By PAUl HAMMEL
Nebraska Examiner
LINCOLN — How hard is it for Nebraska companies to find workers?
Real hard, according to recent state labor report.
In surveys of businesses in the Omaha area and northeast and southeast Nebraska, up to 94% of businesses responding to a “labor availability” survey said they had hiring difficulties.
In the Omaha area, 84% of the businesses surveyed reported hiring difficulties, with the biggest problem (82.5%) being a lack of applicants.
Of the areas surveyed, Falls City, Fairbury and Nebraska City had the most trouble hiring new employees, with difficulties being reported by between 90% and 92% of all businesses.
The head of the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce, Bryan Slone, recently stated that with 52,000 vacant jobs in Nebraska, the lack of labor is the “number one, two, three, four and five” issues facing the state’s business community.
The survey, released last month, also found that about 50% of all businesses had used tele-work, allowing workers to work at home, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The annual “labor availability” report was done for the Nebraska Department of Labor.
In 2016, the Nebraska Legislature passed a law allowing the Labor Department and the Nebraska Department of Economic Development to conduct labor availability studies to determine the state’s needs and gaps in skill sets.
More than 3,000 businesses responded to the most recent survey, which focused on three regions: Southeast Nebraska (Beatrice, Fairbury, Falls City, and Nebraska City), the greater Omaha area, and northeast Nebraska (Columbus, Fremont, Norfolk, and Wayne).