Help wanted: Local employers say enhanced unemployment benefits make it tough to fill jobs

May 16—WATERTOWN — Unemployment benefits in the state seem like an unspoken elephant in the room that business owners say has contributed heavily to a dip in employees.

"Help Wanted" signs have been peppering the fronts of businesses across the north country in recent weeks, which is the result of not only the summer season approaching.

While economic experts point to a number of factors — issues with childcare, for example — as the driver of it all, they believe some business owners in the north country, that unemployed people are riding out their enhanced benefits by finding loopholes during the pandemic.

Congress had approved an additional $600 a week from March 2020 through the end of the year. Regular benefits are capped with an additional $300 a week until September. It's enough to limit incentive and undercut motivation, according to these business owners.

Cheryl A. Mayforth, director of the Jefferson County WorkPlace, issued a news release on the topic this week, saying she's receiving calls daily from employers desperate to fill open positions. She offered tips on how to post openings, like being specific about salary, listing all the benefits or showing off their companies by making a video.

Organizations from small to large have to deal with the problem placed at their feet. Courtney Hoppel, the manager of Zero Dark Street Restaurant and Bar in Carthage, didn't think she would ever have to struggle with putting together a service team. She said she needs to immediately hire at least 10 people to be staffed for the demand, and even though she says positions are widely advertised, the restaurant will go weeks without getting a single application.

"I find myself a lot pulled in several directions over this restaurant," Ms. Hoppel said. "I'm down there helping bar tend, I'm bussing tables, I'm seating the door, I'm boxing pizzas to go."

Yet, some employers are seeing "applicants" — just not employees hired. Samaritan Medical Center, which is the largest private employer in Jefferson County at 2,500 employees, had 353 available positions as of Friday, only a portion of which require medical certification, said Leslie M. DiStefano, director of communication and public relations. She said the hospital will get applicants into its system, but many of them are not responding when they are contacted.

"There's really a false sense of the number of job seekers on our end because we can't actually get them to have a follow-up conversation to even be interviewed or ask further questions," Mrs. DiStefano said. "That is unique for us at this point."

She said factors like child care, different learning models at schools and unemployment benefits make sense to leadership at the hospital. Samaritan usually hovers at about 200 open positions, so they have ways to mitigate a void in workforce. They hire costly agency and traveler workers to fill those needs. They continue to try to make the application process easier. They have invested in virtual hiring events, and there's an employee referral program and sign-on bonuses for clinical positions.

When the COVID-19 pandemic was at its peak, the hospital hired those traveler workers for long-term care that was short-staffed, which was a first for them. They're even looking into hiring a retention specialist who could help recognize and support employees and identify barriers that might impact them from coming to work.

But the issue of staff is top down — from registered nurses and licensed practical nurses to entry level positions and food service staff. Mrs. DiStefano said the hospital cafeteria had to close to staff members on the weekends because there wasn't enough staff to operate it.

"We have consistently had a hard time filling nursing and clinical positions, which is common for many hospitals across the country, but this is a first for me professionally to struggle to fill entry-level, career-building positions for Samaritan," said Kerri Rose, the hospital's talent acquisition manager. "This shortage of candidates has created issues for many employers and forced recruitment professionals to try different initiatives to attract qualified team members."

It's more of the same for Scott Sauer, who owns Zero Dock Street in Carthage and another restaurant in Beaver Falls called Brick Oven Inn and also manages a paper mill in Beaver Falls.

"Applicants aren't even showing up," Mr. Sauer said. "Since the inception of these extensions on unemployment and the additions to the unemployment program, frankly, I don't see any motivation for a lot of people to even show up for an interview."

He said he hasn't seen a more difficult situation in terms of hiring people in the 28 years of managing a manufacturing facility. It just hasn't been a problem. The work isn't easy, but he said he can have an employee making more money as well as good benefits and vacation time.

"The situation used to be that if we posted a position or frankly didn't even have a position available, there would still be applicants at my paper mill door or my restaurant door wanting jobs," he said. "Only those who are truly motivated for work are showing up and sticking around."

He remembers two young people who came to him this winter, bemoaning the fact they had been laid off for most of 2020, hating being on unemployment.

"I said, 'Well, listen we have positions available. I can't guarantee you a job but I can guarantee you an interview if you show up on Monday,'" he remembers telling them.

Mr. Sauer said he ended up telling them they would make 50% more than what they were making after nearly eight years of working at a different manufacturing facility.

"And they never showed up," he said. "What does that tell you?"

If it continues, he predicts inflation will take hold, which will drive the minimum wage up. This comes at a time where his mill is looking into investing millions into another paper line, and the hard challenge to make that move isn't the logistics.

"The real challenge that I see is going to be staffing," he said. "I never thought this would be our problem as employers, finding good people who want to work."

Mr. Sauer is the type of person who if he hears about the unemployment rate, he would want those unemployed to call him and he'll find work for them, whether it's in his restaurants or at the mill. He said he and his colleagues want to pay people for good work.

"I know I sound old and crusty," he said, "but my view is you get up in the morning, you go to work, you find your way, you earn your living and you be a self-reliant human being contributing to your society. Not the other way around."

If there's anyone who deserves a little more credit, he said, it's the employees who kept working.

"The people who are really suffering from this whole mess are people like those here at work who stuck right with it," Mr. Sauer said. "They stuck with it right through COVID. They took the hit and worked long hours. They are here. It's hard for them to watch the people who are just home going to that mailbox."