Shortage of workers leaves a bad taste for Southeast Minnesota restaurants

September 15, 2021 ☼ great-resignationcivility

Source: Post Bulletin (Link)

Rietmann said the idea that people are not re-entering the workforce because of unemployment benefits that were increased during the bulk of the pandemic is not true, a statement Pappas-Mitchell and Nystrom agree with.

“People out there want to work,” Rietmann said, “but there’s an opportunity mismatch. The people we’re seeing are facing a number of barriers to employment.”

Those barriers include everything from lack of trade skills necessary for the building or manufacturing industries to those people skills needed to work in hospitality. And, she added, there’s a huge number of people who took the time during COVID-19 to re-evaluate their lives.

“Your whole workforce might look different in a couple of years, but we keep expecting things to go back the way they were,” she said.

Who wants to work in a job where they are yelled at by their bosses and customers?