US Chamber of Commerce: The Workers Shortage Crisis is Getting Worse

6/9/2021

Employers know first-hand that the worker shortage crisis is holding back America’s economic rebound, but it’s getting worse, new federal data show.

By the numbers:

There were more than 9.3 million job openings at the end of April and 9.8 million unemployed Americans.
That is an increase of 1 million openings in one month, and more than 2.5 million job openings have been added in 2021.
Today, there are only 562,000 more unemployed workers than open jobs.

Why it matters: The lack of workers is hitting industries in all sectors, all over the country. Construction firms are turning down work, and restaurants are closed for lunch, because they can’t find enough employees.

And May’s jobs numbers were released last week showing the number of new jobs created falling below expectations. (Our Senior Economist Curtis Dubray looks at those numbers below.)

Digging deeper: We commissioned a poll to better understand why Americans aren’t filling available jobs. Nearly half who lost their job during the pandemic say they’re not active or not very active in looking for a new job.

There are also steep barriers for many of them in returning to the workforce.

16% say it’s “not worth” searching for a job because of the money they currently earn from unemployment benefits.
24% said childcare and family care needs are a factor
23% say they lack the skills or experience needed for most jobs available

Our take: "America’s great economic resurgence is being held back by an unprecedented workforce shortage—and it’s getting worse,” said Neil Bradley, the Chamber’s Executive Vice President and Chief Policy Officer, U.S. Chamber of Commerce. “It is time for the 25 remaining governors to end the $300 weekly unemployment supplement, for governors to utilize COVID relief money for rapid job training programs to help parents returning to work access childcare. And we renew our call for Congress to double the levels of legal employment immigration and visas.”

Take action:

Visit the America Works webpage to get more details on policy solutions and tell Congress to address the workforce crisis now.
Watch last week’s Workforce: A Call for Action summit.

0 Comments

Blog

US Chamber of Commerce: The Workers Shortage Crisis is Getting Worse

Leave a Reply.

Upcoming Events

Our Sponsors