A shortage of employees is paralyzing industries
Employers say pandemic has accelerated changing attitudes toward jobs, careers
Struggling business owners say many people are apparently choosing to continue collecting unemployment rather than returning to work, including some who may be exploiting loopholes and cashing in on state benefits and federal pandemic assistance scheduled to end on Monday.
The situation is devastating many businesses, from private law firms to contractors and the hospitality industry.
But as several federal pandemic unemployment benefits are set to expire, business owners also hope workers will return — something that has happened in states that declined to administer the federal aid.
Restaurants across the Capital Region and beyond have cut their hours or days of operation due to staff shortages. Other businesses such as the Great Escape amusement park also were closed for more days than normal. Signs offering to hire people for at least $15 were seemingly everywhere.
“This is the biggest thing that we are hearing out there, is the inability to staff up,” said Greg Biryla, New York state director for the National Federation of Independent Business.
Indeed, business operators like Anthony Commisso, who runs Latham’s Tuxego formal wear rental shop, said he understood why some people stayed home. As the pandemic raged last year and he cut hours, one of his top employees had to move on, although he has since returned as Commisso’s business has picked up again.
“I have to match way more than $15 an hour” in order to attract employees, he said.
Jimmy Vann, who owns Bombers Burrito Bar restaurants in Albany and Schenectady, said that before the pandemic it was not uncommon for him to have 30 people apply for a job within six hours of a Craigslist posting.
Now, when he posts a job, including on platforms that he’d never needed to use such as Facebook, Vann said, “I’ll get zero applicants, or one. There’s no pool of people.”
Recently, a person filled out an application but did not write down their cellphone number so Vann had no way to contact the person for an interview or offer. Other times, people agree to take a job, but don’t show up for their first shift and are never heard from again.
Employers also say the pandemic, which kept many people at home, simply accelerated what’s been a changing attitude toward careers by many people.
“There are a number of reasons why people are not showing up for their appointments or their interviews or who don’t show up for their jobs,” said Dora Swan who with a partner runs Fin — Your Fishmonger, a seafood store and eatery in Guilderland.
They have had to cut their hours since the pandemic started and have discontinued the in-house seating for cooked seafood in favor of takeout in part because of a lack of staff.
People also have different expectations.
Workers at Lucia Specialized Hauling in Delanson pack and move large equipment such as machine parts or power generators. They load them onto semitrucks and transport them either a few miles to a rail siding or cross country. The work is hard with long hours but it pays well.
But Laura Lucia, who helps run the family-owned firm, said they are struggling to get people. One recent interviewee, for instance, said he wanted regular 9-to-5 hours and no weekends.
“People have changed their outlook and I think COVID has
had something to do with that,” she said. “It doesn’t have a lot to do with the money.”
The shortage of truck drivers has been particularly acute as many veterans of the industry have retired rather than dealing with ever-tougher rules about work hours and the hassle of using electronic log books to document their trips, Lucia said.
The Empire State is among the 19 states that didn’t stop the $300 payments in the spring and waited until the federal program was set to end.
But Lucia, who also has an office in Virginia and who has traveled this year to visit her children in Washington state and Pennsylvania, said the “Help Wanted” signs are everywhere. “I can’t tell you the number of signs that you see.”
SUNY students have complained about long lines and limited food options during the first weeks of classes.
Sodexo, the food service company that contracts with UAlbany, is experiencing shortages in both its supply chain and in staffing, a spokesman said. As a result, some food locations at the UAlbany dining hall remain closed resulting in long lines during the first weeks of classes.
Job ‘refusals’
In other instances, business owners acknowledged, there appears to be a pattern of ablebodied workers applying for jobs — a requirement of receiving unemployment benefits is that someone actively seeks employment — but then declining to show up for interviews or accept jobs that have been offered.
Under rules outlined by the state Labor Department, those collecting unemployment must keep a log of job applications and efforts to find work. But the rules don’t specifically state someone must follow through by showing up for an interview or taking a job that is offered.
“The correlation between someone not showing up for a scheduled interview and collecting of benefits is a misguided narrative. Often someone may have found another job or decided they are not a qualified candidate for a job,” Peter Brancato, a Department of Labor spokesman, said in a statement. “DOL will investigate case referrals where definite offers of work have been made and refused. Refusing a job interview, where a person must still interview for a job, in and of itself is not disqualifying for benefits.”
But there have been complaints. In July, according to records filed with the department that were shared with the Times Union, there was a formal complaint made by an Albany-area attorney who wrote a letter to the agency listing four people who were apparently receiving benefits but had either declined to show up for interviews or rejected positions that were offered.
In one instance, a woman who was offered a full-time job declined, saying she could only work 20 hours a week because that would enable her to continue collecting benefits.
Although unemployment numbers have improved since the height of the pandemic, the lack of workers has hobbled many industries and also hampered supply chains globally. For some, the decision to collect unemployment benefits may also be a balance: When factoring in expenses such as mileage, parking or child care, someone may make more or nearly as much income by staying home and collecting government aid.
Mark Eagan, president and CEO of the Capital Region Chamber, said the federal pandemic benefits approved by Congress that have been extended and paid out to millions of people have exacerbated the worker shortage.
“I’ve heard it almost daily since the spring, that it’s an impediment to bringing people back,” Eagan said. “For an entrylevel position, because of the extra $300, they’re making the same or in some cases more (by not working). And if they can make the same or in some cases more not to work … that’s why you’re probably even seeing some restaurants right now that are not open for lunch, or they’re not open every day.”
Eagan said the lack of workers has also been challenging for nonprofits that are unable to hire staff members.
According to the regulations, if applicants do not search for work, document their work search, and submit proof if asked, they could lose their benefits and have to pay back benefits they received.
“The (Department of Labor) looks into all complaints filed by employers about people declining work while collecting benefits,” said Brancato, the department’s spokesman. But it’s unclear how many people — if any — have been penalized since March 2020, when New York documented its first coronavirus case, for either failing to document their efforts to find work or to accept a job offer.
“During the pandemic (Department of Labor) staff was focused on getting benefits to the more than 4 million unemployed New Yorkers while simultaneously reviewing eligibility requirements,” he said.
In December, Democrats and Republicans in Congress debated
“The correlation between someone not showing up for a scheduled interview and collecting of benefits is a misguided narrative. Often someone may have found another job or decided they are not a qualified candidate for a job.”
— Peter Brancato, a Department of Labor spokesman
the need to extend the federal benefits, which initially were providing $600 per week to unemployed individuals on top of their state unemployment benefits. The temporary benefit was eventually reduced to $300 per week, but the legislation also extended the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program to provide eligibility for the “self-employed, gig workers, freelancers and others in nontraditional employment who do not qualify for regular unemployment insurance.”
In March, facing a weak jobs report, many Democrats in Congress began to join Republicans in questioning the impact of the benefits and signaled they may not support another extension beyond this month.
The office of Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, who has said there was overwhelming supportamong Democrats to provide the additional federal aid, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.
More than 7 million people are expected to lose unemployment benefits next week. Many states have rejected calls from the Biden administration to use emergency coronavirus funds to provide additional aid to those without jobs.
Nicholas Porreca, who has owned Pasta Pane in Clifton Park since 2015, said he has had a record level of business this summer but still had to close his restaurant on Sundays and Mondays because of the lack of available workers.
Porreca said some restaurant operators are being forced to pick up their own food and other supplies because delivery drivers are not available.
Porreca has openings for cooks and received more than 15 responses, but “only two have gotten to the point where we’re communicating.”
“That’s not what unemployment is for,” Porreca said, referring to those who have chosen unemployment benefits over work. “You have to check a box that says you are ready, willing and able to work — and all these people are not.”
Vann remains desperate for help. He had hoped to begin reopening restaurants in the Empire State and Harriman plazas frequented by state government workers.
“I was always taught by my parents to work hard and they instilled that into me, and I don’t know if that philosophy is dwindling,” Vann said. “There are still shining stars that are young and willing to work but it just seems like especially after this whole pandemic thing, people’s outlook on work has completely changed.”