This week will be an important week for employment statistics. The government's official employment figures for March will be released on Friday. The Department of Labor's February recruitment and turnover survey was released on Tuesday.
As is known, there was no big news in the JOLTS report. Job openings are essentially unchanged from the previous month, so they are still well below levels seen in 2022, when the labor market was extremely tight, but higher than before the pandemic. The number of people leaving the company did not change much.
So I called some small business owners and asked them what they were thinking about in terms of employment. Some said there were many positions to fill.
“Twenty. We have 20 positions open,” said Marcia St. Hilaire Finn, owner of Bright Start Early Care & Preschool in Washington, D.C.
She recently opened several new stores and is looking to add staff.
However, she has had difficulty finding qualified candidates with degrees in early childhood education, so she has hired less qualified candidates. That way, she can encourage her students to pursue their degrees.
“We can have that person come in, get them registered for the scholarship, help them, walk them through the process and give them a mentor,” she said.
Other employers are lucky to find candidates who can hit the ground running.
“People who may have been away from work during the coronavirus pandemic want to return to the workforce,” said Ken Gidon, president of Rothmans, a men's clothing store in New York.
He is currently looking to fill several marketing positions and has identified many talented candidates.
“We've been approached by a lot of people, but we haven't had anything like that since the pandemic,” Gidon said.
But even with more people looking for work, not all companies want to attract them.
“We're so thin right now, in fact, I'm even working more hours at the store to help with that,” said Frankesha Watkins, owner of BPolished Beauty Supply near Dallas.
She said she is not hiring because business has been so slow this year.
“A lot of people have to choose between groceries and I want this new wig. Or do I need gas or do I need these extensions,” she said. Told.
Still, Watkins has one job posted. It doesn't cost anything, she said, so she's better off keeping her options open.
In fact, Watkins said he has begun to retire. This position was basically made permanent two years ago, when people were quitting their jobs one by one.
“Unfortunately, I assign all my employees to work for probably eight months. I'd be lucky if I had a year,” she said.
In other words, the number of job openings counted by the government may overstate the number of people employers actually want to hire.
There's a lot going on in the world. For everything, Marketplace is here for you.
You use the Marketplace to analyze world events and communicate how they affect you in a factual and approachable way. We rely on your financial support to continue making that possible.
Your donation today helps power the independent journalism you depend on. For as little as $5 a month, you can help sustain our marketplace. This allows us to continue reporting on the things that matter to you.
