Pulaski Times

As the economy recovers and many businesses in Arkansas and across the country are reportedly struggling to find employees, Pulaski Times reached out to local employers to find out what might be causing the issue and for their ideas how it could be solved.

Patty Enderlin, manager at Oak Forest Cleaners, told Pulaski Times that her business was hit especially hard because the pandemic caused a shift in customer behavior.

"When the pandemic hit, we went from 100% to 20% immediately," Enderlin said. "So did every cleaner in America because everybody was staying home. We have slowly come back. We're not at 100%, but I know we're probably over 50% because people are starting to get out and we are busier. But we're not near what we were before the pandemic."

As her business begins to recover, Enderlin attributes her current difficulty in finding employees to an increase in unemployment benefits which has allowed many Arkansans to earn more money by staying unemployed and collecting unemployment than they would by working. According to a New York Times report, Arkansas is actually one of the top 5 states where the typical worker actually makes more by collecting unemployment with additional federal assistance than they would by working a regular job.

"We haven't been able to replace anyone because they're all getting checks sitting at home," Enderlin said. "My husband and I have worked harder this past year, especially in the last three months. Since things have started opening back up, we're working harder because we're doing everybody else's job."

In an effort to incentivize people to rejoin the workforce, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson recently became the first U.S. governor to announce that the state will opt out of the extra federal unemployment dollars that have been offered by COVID relief packages, according to Natural State News. Governors of several other states have followed him in making similar announcements.

"I think a lot of people just don't want to work anymore," Enderlin said. "I don't know if cutting off the money is going to help them or give them any incentive. I don't know what the solution is."

As of April 2021, approximately 50,000 Arkansans were collecting unemployment checks as local businesses struggled to find employees, FOX 16 News reported.

Nesha Shields, a branch manger for Penmac Staffing, told FOX 16 News that the misconception that the current economy is lacking in job opportunities was harmful. Penmac Staffing helps people find job opportunities, but Shields said that finding people with an interest in working has been difficult.

A University of Chicago study found that states that cutting down the amount of unemployment benefit recipients could account for as much as 75% of increased job growth following the changes.