As the nation and the area begin to bounce back from more than a year of dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, “Help Wanted” signs are becoming a fixture in many businesses.
“There is a labor shortage in Poplar Bluff and well beyond,” said Steve Halter, president of the Poplar Bluff Chamber of Commerce. “I recently attended a six-state (Midwestern) economic development conference and the talk of the entire conference was our country’s current labor shortage.”
Erica Ross-Forest is the vice-president of Ross Oil, which owns Ross Fuel Center just north of Poplar Bluff. Like many businesses, Ross Fuel Center is feeling the crunch of the labor shortage.
“It’s been terrible,” Ross-Forest said, “trying to run a fast-paced business like that and be so short-handed. We’ve made it, but it’s not been easy. It has been really hard on the managers and the other employees there.”
Another local business that has felt the impact of the labor shortage is Westwood Hills Health Care Center.
“We are having a shortage of employees or people that come to apply for jobs,” said Patty Shain, director of nursing at Westwood Hills. “We’re needing to hire employees just like every other business in town. When you drive through Poplar Bluff, you see help wanted signs on almost every business. Our administrator just added that the difference in health care is we’re taking care of people. We have to have workers 24/7, 365 days a year.”
With so many businesses being short-staffed, Halter said the labor shortage is harming many businesses.
“Businesses have not been able to meet production goals, businesses have adjusted their hours and some have even closed due to this shortage,” Halter said. “Areas like Branson, which have huge seasonal spikes due to tourism, have it even worse than we do. I have a friend in Branson and he informed me that some businesses do not plan on opening for the summer because they can’t get workers.”
While some workers are reluctant to return to the job force because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Halter said that government relief programs are encouraging potential workers to stay home.
“Many people don’t feel the need to get a job when the government is handing out money through many different programs,” Halter said. “I applaud Gov. Mike Parson for ending, as of June 12, all pandemic-related federal unemployment programs in the state of Missouri. I believe our federal representatives are keenly aware of the cause of this issue and are doing everything in their power to correct it.”
Shain echoes Halter’s sentiments.
“I don’t want to get political, but to alleviate the worker shortage, they need to cut off this excessive amount of unemployment that people are given to stay home,” Shain said. “You can work at a job for $15 an hour for 40 hours a week and you still come home with less than you do when you’re on unemployment. That tells you right there that people aren’t motivated to get out and get a job because they’re being paid more to stay home.”
However, not all businesses are feeling the crunch of the labor shortage.
“I have not had that problem,” said Tracy Edington, owner of Money Mizer Fuels in Poplar Bluff. “I’ve got some key people who have been with me for 15-20 years. … They’re loyal and I like to think I took care of them during the pandemic, or whatever it was called. I’ve still got the same people I’ve had for two years --- and like I said, some of them for 15-20 years.”
Edington described the COVID-19 pandemic of the last 15 months in the nation as a “scary situation.”
“Our business was deemed essential and we’ve done well and survived so far,” Edington said. “Nobody here got COVID. … Maybe we’re a little insulated here in the Midwest.”