Hiring crisis: Aiken businesses, along with state, struggle with staffing

May 16—Residents who have driven around Aiken recently may have noticed hiring signs in the windows of many businesses.

This trend is not unique to Aiken; indeed, employers all over South Carolina and the United States have had trouble finding employees, as of late.

Charlie Hartz is one of these business owners. Hartz, the owner of three Dunkin's in Aiken and the Village Cafe in Woodside, said he's seen this problem at his businesses.

"My Dunkin' on Richland Avenue, we have had to close the front doors and just have the drive-thru open because we don't have enough staff to staff it," Hartz said.

One of the things being blamed for this shortage has been the federal pandemic-related unemployment programs and benefits. These programs, put into place as lifelines for Americans whose job status was impacted by COVID-19, have been accused of contributing to a lack of workers.

"What may have been useful then is a disincentive now," said S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster recently, speaking about these programs which he says are keeping people at home.

McMaster recently announced his plans to remove South Carolina from all of these programs on June 30 because people are making enough money from them to justify staying at home and in some cases are earning more than they did at their jobs.

In a May 6 memo to Dan Ellzey, director of the S.C. Department of Unemployment and Workforce, announcing the move, McMaster wrote, "These federal entitlements pose a clear and present danger to the health of our State's businesses and to our economy. Since the Biden administration and Congress appear to have little to no comprehension of the damage being done and no appetite to terminate the federal payments, the State of South Carolina must take action."

"You've seen the calculations with all the federal money and state unemployment money, it comes to about $22 an hour with no tax — it's tax free," Hartz said, talking about the unemployment money. "So, that combined with I'm getting a $1,400 check and people getting tax returns, it's sort of the perfect storm."

Aiken Chamber of Commerce President and CEO J. David Jameson said the staffing problems are something the chamber is constantly hearing about.

"It's really a critical situation of staffing and most employers aren't exactly sure what to do," Jameson said. "There are lots of jobs in Aiken County that don't have people to fill them."

Jameson said he has experienced these issues firsthand.

"I was at a restaurant (about) two weeks ago, and my waitress finally said, 'I just apologize. I just have to let you know that two of our servers didn't show up today, the maître d' didn't show up today, the hostess didn't show up today. We're just flying by the seat of our pants,'" Jameson said.

Jameson pointed out, though, that it's not just restaurants that are having trouble finding workers.

"I think about every industry right now needs employees," Jameson said.

One example is the Augusta GreenJackets minor league baseball team, who have 22 different positions they are looking to hire for, from parking attendants to cooks to security.

Jameson said he's also heard from business owners that people's work ethics seem to be slipping.

"Employers say they'll go through interviews, they'll offer people a job, they expect them to come to work on Monday and then there's a no-show," Jameson said.

"On these times when you've got to have people, you've just got to have people," Jameson continued. "Some employers are having to tolerate more than they should have to."

A recent workforce study by the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce showed that around 60% of respondents said that the workforce issues are their number one concern, with applicant shortage being their most pressing challenge.

The S.C. Department of Unemployment and Workforce Director Dan Ellzey said on a recent Zoom webinar that the state has around 81,000 open jobs, but about 103,000 were paid unemployment benefits for the week of May 2.

In Aiken County specifically, the most recent data from SCDEW, which is for March, shows that the county had 3,112 unemployed residents and 2,652 job openings. Of those 3,112, a total of 508 claimed unemployment insurance during March.

Ellzey said that over half of people who were paid unemployment benefits during that week made more than they did at their job.

Hartz said he hopes McMaster cutting off the unemployment benefits pipeline will help reverse the trend and help him find employees.

"It's unfortunate we have to wait six weeks to see, but I think that's a step in the right direction," Hartz said.