(WXYZ) — Small businesses across Detroit say they're still struggling to hire employees and keep a full staff.
Kuzzo's Chicken and Waffles on Livernois, is known for its southern cooking and waffle combos. Wednesday customers came in one after another to grab to go plates
"Kuzzo’s can be hectic. It can be busy. We have people from the community, people from the city, people from the suburbs that come to check us out," said Kuzzo's General Manager Jeremiah Marion.
Marion says in the last few years, delivering the top tier service they aspire to has become more difficult as they've struggled to keep a full staff like many other businesses.
"A lot of the old school methods of posting a sign or posting an ad, those don’t work anymore. You really have to get creative with how you search for people, how you interact with people and how you draw attention to your business. You have to make your business somewhere where people want to work," Marlon said.
While COVID cases have trailed off in comparison to the height of the pandemic, Marion says he believes this is a lasting effect of COVID.
"I think (hiring is) always a challenge in general but I think you normally have more people applying. I think the pandemic really changed how people thought," said Marion. "People come in and I guess what they expect to get paid and what I’m able to afford to pay them are two different things and it’s no disrespect to anybody’s career or their passion but it’s like we have to still make our budget and make our margins."
"Now hiring" signs decorate the window at Bucharest grill too.
Keeler says while they've also struggled to keep a full staff, they have been able to pull workers from their other locations to fill in gaps. However, Keeler says because the worker shortage impacts several industries, it still effects their day to day operations.
"We have trouble getting things delivered on time because the people that deliver can’t find people and it’s just this huge cascading effect," said Keeler.
Experts say there's are several issues driving the state of the current job market and they vary for small businesses and corporations but overall there is a disconnect between employee and employer expectations.
"It’s pretty ugly right now and it’s not as ugly as it was 6 months ago because we have an economic slowdown, we're announcing layoffs. Six months ago we were begging people to work and now you’re seeing the opposite," said CEO of the Society for Human Resource Management Johnny C. Taylor of corporations.
Taylor says wage inflation is the number one problem. He also says there’s also a skills gap as many in the unemployed population lack the specific training to fill open roles.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are currently 10.3 million open positions in the U.S. right now but there are still 6 million collecting unemployment.
The BLS data shows even if every unemployed person filled the open roles, there would still be more than 4 million open positions.
"My guess is Q1 and Q2 are going to be pretty ugly. I can tell you speaking with CEOs everyday, the ones who haven’t announced layoffs are simply waiting until January/ February," said Taylor.
As the future of the job Market remains uncertain for companies large and small, local businesses say they are hopeful they’ll prevail.
