With 8 mln Americans out of work, why are more companies not filling jobs?

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Analysts estimate U.S. employers added nearly a million new jobs last month, but the question is not why U.S. employers hired so many, but why they did not hire more?

Take Alex Washut. In January he mapped out hiring plans for his two breakfast and lunch eateries in western Massachusetts and figured he'd need to hire 20 new cooks, servers, dishwashers and other staff by May. He has doubled wages in some cases but has managed to hire only five; most of the time, he said, job candidates never even show for their interviews.

* Would-be workers remain concerned about health risks amid a pandemic still claiming about 700 American lives daily.* Some younger workers are finding jobs in new fields, shrinking the labor pool for the industries they left behind.* Employers complain that enhanced unemployment benefits and other government aid are keeping workers on the sidelines, content to collect a check rather than work for a living.

"The full sentence is 'I can't find workers at the wage I am willing to offer.' Full stop," said ADP chief economist Nela Richardson. "You can find workers."Over the next several months analysts will watch intently to see how the labor market adapts to the biggest changes since after World War Two, when millions of soldiers returned home and wartime assembly lines shut down. It may be the end of summer before there is any real clarity.

"What we saw was that labor supply generally showed up," Fed Chair Jerome Powell said last month. "In other words, if you were worried about running out of workers, it seemed like we never did." Richard Bunce, 33, was working as an executive chef in South Philadelphia when the pandemic hit. His eatery shut for six weeks, reopened for takeout, and then shut again.

 

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That could be a million dollar question.

Recent example of large retailer hiring more: mgr decides to hire 2 more people as team of employees can't handle work load. 1st full week for new hires, other team members' hours are drastically cut (zero hours) w no warning. Guess wht next week's hrs are? Still unknown.

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