Illinois businesses boost wages to attract workers as many jobs go unfilled

Small businesses in Illinois and across the country can't find enough workers to fill open positions.

That's the word from a recent national survey from the National Federation of Independent Business in which nearly 90 percent of respondents reported few or no qualified applicants for job openings.

"Even here in Illinois, where our unemployment rate has lagged behind the rest of the country, it's kicked in pretty heavy," said Mark Grant, Illinois director for the NFIB. "I was in Quincy last week, and one member was telling me he owns a trucking firm and he has more than 100 truck driving jobs available that he can't find people to fill."

Grant said it's a persistent problem for businesses in the state, now that the economy is long into its recovery from the recession late in the last decade. He described a sense of frustration among members.

"They feel they are leaving money on the table," Grant said. "They have business they want to do, and they want to grow their business. And so many of them are community-based, so the more than they can do, the more people they can hire and get working, the better off the community is."

The national NFIB survey reported 30 percent of small business owners raised overall compensation for workers in the last month, and 22 percent plan to do so in the coming months, including for new hires.

"Starting wages have gone up," Grant said. "They're offering other kinds of things too. One of our guys said he's now paying full health for employees, and you know how expensive that is. They're encouraging people to stay with them. Once you get good employees, you want to keep them. You don't want to see them leave or go to a different company."

Nationally, 52 percent of respondents reported job openings that could not be filled in construction and transportation, and 43 percent in manufacturing.

"I know our businesses are working closely with local community colleges and career centers to try to find a way to increase the number of young people who see [skilled trades] as a good alternative for a career," Grant said.

Illinois' unemployment rate stood at 3.9 percent in September, slightly above the national average.

"[Our members] do say the economy is working really well," Grant said. "They're happy about that. They're very satisfied with the way the economy is going. It's a good problem to have, I guess, if your business is doing so well that you can keep hiring people if you can find them."