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About Baker City herald. (Baker City, Or.) 1990-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 4, 2021)
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2021 BAKER CITY HERALD — A3 LOCAL & STATE Workers in short supply amid job growth By SUZANNE ROIG The (Bend) Bulletin Editor’s note: Today starts Part One of a fi ve-part series by EO Media Group to publish over the next fi ve weekends, looking at the issue of the lack of workers for jobs in Central and Eastern Oregon; why workers are not returning to previous-held jobs and how businesses are pivoting to func- tion without being fully staffed. BEND — With record job growth in Oregon, Whitney Keatman never imagined she would have problems fi nding workers for her Scott Street location of Sparrow Bakery. And she didn’t. It was getting them to stay that has plagued her long time Bend business. In the past year Keatman, a co-owner, made 117 job of- fers and most were accepted. But after just three months, only about 42 workers re- mained. The bakery needed a minimum of 20 workers at the Scott Street location and by the end of this summer there were six. So last week, she made a hard decision: She will close the bakery at the Old Iron Works Arts District. “We’ve been struggling for seven years with moments of success,” Keatman said. “Over the years we’ve had on again and off again good managers. When you don’t have the right management, you have a hard time retaining workers. “It’s common for people to come and begin training and then get another job offer that competes with wages,” Keatman said. “There’s no allegiance. It’s a competitive market for employers.” During a year of record job growth in Oregon, employers like Keatman have had the hardest time fi nding workers to fi ll positions. Companies, particularly in the leisure and hospitality industries, across the state are scrambling to fi nd workers. The hospitality, hotel, res- taurant and tourism-related industries added 6% more jobs this year, economists say. Hiring is more competitive than ever as employers raise wages, offer signing bonuses, referral bonuses, improved benefi ts, even subsidies for housing. But those incentives also have to compete against federal unemployment ben- efi ts, an increase in household income from federal stimulus funds and retirements. Just ask Robin Clement, co-owner of Monkless Belgian Ales in Bend. Clement and her husband opened their pub just four months before the pandemic shut it down to reduce the spread of CO- VID-19. Fast forward to July when tourism season in Central Oregon hits a high note and the state is reopening as COVID-19 cases wane, the Clements are scrambling to get enough workers to keep the brew pub open six days a week. In an interview with an out-of-town worker recently seeking a lead prep cook posi- tion, Clement said she made an offer on the spot to the worker. The applicant dined with his family for dinner that night. But the next day, he told Clement he took another posi- tion because it offered slightly more money and a leadership role, something the small pub couldn’t offer, she said. “It was really disappoint- ing, but par for the course. He was one of the few interviews that I set up who actually showed,” Clement said. “2020 was a cake walk compared to 2021. “Customers have little grace. Their patience is thin. It’s been hard dealing with expectations.” Only 32,500 eligible work- ers statewide are sitting out the labor market waiting for the pandemic to lift, who may have health concerns or child care issues, said Gail Krume- nauer, Oregon Employment Department economist. And another 12,000 workers statewide, who had been in the leisure and hospitality industry, now are working in the transportation/ware- housing and delivery sector because of higher wages and benefi ts, Krumenauer said. The average wage for leisure and hospitality in Oregon is about $14 an hour but in transportation/warehousing it’s $18 to $20 an hour. “That’s a tough spot to be in. The hiring is 1 1/2 times greater than we’ve ever seen,” Krumenauer said. “This spring we had 98,000 job va- cancies, that’s a lot of what is fueling the worker shortage. “That’s a perfect storm: a lot of things happening all at once and it makes it hard for employers. Everyone’s hiring.” Layer these events on top of one another and mix in pent up demand for buying and traveling and the demand on goods and services increases, which in turn increases demand on the need for more workers, Krumenauer said. “Expanded benefi ts helped families in Central Oregon and nationwide keep food on the table and a roof over their heads when workers lost their jobs through no fault of their own during this public health pandemic,” U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, said in an email. “Research has repeatedly debunked the baloney that benefi ts discour- aged work. “What’s clear in my con- versations with Oregonians all over our state is that the lack of child care, housing costs, the unique challenges of service industry work and other factors are what’s really keeping many people from returning to the workplace.” The unemployment rate in July was 5.6% in Deschutes County, lower than the dou- ble-digit rates at the height of pandemic-related closures, but still above February 2020 when it was 3.3.%, according to the Oregon Employment Department monthly unem- ployment fi gures. Crook and Jefferson counties too have seen their unemployment levels return to near normal levels in the months following the business closures imposed to slow the spread of the virus. In Eastern Oregon, Baker County’s unemployment rate was 5.4% in July 2021, com- pared to 8.7% the prior July. Union County’s unemploy- ment rate was 5.8% in July 2021, down from 9.4% the It takes about 90 employees working part-time hours to run the 14 programs in elementary schools, said Julie Brown, district community relations manager. The district has posted hiring signs everywhere, even on the vehicles, posted ads on social media, job fairs with on the spot hiring, and even raised the hourly pay, she said. “We’ve worked all summer long struggling to recruit the new employees needed,” Brown said. “These things typically produce the results. This situation feels different.” NEWS OF RECORD Gaynell Dougherty: 82, of North Powder, died Sept. 2, 2021, at his home, surrounded by his family. Arrangements are under the direction of Tami’s Pine Valley Fu- neral Home & Cremation Services. Online condolences can be made at www.tamispinevalleyfuneralhome. com. Indiana Ave. in Baker City. Donna Weir: Graveside service will be Saturday, Sept. 25 at 11 a.m. at the Eagle Valley Cemetery in Richland. Arrangements are under the direction of Tami’s Pine Valley Funeral Home & Cremation Ser- vices. Online condolences can be made at www.tamispinevalleyfu- neralhome.com. FUNERALS PENDING POLICE LOG Tharrell Tilgner: Graveside service with military honors will take place Thursday, Sept. 9 at 11 a.m. at the Eagle Valley Cem- etery in Richland. Arrangements are under the direction of Tami’s Pine Valley Funeral Home & Cremation Services. Online condolences can be made at www.tamispinevalley- funeralhome.com. David Coughlin: Celebration of life, Sunday, Sept. 19 at 4 p.m. at the Quail Ridge Golf Course, 2801 Baker City Police Arrests, citations SECOND-DEGREE CRIMINAL TRESPASSING: John Marsik Guthrie, 49, Baker City, 10:50 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 1 in the 500 block of Campbell Street; cited and released. HARASSMENT: Breanna Marie Clark, 28, Baker City, 9:21 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 1 in the 1600 block of Cherry Street; cited and released. DEATHS TRACING Dean Guernsey/The (Bend) Bulletin A help wanted sign at Einstein Pros Plumbing Heating Cooling Service Co. in Bend seeks workers with a starting offer of $20 per hour. prior July. Wallowa County’s unemployment rate was 5.4% in July, compared to 8.3% and Umatilla County was 5.5% in July 2021, down from 7.3% in July 2020. Statewide the unem- ployment rate was 5.2% in July, just slightly below the national unemployment rate of 5.4%. “There’s no doubt that (the federal boost of the unemploy- ment insurance) is constrain- ing the supply of labor,” said Damon Runberg, Oregon Employment Department regional economist. “But I don’t think it is to a signifi - cant degree. “The labor market will likely ease some as we move into the fall, but that will be more a refl ection of a reduc- tion in job vacancies rather than a massive infl ux of workers who lost their federal unemployment insurance benefi ts.” Childcare could potentially get worse if the Bend Park & Recreation District isn’t able to hire 20 more workers for its after school programs. In letters to parents, the park and recreation district asked for referrals, she said. There are 1,000 children signed up for after school care when school starts Sept. 8 in Bend. “We’ve never experienced this before,” said Brown. “We offer training skills for those who want to do this job. Most of our workers are in their 20s, but we do have people working in these jobs in all ages.” Nearly 18 months past the initial business restric- tions imposed to curb the spread of the virus, Oregon has regained two out of every three jobs lost in the spring of 2020, Krumenauer said. Just in the leisure and hospitality sector alone, the state added 7,100 jobs in July, she said. At Monkless, Clement said she’s hoping to take on a full complement of staff after the federal unemployment subsidy subsides. She needs to fi ll about seven positions, and that’s keeping her from opening her business seven days a week. virus is spreading. A large majority of the Continued from A1 county’s cases over the past month or so are considered “spo- county’s sharpest weapons in radic” — meaning they don’t have the fi ght against COVID-19, said a defi nite source. Ineffective contact tracing Staten, director of the Baker exacerbates that problem, Staten County Health Department. In contact tracing, a county or said. Baker County reported a state employee telephones people who have tested positive and asks record number of cases — 300 — during August. them about those they might The previous monthly record have been in close contact with, was 196, in December 2020. and thus potentially exposed to On Thursday, Sept. 2, the the virus. Oregon Health Authority (OHA) Contact tracers then try to released its weekly report on contact those people to let them breakthrough cases — people know about the possible expo- who test positive more than two sures, Staten said. Contact tracers don’t divulge weeks after being fully vacci- nated. the name of the person who Baker County has had 46 tested positive, she said. breakthrough cases through Aug. The value of this process, 28, the majority — 31 — being Staten said, is that it alerts reported from Aug. 1-28, accord- people who might have been ing to OHA reports. exposed to the virus. That can Breakthrough cases account encourage them to be aware for about 5% of Baker County’s of any symptoms they might 947 cases from Jan. 1 through develop, and potentially result Aug. 28; the fi rst county residents in them either being tested, or to be fully vaccinated reached quarantining to avoid infecting that status in early January. others, Staten said. For the period Aug. 1-28, “Contact tracing is one of the breakthrough cases accounted for main ways we can mitigate the 11.5% of the county’s 270 cases. spread,” Staten said. “But we That’s a lower percentage need our community’s help and than Oregon’s statewide fi gures. cooperation.” But recently, fewer people are According to the OHA reports, willing to talk to contact tracers, breakthrough cases have constituted from 15.9% to 20% or to suggest people who they might have been in close contact of weekly statewide cases since late July. with, Staten said. The 15.9% fi gure was for the “While we understand that most recent week, ending Aug. 28. positive cases are trying to Staten pointed out that al- protect their friends and family though COVID-19 vaccines aren’t from having to quarantine or 100% effective, the vast majority that they are embarrassed that they may have exposed someone of fully vaccinated people who become infected have minor to COVID-19, it is important symptoms or none at all. for your contacts to know they Although the OHA doesn’t list are at increased risk of having hospitalization data for break- COVID-19,” she said in a press through cases at the county level, release. statewide, 4.9% of breakthrough Without effective contact tracing, Staten said it’s diffi cult to cases have been hospitalized, and 0.9% have died. discern any patterns in how the Veteran's Appreciation Day! VETERAN SERVICES & INFO WILL BE AVAILABLE AT THE CLUBHOUSE. Sunday, September 12, 2021 PARTICIPANTS ARE 9am ENCOURAGED TO CALL AHEAD FOR TEE to 3pm TIMES (9AM TO 2PM). PLEASE CALL 541-523-2358. CURRENT STATE COVID GUIDELINES WILL BE FOLLOWED. Sunday, September 12, Sunday, September 12, 2021 2021 9am to 3pm 9am to 3pm