Businesses Say They're Having Trouble Finding People Who Will Show Up For Work

Every month, the New York Fed conducts two surveys: the Empire State Manufacturing Survey and its services-sector counterpart, the Business Leaders Survey. And each April it asks respondents of both surveys questions related to the difficulty of finding potential hires with certain skills.

This year's pair of April surveys confirmed that, as in previous years, employers are having trouble finding people with advanced computer and interpersonal skills, punctuality, and reliability.

Further, businesses in both the manufacturing and services sectors report that it is becoming increasingly difficult to retain skilled workers.

Below are the two key tables from the survey. The first shows that 36% of businesses in the manufacturing sector that responded to the survey are having moderate difficulty finding workers who are punctual and reliable, while 11% report great difficulty in finding workers with those traits. In the services sector, it's not as bad — 22% of respondents report moderate difficulty finding punctual, reliable workers, whereas only 3% report great difficulty.

1. Skills businesses are having trouble finding in potential hires.

New York Fed

2. Difficulty retaining skilled talent.

New York Fed