E, all of the above

I don’t often write about political issues but here we go (and, no, you’re still not going to be able to glean what side of the aisle I sit, if I sit on a side at all!).

As a journalist, I don’t quite understand how anyone can take a hardline position on most political issues, especially when the “facts” are presented in news form, which reduces every scenario to bullet points. Brevity is the one bias that’s almost impossible for any newspaper to shake.

Dominating headlines right now is the inability of employers to find workers to fill open positions. I want to use the term “labor shortage,” but I can’t because that’s only one opinion. Regardless, NOW HIRING signs abound, any many companies are having a helluva time finding workers.

Republicans blame state benefits for keeping would-be workers at home, claiming people are making more not working than working. Democrats claim it’s because businesses aren’t paying employees enough. And then others say people are still too scared of COVID to venture out. And yet others still say people are lazy. In every news story I’ve read on the topic (and for reasons related to my business – more on that in a minute – I’ve read many), everyone is certain of their position. It’s this. It’s that. We know it! And many of those news stories come with nifty charts and post-crisis labor graphs to prove their points. And every side DOES have a chart! But in all the stories I’ve read, I haven’t read the one thing I think (I stress the word “think”) is the actual reason some companies are having huge issues finding workers.

Like a multiple choice question, it’s option E, All of the Above.

At least when seen as a whole.

For one business, it might be good unemployment benefits keeping workers away. For another, it might be a lack of good pay. For some, it may be their possible workers are concerned for their health. And for others, it may be their possible workers are simply lazy.

Again, I’m pretty sure, it’s a combination of everything.

At least that’s what I told myself during our own recent hiring struggles.

For a few months, you may have seen (a few times over) printed each edition a WANTED ad for ad reps and a community outreach representative. In the past, whenever we’ve posted a like job (in the Sun Day and/or elsewhere), we’ve hired someone inside of a few weeks. This time, it took us a few months to find someone…or someones.

People weren’t inquiring. And the ones that did were nearly woefully unqualified: We need you to sell media advertising. Cool, I’m a mechanic. Same thing? No. (No offense to mechanics, of course. In fact, we didn’t have any mechanics apply, just saying.)

This was pretty early in the labor issue, and at first we had no idea what was going on. It was so outside the norm for us that I worried we were doing something wrong. Then the headlines started popping up, and we realized we weren’t the only ones having hiring issues.

We ultimately filled the positions, and I admit I have no idea what the stumbling blocks were because we tried everything from making sure our work environment was as safe as possible to offering certain perks or incentives. Nothing seemed to work. Until it did.

To further prove (or maybe provide additional circumstantial evidence), we also experienced the contrary in another hiring process.

In newspapers, the two biggest, core sides are Advertising and Editorial.

In addition to increasing our ad reps, we also needed to hire a couple string (freelance) reporters to help cover reporting duties for My Huntley News.

Not only did several candidates (most qualified to a greater or lesser degree) apply off one job post, we hired a rather impressive individual within two days (statically much quicker than we usually hire out the position; if you need a chart, I can provide one – hahahaha!).

So one kind of position took us months of searching (through numerous outlets and hiring offers), while the other kind took us just a couple days, without needing to offer any extra incentives.

Ultimately, I don’t have any hard and fast answer or conclusion for the troubles some businesses are facing other than we’re working into a post-pandemic/post-crisis environment and things are still a mess. It always takes longer to build or “rebuild” than it does to disrupt or destroy, so getting back to normal is going to take time where some changes are needed. But in my opinion, White Silo Media’s own experiences with hiring only prove my point that it’s all things and not just one thing.

I’d love to hear your thoughts so please feel free to write in.

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