Central Texas businesses struggle to find employees

According to Workforce Solutions Rural Capital Area, between April and this week their area has seen 16,000 new job listings compared to 99 last year.

GEORGETOWN, Texas - As the area continues to recover following the COVID-19 pandemic, many businesses are struggling to meet the demand of customers wanting to go out and shop local again.

"We need more staff for our retail. People are coming and buying more stuff from us so we are always looking for good help it’s hard to come by right now," said Tommy McCormick, the manager at Mesquite Creek Outfitters in Georgetown.

The big issue Mesquite Creek is facing eighth now is finding employees. "We’re hurting bad in the middle of the pandemic, we had a lot of people not showing up at all," said McCormick.

Over the course of the pandemic, they lost nearly half their staff and now they are trying to keep up with all the people wanting to socialize again.

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"On Fridays and Saturdays the square is packed full of people having a good time coming in and shopping local," said McCormick.

They aren’t alone, just a quick look around other places along the Georgetown Square, you can find hiring signs. According to Workforce Solutions Rural Capital Area which serves the counties that surround Austin and Travis County, the need for employees can be found all across central Texas.

According to Workforce Solutions Rural Capital Area, between April and this week their area has seen 16,000 new job listings compared to the 99 around the same time last year.

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McCormick said one of the issues he sees is hardly anyone applying so they’re even interested in people with no experience whatsoever. "I’ve been in Georgetown six years now and this is the hardest, getting people in the door. I feel like if I can get people in the door applying for a job I can sell it on them."

In an effort to address this problem Workforce Solutions Rural Capital Area is hosting weekly virtual job fairs and encourages anyone looking for a job or knows of someone who is looking for one to check out their free resources available.

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