Businesses struggling to hire; Missouri Career Center reps share why

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) - Businesses in the Springfield area struggle to hire.

The city of Springfield’s unemployment rate is at 1.9 percent. According to new data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics, that’s down one whole percentage point from March to April.

“The unemployment rate is very low, and it would be considered full employment because anything under 3% is considered full employment,” said Katherine Trombetta, Missouri Job Center. “The factor that’s really important to consider when you look at the unemployment rate is actually the labor participation rate.”

According to the Missouri Job Center, 40% of Americans are out of the labor force and not working due to transportation and child care barriers.

“During the pandemic, a lot of childcare providers had to close their doors, and those jobs have not come back as other industries have,” said Trombetta. “This is a critical shortage with the need for parents who need to go back to work but yet they can’t because they don’t have childcare available.”

Trombetta says the city of Springfield is still working with the state of Missouri on how to exactly tackle the childcare issue.

Help has come in on the transportation front with recent grants from the “Let’s Get to Work” initiative from the Community Foundation of the Ozarks.

“We have just really been thrilled to be able to help individuals with things like bus fare, gas cards, even repairs to their automobiles, to help them be able to get to work,” said Trombetta.

On Sunshine Street, the Missouri Job Center is holding weekly hiring events called “Wednesday Works” every Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.

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