As several small businesses across the state reduce their hours or close due to a worker shortage, some large enterprises are finding themselves in similar situations.
The Minnesota State Fair and the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport are struggling to fill hundreds of available positions.
The fair is looking to fill approximately 400 job positions, including for ticket sales, park maintenance, and sanitation. In addition, about 30 of the vendors are looking for 300 workers for positions yet to be filled.
Many vendors have even increased their pay rates in hopes of attracting more applicants, but higher wages don’t seem to be helping. Almost all of the positions are offering pay well above Minnesota’s minimum wage.
In an interview with WCCO, Manny Gonzalez, owner of Manny’s Tortas, expressed his frustration. Gonzalez is paying his workers between $11 and $12 per hour and found applicants dissatisfied.
“Where are the workers? Nobody wants to work anymore,” Gonzalez said. “People want a lot of money to work, like just to cut pineapples, you know, just to be a cashier.”
Additionally, the airport will be holding a job fair Thursday in search of employees for more than 750 positions, according to a press release.
Positions at the airport include full-time, part-time, and seasonal positions in the airport’s retail stores, restaurants, hospitality sector, hotel, and aviation division.
Some of the positions will be hiring on the spot, and signing and retention bonuses will be available for many.
According to KARE 11, MSP’s minimum wage rose to $14.25 per hour this summer and will increase to $15 per hour next July.
Currently, there are more than 10 million open jobs across the country and 8.7 million unemployed Americans, meaning there are more jobs available than workers.
Anna Miller
Anna Miller is a marketing intern at Alpha News and is majoring in entrepreneurship.
