Ohio help-wanted adds top 300K in October
Demand for workers in state continues to surge
The hunt for workers in Ohio and Greater Columbus is showing no signs of slowing.
Employers statewide posted a record 315,216 openings online from Sept. 14 through Oct. 13, according to Ohio's jobs website, Ohiomeansjobs.com.
Ohiomeansjobs, which is free for employers and workers, aggregates postings for openings throughout the state. The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services runs the website.
The statewide postings were an increase of 24,167 ads from the previous month and an increase of 68,978 ads from a year ago.
It is the first time the postings have topped 300,000 in data that goes back four years. The postings have been generally rising since the spring of 2020, not long after the pandemic began.
In central Ohio, postings totaled 70,624 jobs for the most recent period, up 7,632 ads from the previous reporting period and an increase of 20,812 ads from the same period a year ago.
The top postings statewide are for registered nurses followed by truck drivers and retail jobs. In Greater Columbus, the top openings are for software developers followed by truck drivers, other computer operations and then retail jobs.
Employers of all kinds have been begging for workers for months.
UPS, for example, said this week it needs another 500 workers in the Columbus area just to meet seasonal demand for the surge in packages for holiday delivery.
Many employers have complained that generous federal unemployment
here, at home in Ohio and Kentucky; it offers an improved, cost-effective, lightweight cylinder for HVACR technicians; and it enables the EPA to protect the environment and safeguard against illegal smuggling,” said Worthington Industries President and CEO Andy Rose in a news release.
The EPA concluded that the canisters can contribute to hydrofluorocarbons (HFCS), a greenhouse gas, leaking into the atmosphere. The EPA also say the canisters can be used to smuggle HFCS into countries and release HFCS into the environment when they are recycled of discarded.
“Even empty cylinders contain about a pound of HFCS, known as a heel,” according to the EPA. “This heel is emitted when the cylinders are discarded.”
The EPA estimates that disposable cylinders emit about 4.2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide annually, the equivalent of greenhouse gases emitted from over 900,000 passenger vehicles in one year.
As a result, the agency ruled that the canisters could not be filled after Jan. 1, 2025, or sold after Jan. 1, 2027.
Worthington Industries and others argue that the canisters are safe and in November petitioned the EPA to remove the ban. They argue that the EPA based its ban on a European canister that is not used in the U.S. and that the EPA lacks the legal authority to ban the canisters.
“We file this suit reluctantly, as we would much prefer to work together toward a solution,” Rose said in the news release. “But the EPA has given us no choice when it assumes authority not granted by Congress, makes policy without objective data and analysis, ignores concerns raised from industry and refuses to consider alternatives.”
Industry officials say HFCS are required to be vacuumed out of the canisters before they are recycled, preventing HFCS from escaping.
“It’s basically overkill,” said Alex Ayers, director of government affairs for HARDI, one of the groups to sue. “We have the ability to properly evacuate the cylinders now, it’s just not enforced.”
In addition, they argue, the canisters are no more vulnerable to smuggling than other containers.
Worthington Industries and trade groups say the ban would harm the HVACR industries because it would force technicians to haul refillable canisters, which weigh 51 pounds compared with 20 pounds for the nonrefillable. In addition, Worthington Industries noted that the refillable canisters cost eight times more than the nonrefillable canisters.
If the entire industry had to switch, consumers will bear end up bearing the cost, say industry officials.
“If you’re recharging a residential air conditioner, costs will go up, no question, and the technicians will have to haul around a lot bigger canisters,” Ayers said.
HARDI was joined in suing the EPA by ACCA (Air Conditioning Contractors of America) and PHCC (Plumbing Heating Cooling Contractors).
“HARDI was disappointed by EPA’S overreach in banning single use cylinders,” said HARDI CEO Talbot Gee in a news release. “HARDI and the rest of the industry want to work with EPA to successfully phase-down the use of HFCS, however we cannot stand by as the agency exceeds its authority.”
Worthington Industries spokesperson Sonya Higginbotham said fears that the canisters will be unavailable in a few years has created a run on the product.
“There’s a surge in demand for these nonrefillable cylinders because our customers want to get as many as they can now, so they’re stockpiling,” she said.
Higginbotham said Worthington Industries can make a refillable canister, but it would require building a new factory, and “we just don’t think it’s good for the industry.” The company has, however, proposed modifications to the valve in its nonrefillable canisters “that makes it more difficult to vent into the atmosphere,” she said.
Higginbotham and Rose emphasized that Worthington Industries supports the efforts to reduce HFCS, but not this rule. jweiker@dispatch.com @Jimweiker