The Knox County Department of Jobs and Family Services want to get to the bottom of the county's tight labor market, its director, Matthew Kurtz, told the Mount Vernon News.
But a planned study of the issue will take months, he said.
"There continues to be a challenge by local employers in finding employees," he said. "We're working on a community study that looks specifically at the employment picture from the perspective of the employees looking for work, the employers who are looking for employees and trying to find out what the barriers and problems might be."
The study is looking for "actionable data," said Kurtz.
"We can then look at what we can do to fix those issues," Kurtz said. "Maybe it's childcare. Maybe it's transportation. Maybe it's wages. The reason I say maybe is that all we have right now is a little bit of anecdotal evidence, stories we have from employers and employees."
The study will be completed in phases over the next nine months, said Kurtz.
"By spring of 2022, we will have a good report, and it will give us some real hard data about what's going on," he said.
People cite many reasons for the labor shortage; unemployment benefits seen as too generous during the pandemic being among the more popular.
"But we had issues with filling positions prior to the pandemic," he said. "I can't believe it's all pandemic-related. I'm sure some of it is."
Once the study is completed, the agency can then move on to the next step: what can be done to address the causes of the labor shortage, said Kurtz.
The study will be paid for with federal funds, he said.
Kurtz hopes the study will provide concrete answers to the most frequent question he receives from employers: "Where are the employees?"
Any future decisions the community makes from then on will be grounded in facts, he said.
For years, there have been predictions of labor shortages as Baby Boomers begin to retire in large numbers and the birth rate declines, said Kurtz.
"I've said there are only two solutions: sensible immigration reform and family-friendly policies," he said. "Both of those initiatives have been stalled over the last 20 years."
