by Nathan Boddy
The Bitterroot Valley is hiring. It’s hard not to notice the ‘now hiring’ signs that have popped up all over the Bitterroot Valley. In Hamilton, businesses up and down Highway 93 advertise positions that come with incentives and wages that would have been shocking only two years ago. Despite the incredible opportunities for employment, however, there is a clear and persistent shortage of labor. Multiple factors are undoubtedly causing the employee shortage, many of which are being felt nationwide. Nonetheless, businesses in the Valley are feeling the pinch.
“Almost every business has a sign that says ‘hiring,’” says Jodi Wright, Office Manager at the Bitterroot Valley Chamber of Commerce. She sees firsthand how the shortage is affecting the Chamber’s more than 400 members. In April of this year, the Chamber embarked on a project to create a list of job openings offered by Chamber members. Wright, and Chamber Director Al Mitchell, figured they would get 10 or 12 openings on the list. Instead, they ended up with over 40 in only a few days.
The reasons for the shortage are not easy to pin down. Many, like Governor Greg Gianforte, have expressed the idea that government assistance has removed the impetus for many people to work. Gianforte, whose administration ended the $300 in weekly extra unemployment benefits on June 27th, has said that the extra benefits were, “doing more harm than good.” Whether or not increased unemployment was a contributing factor, Tom Spiggle, an employment lawyer and Senior Contributor at Forbes Magazine, asserts that the issue essentially boils down to stagnant wages, desire for better working conditions and better work/life balance.
Writes Spiggle, “Perhaps states stopping the additional unemployment benefits isn’t about employers not wanting to pay their workers more; rather, it’s about employers not wanting to face the possibility that employees now have the upper hand.”
At present, job seekers in the Bitterroot Valley do have the upper hand, especially in a region where housing has become increasingly difficult to secure, and many of the new arrivals from outside the area may have jobs working from home, or have already retired. The end result is that many local businesses are scrambling to fill positions from a diminishing pool of prospective candidates, while experiencing an increase in demand for their services. All of this is occurring while only some businesses are able to offer higher starting wages for unskilled labor, leaving others out of the game.
Mitchell, at the Chamber of Commerce, agrees that it would be difficult to compete with those businesses which have the deepest pockets. “There’s a lot of movement (of employees) because there’s differences in the wages.” He points out that any job seeker can see for themselves the pay rates as advertised in the fronts of many stores, and may not find minimum wage to be all that attractive by comparison. “They are posting them on their signs, $14-15 an hour. If I were making $9 an hour, I’d be going over there too.”
Without a doubt, the COVID-19 pandemic has left its fingerprints all over the employment shortage. It has made housing in Montana difficult for workers to find or keep, caused fear about returning to the workplace, and continues to upend some people’s plans for school and childcare. These may be just a few of the issues that have driven people to choose not to even look for work. According to the Montana Department of Labor and Industry, the state’s unemployment level sits at 3.8%, nearly matching pre-pandemic levels, meaning that people have chosen not to look for work. A quote from the DLI website shows just how concerning the lack of workers can be for the overall economy. “Today, the biggest threat to Montana’s economy isn’t the virus – it’s a critical labor shortage affecting nearly every industry.”
While there will be no simple fix to the shortage of workers, perhaps the best piece of advice is offered by Jodi Wright as the Chamber of Commerce. “Be nice to your people. They showed up to work.”