APPLICANT AVAILABILITY
The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas surveyed Texas business executives on the impact COVID-19 has had on labor market conditions. The data below compare responses collected in June 2021 and January 2022. The top impediments to hiring in January included:
are more expensive since she is not buying from a supplier. Jankowski said other businesses have turned to Walmart or Target to stock their coolers with sodas and their shelves with cups as their usual provid- ers limit distribution. Alongside supply chain disruptions are staffing shortages. Local business leaders agreed people have come to expect higher pay for what are coined “behind-the-counter” jobs. Jankowski said he believes this is due in part to people becoming accustomed to work- ing from home or having more flexibil- ity during the peak of the pandemic. Jankowski reported there are around 92,000 fewer workers in the Houston region now than there were a year ago. Ferraro said businesses have to work harder to be fully staffed during the pandemic, sayingmanypotentialwork- ers decided to become a one-income household or have now embraced the idea of being an entrepreneur. “If they didn’t want to be in those industries anymore, a lot of entrepre- neurs popped up new businesses,” he said. “They wanted to work for them- selves. So everybody’s having difficul- ties finding employees, and that’s the direct effect from the pandemic.” Ferraro also noted many businesses, such as consulting firms, closed down their physical storefronts if they were able to as a way to save money when the majority of their employees began working from home. Despite these struggles, businesses have found a way to adapt, he said. “I don’t think anybody’s just waiting for the end of the year to flip the switch and adjust their business practices,” he said. “People are being flexible and proactive now to maintain business.” Businesses adapting Curbside, takeout and delivery services became staples of the food service industry when the pandemic
Greater Houston jobs left to recoup
Lacking in labor Business owners gauged how the availability of applicants had changed in the past month:
44,700
Improved significantly Improved slightly Worsened slightly No change Worsened significantly
73.3% Lack of available applicants/ no applicants 53.4% Workers looking for more pay than is offered 32.7% Lack of experience 17.5% Inability to pass a drug test and/or background check 15.9% Lack of child care, including school interruptions 15.5% Fear of COVID-19 infection
JUNE 2021
Greater Houston jobs recovered by end of 2021 316,700
JANUARY 2022
SOURCES: GREATER HOUSTON PARTNERSHIP, FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF DALLAS/COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
began. Clean Juice Morton Ranch does have a drive-thru, which increased to-go orders, but it also provided an issue when Bonesteel was running out of lids and straws. “I’ve had paper bowls that we use for our acai bowls, and we use a par- ticular lid [for them]. It was actually the lid that was out of stock when we opened,” she said. “I didn’t want to sell an acai bowl to go without a lid and hand it through the drive-thru. I was going from store to store looking for a lid that would fit that hole. Thankfully, another Clean Juice location had some to spare when we opened and was able to give me some until we could get some in stock.” Wildflower Threads, a locally owned Katy clothing boutique, credits its loyal customer base and a pivot to online sales as what kept the business afloat during the pandemic. “People really care about us [and] other small businesses being here,” owner Alex Orlando said. “They really helped promote that to their friends. I really focusedononline sales and social media.Me andmyhusbandhauled [the merchandise] to our apartment, and
All the while, businesses are facing higher operating costs and are starting to have to divert some of that burden onto the customers. This can be seen in price increases of certain items or lim- its on menu options as the availability of certain goods varies. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the cost of plastic products increased 23% from February 2021 to February 2022. Moving forward, Jankowski pre- dicted the community will not see the same exponential growth that happened in 2021, and businesses such as Clean Juice Morton Ranch and Wildflower Threads will con- tinue to implement their pandemic changes for the sake of their custom- ers and employees. “They’re simply going to go and do what it takes to keep the doors open,” Jankowski said. “So the small business by nature tends to be what the small business lacks in financial wealth with all the makeup for nimbleness.”
we just really worked our butts off.” The business has also been able to pull from a large pool of vendors if one supplier was unable to ship products. “We have a lot of different vendors in here,” she said. “I think that’s the sweet thing about boutiques is that if we can’t get a shipment from [a specific vendor], we can find another vendor that’s maybe selling things in the U.S. and already has a shipment.” Looking ahead While staffing shortages and access to supply lines are unfavorable, they are parts of the growing pains the economy is facing as it bounces back. Jankowski said he believes the econ- omy has made an outstanding recov- ery. The GHP reported about 316,700 of the region’s 361,400 jobs lost had been recovered as of the end of 2021. “No one thought the economy would rebound as strong as it has,” Jankowski. “A year and a half ago, when we talked about the recovery, people talked about it looking like a hockey stick, sharp drop and a slow, gradual increase; it looks like it’s been more like a check mark.”
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