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Employers face worker shortage while unemployment is at all-time low

1 year 9 months 2 weeks ago Wednesday, June 08 2022 Jun 8, 2022 June 08, 2022 9:25 PM June 08, 2022 in News
Source: WBRZ

BATON ROUGE- The unemployment rate is at an all-time low in the Capitol area at three percent.

At the same time, a worker shortage is proving to be a stubborn problem. A woman with a stopped up drain tells WBRZ her apartment complex said help is on the way, but they are short-handed.

The Baton Rouge Area Chamber says that apartment is not the only place in need of workers.

"What were seeing, there just aren't enough people out there to fill all the jobs that there are," Andrew Fitzgerald, the Senior Vice President of Business Intelligence for BRAC, said.

Fitzgerald says there are two jobs for every person who is unemployed. He says there are 32,000 jobs open in the Capitol region, but only 13,000 people looking.

There's no clear reason why.

"We have a lot more demand than we do people that don't have work and are looking," Fitzgerald said.

Fitzgerald says nationally and locally, four major industries desperately need people: health care, trucking, sales, and tech and coding. He says it's a good time to search for a new position.

"Companies are competing for talent, rather than talent competing for jobs, which used to be the way things were."

Fitzgerald says with more than 50,000 college students in the area, one solution is hire those walking across the stage.

"It's a lot easier to keep people here who have already moved here, and already lived here than it is to convince people from Texas, Florida, Tennessee, to move to the Capitol region" Fitzgerald said.

Another solution he says is to hire non-traditional employees.

"People re-entering society from prison. That's a pool of labor that doesn't get thought about a lot, but those are folks that definitely need jobs. And employers desperate for workers should definitely look into those people" Fitzgerald said.

To get a look at, what jobs are available click here.

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