Job Openings in the USA Surge to Record High as Firms Struggle to Hire Workers

Job openings in the United States surged to a record high of more than 10 million in June, while hiring lagged behind that figure by over 3 million, painting a picture of an economic recovery held back by a labor shortage as businesses struggle to find workers.

The Labor Department’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS), released Aug. 9, showed that the number of job vacancies jumped by 590,000 to 10.1 million on the last day of June, led by gains in professional and business services, retail trade, and accommodation and food services.

“This is by far the record amount of job openings the economy has ever had. This historically elevated level makes clear that we have a severe worker shortage that threatens what should be a prolonged economic boom,” Curtis Dubay, senior economist at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said in a note.

At the same time, the JOLTS report showed that employers hired 6.7 million workers in June, with some economists saying the mismatch between vacancies and hiring is problematic.

“The biggest problem is getting workers to fill the historically large amount of open jobs,” Dubay wrote. “The enormous number of job openings is holding the economy back from reaching its potential.”

While the continued reopening of the economy has driven many businesses to seek workers, hiring efforts have been hampered by a labor shortage, with analysts generally pointing to factors such as child care issues, lingering worries about the pandemic, and generous unemployment benefits.

“This is the top issue in the economy right now,” Dubay said of the hiring woes, adding that Congress and the Biden administration “should be focusing on getting people off the sidelines and back to work.”

There is more to a job than just money, but if you aren’t paying enough for people doing a “dirty” job, you won’t get employees. If you charge enough to cover those employee expenses, you may lose business.
A hard thing to balance.
Most people want to be wanted, it is
a social thing. Trick is to make them useful
for the lowest cost possible.
That is an art that many successful employers
have learned.
Government is not very successful. Military used to be
but that seems to be fading.
My solution, brutal, but it will work.
Grab a parachute and jump out of the plane, watch it crash and then build another one. Pray for the stupid people that stayed aboard, but make sure you never have to suffer with them again.

Another problem is age discrimination.
What brought the majority of these
companies to the successful level
they try to maintain were us ‘old folks’.
My generation was taught “take money
from the man, you ride for the brand”.
We were on time, no excuses, hit that
deadline. We worked above and beyond
what was asked of us. That drive and
sentiment is gone from today’s
workforce. Hell, the government will
bail us out if we hit a rough spot.
We never relied on such drivel.
Got two kids, like buzzards on tree
limb, waiting for me and mom to croak,
I’m being a bit off hand here.
I’ve picked walnuts, dug potatoes,
hung sheetrock, raced snowmobiles,
(crashed, got hurt, went to school)
100% paid by me....
46 years later...I’m retired.
Perfectly willing to go back to
work if I’m paid what I’m worth.
Not too many employers today want
to pay that price....like I did.

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