Dang near every business in Bismarck has help wanted signs out front. McDonalds has signs offering $10 hour starting wage with raises and a $500 hiring bonus. Walmart electronics at any time is impossible to find someone to help you and at the holidays it was stupid, one employee for 70 customers. They are actively hiring but there are just not enough people to work. The last 3 times I have gone to Taco Bell (over a 3 month time period) the first time they had the store closed because they didn’t have enough people to cover a shift, the second and third time the drive thru was closed because there just were not enough people to work it.
Bringing people here to work would be great for the customers, but there are so few places for them to live. Housing is at a shortage, and what is there is expensive. We live 65 miles away and people are moving in that work 80-120 miles away in the oil area. Housing in our little town is almost gone and the property values are rising. We bought our house 5 years ago for 16k and it has doubled in the last year.
If you were to bring employees here to work the lower paying jobs they will try to go to the oil patch where there are higher paying jobs. Some people are living in campers. Weather guys are saying -60 wind chill for Sunday and Monday, they are going to be cold cold cold.
Some people are living in campers....I took two used mobile home busses up there, sold them in a day and made $35000. These were nice if you had a hook up for water for the showers and jacuzzi’s and gas for the heat, ovens and airconditioers. Electric for the microwave,radio, TV’(s) and the outside lighting. Never heard a bitch from the buyers.
Which is why one of the more intelligent things to do if out of work is to get out of house or apartment, and buy a motor home. Or if one is "batching it" away from home base. Ultimate mobility to "where the jobs are".