Wyoming is experiencing high amounts of job openings not being filled. All around Cody, business owners are looking for anyone who is willing to work.
Brian and Denise Wiegand are owners of Bubba’s BBQ restaurant in Cody and have struggled to get people to walk through the doors to give out an application. And are one of the many places trying to hire people. ”It’s been very difficult to hire people. It’s difficult to get them into the door to even give an application. So that is even that’s the hardest part. We’re just not even seeing the applicants come in to apply,” Denise said. “Cody is a problem because there’s too many jobs in the summer and not enough people to work them.
Currently the unemployment rate in Wyoming is at around 5.3% from March numbers according to The Department of Numbers. Currently on Indeed there are 302 jobs available just in Cody alone. And more on other job searching websites.
Gina Michael is the manager of CarQuest and she has seen the effects of not being able to hire new staff.
“Current employees are making overtime, because we’re having to fill the day from 7 A.M. until 7:30 at night,” Michael says. “And so I’m working just over 80 hours a week as the manager, and my staff is doing, you know, 50 hours to 60 hours a week, trying to fill in the gap so that we have enough people here, our business requires two drivers on hand, from opening until 6pm, so that we can get our deliveries to the local mechanics.” said Michaels.
Bubbas will see something new for the first time since Brian and Denise bought the restaurant. “We’re only open six days a week. This will be the first summer in history that we’ve never been open seven days a week. If we don’t get further help,” Brian said.
For the summer seasons coming up Bubba’s is considering closing 2 days a week for the staff to get the much needed rest. “So one consideration is to close another day a week. So that we can spread out the staff that we do have over five days, instead of six and seven days, give them adequate or give them adequate rest,” Denies said.
CarQuest is also opened with low numbers. “We have to have management on staff that opens the store and one that closes it. So at a minimum, we need four people, we’re running our store with three, ” said Michaels
Some states have said they will be pulling out of the federal stimulus program. Which has been giving out $300 every week to people who are unemployed.
Iowa, Tennessee, Arkansas, Alabama, and Montana, South Carolina, Mississippi, North Dakota, Missouri, and Idaho are among the states withdrawing from the stimulus program. Montana is offering a one time $1,200 bonus for returning to work from an article published by Forbes.
On May 11th, Wyoming announced the state will be leaving the program by June 19th.
“Well, the hope is that it will help then it will get people off unemployment and actually come out and search for jobs. But the reality of it is I don’t in an area like Cody maybe in cities and stuff, but in like that it’s not going to do as much as they think it’s going to do, “ said Denise.
Many people think that it’s just unemployment isn’t the reason for people not wanting to work. “ We think there are several reasons and one of the biggest reasons is the housing market. So when you it’s almost impossible for a young family to buy a house anymore at the way the market has increased and stuff. And so it’s hard to work in industry jobs like this at the wage that we can offer,” Denise added on.
“Because if you can’t pay you know, your rent or your mortgage or whatever, so housing is affordable in Cody is a big problem. That’s one prong of it. The unemployment benefits are certainly right up there almost simultaneously with it, when people are less willing to get off unemployment for the wages that are being offered,” Brian said.
“I think it’s mainly the unemployment that has kept employees for coming in and, and asking us for a position, you know, it’s more to their advantage to make an employment I think, or has been, you know, but I can’t imagine sitting home all day, that would be just kind of different,” said Michael.
But Bubbas offers another suggestion, “I believe that they need to look at the federal law for workers for 14 and 15 year old’s. Currently that law is they can’t work past 7 PM at night on the school days, and they can’t work past 9pm in the summer. Okay, but these kids are up till one two in the morning playing video games and stuff like that,” said Denise
“And you can’t even if the employer, the parent and the student all want to work and you all agree you still can’t work them pass the federal law. And I don’t mind it during the school years, but they should be able to work past nine o’clock in the summer. The federal law needs to be amended,” Denise said.
