefits, will
finally cause those workers who have
remained comfortably on the sidelines
to finally return to the workplace. All
we can do is wait and see.
RICHARD D. ALANIZ | meatpoult r y@sos land.com
A recent US Chamber of Commerce poll
found that one in three unemployed workers
do not expect to return to work in 2021.
114 MEAT+POULTRY | 08.21 | www.meatpoultry.com
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Meat+Poultry - August 2021

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