North Raleigh Today

The U.S. labor market overall has bounced back after dropping quickly during the early part of the COVID-19 pandemic. As with most job recoveries, some industries have fared better than others. 

"Since the COVID recession technically ended at the end of the second quarter of 2020, we've had very good economic growth,” N.C. State University economist Michael Walden told WTVD. “Looking at all things together, the labor market has really come back.” 

With that, people are apparently being more selective about where they are working. Restaurants and other service sector outlets, for example, are struggling to keep staff at necessary levels.

“There are big differences between industries,” Walden told the news station. “The tech sector is just blowing past records. They're up almost 20% in terms of employment.”

Professional jobs and support services for such places, as well as financial sector job tallies, are up from where they were pre-pandemic, he said.

“What those three (industries) have in common is they can use technology,” Walden said. “People can easily work remotely, we'll see if that changes, but they can easily work remotely.”

On the flip side, leisure and hospitality, personal services providers and construction and manufacturing have been adding jobs, but they're still not back to pre-pandemic levels. “What those industries have in common is there's a lot of personal contact,” Walden said.

David Burrell, owner of The Peak on Salem, agreed with that assessment.

"I've had some employees that have been with me 10, 11, 12 years that are still with me here that have helped out,” he told the news station. “And they've committed to working extra hours until we get the staff that we need, … but there's no question that staffing isn't where you want it to be, but it's getting better,” he said, adding that his staffing level is up about 40% from last year.

Since jobs that require interaction with others are still not in high demand by job seekers, those employers are dealing with more inexperienced applicants. “So, we've taken the approach of recruiting, training, training, training, and then hopefully they stay with us,” Burrell said.

It’s not just the question of personal contact that is hurting the service sector. Walden said that people who were dismissed from their jobs during the coronavirus used financial support from the government to improve their chances for future work. “They actually took courses, maybe remotely, so when they went back to work, they could move up the scale,” he explained.

Service providers are also adjusting to retain workers. That means such things as being more flexible with requests for time off and, in those cases where vacancies are a problem, turning to automation or drive-thru options more heavily.