10.10.23 – (KTUL) -TULSA, Okla.
Oklahoma is facing a severe labor shortage that is making it hard for small businesses to find staffing as the holidays approach. The owner of Nelson’s Clothier, Hailey Nelson, is one of those business owners trying to figure out how to cope with the shortage.
“We are nervous, we could definitely use a couple of extra helping hands throughout the holiday hours, and as far as we’re seeing it’s just nonexistent,” said Nelson.
Nelson says that this has caused her and her employees to make sacrifices when it comes to their personal lives.
“All of us are picking up shifts. All of us are postponing vacations. All of us are staying here sometimes as late as 9, 10 o’clock at night just to make sure everything is ready for the next day,” said Nelson.
The Executive Director of the Independent Shop Keepers Association, Cleo Nash, believes that part of the shortage could be due to a shift in the way Gen Z feels about the service industry.
“We’re at a point where the generation that typically fills retail positions is just not answering the call because they’re going in a million other different directions,” Nash said.
Nash told us that the cost of childcare is another factor weighing in on the worker shortages.
“The second biggest segment that usually fills those positions is mothers who are trying to reenter the workforce and are looking for part-time jobs. Well, you know, the cost of childcare is such now that the math just doesn’t add up for a lot of them,” said Nash.
Nash says that she has been seeing small businesses increase wages by 6% to 10% to compete with larger companies and in hopes of helping with the current worker shortage.