Kendall County business still struggling to hire as unemployment rate falls

To attract new employees, there’s a “bounty” at the Holiday Inn Express & Suites in Yorkville. Current staff can receive a bonus even if they help a prospective applicant only land an interview. There’s another bonus if the person is hired. But even that hasn’t worked out.

“Nobody applies,” said Wayne Koschnitzki, director of sales at the hotel. The location currently has six open positions, from a houseman to front desk workers and housekeepers.

“It’s been terrible,” Koschnitzki, said. “It’s making long hours for the people that are still here. Instead of six-hour days they’re 10- and 12-hour days.”

Business owners’ explanation for the labor shortage shouldn’t surprise anyone. Enhanced unemployment benefits caused by COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns still keep people at home, who often make more than they would in the grind of the service industry.

Some businesses have increased pay to attract new employees, but with mixed results.

Jimmy Ratos, owner of Lakeview Grille in Yorkville, said he’s raised hourly wages $2 to $4 to compete with other restaurants doing the same. Although things have improved in recent months, even bonuses for new employees after one and three months have proved unsuccessful.

“You might have to go through 20 interviews to get one person that might take the job and not pan out,” Ratos said. “I think there’s a lot of incentive to stay home right now. Especially in the restaurant business, you have a lot of entry-level employees. With that being said, if you’re getting paid more from the government to stay home, that’s a tough decision for people to make.”

But in spite of the strain on hiring, unemployment numbers in Kendall have inched closer to their pre-pandemic levels.

The county’s unemployment rate stood at 5.6% in May, compared with 7.1% in January and 3.7% in March 2020, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The trend is present in neighboring counties, as well. Kane County had a 5.3% unemployment rate in May, while McHenry County recorded a 5.5% unemployment rate.

“Even with the labor shortage, the unemployment rate is still relatively high,” said Carl Campbell III, a professor at Northern Illinois University and chair of the economics department.

For Campbell, unemployment benefits and the appeal of the service industry continues to drive the unprecedented labor market.

“For people in good financial shape, you probably wouldn’t take a job you don’t really like, a nonhigh-paying job like at a restaurant or in retail,” he said.

With Illinois’ extra $300 in benefits set to end in September, Campbell predicts the labor shortage to last another six months. Yet buying patterns have changed because of the pandemic. For instance, a jobs such as delivery driver is in higher demand than movie theater worker.

“The people who lost their jobs wouldn’t be necessarily skilled for the jobs that are now available,” Campbell said. “So there’s sort of mismatch between the available workers and the jobs.”

For now in Kendall County, organizations such as chambers of commerce put out hiring notices in emails or hold roundtables with business owners to discuss the labor market.

“I really am seeing the greatest need ever, it doesn’t stop,” said Sherri Farley, executive director of the Yorkville Chamber of Commerce. “It appears that the restaurant industry is the hardest-hit by this. I’m not sure if it’s because they had to let so many [workers] go. It’s hard to then get them back versus other industries that were maybe able to retain people.”

As hardship continues, business owners praise the efforts of employees who have stayed on throughout the pandemic and the ongoing, long recovery.

“My staff has been awesome, the staff that I do have,” Ratos said. “It does make it tricky when you’re asking one of your more talented employees, ‘Hey, you’re going to have to wash dishes because we don’t have a dishwasher.’ But there’s been a lot of flexibility.”