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I don't think I've ever seen more "help wanted" and "hiring now" signs in my life.  It seems like every single business in the ArkLaTex is struggling to find good and reliable workers right now.  It also seems like a dream-come-true for job seekers, because it looks like they can take their pick of jobs at this point.

Unfortunately, it only seems simple on the surface.  Lots of folks think that the problem boils down to laziness on the part of the unemployed, while others think that a huge percentage of the jobs available pay so little - it's better to have no job at all.

The real losers in this equation

While this situation may benefit the job seeker, the small-business owner is in serious danger right now.  Take the case of Taco Crush in McKinney, for example.  Owner Paul Horton told Business Insider that because of the lack of employees, he had no choice but to shut the restaurant down permanently.  According to the report, Horton claims that larger companies actually "poached" some of his employees by offering them things he just couldn't.

Entry-level employees are getting big pay raises

Horton says that at least 6 of the employees that were "stolen away" were offered $5,000 per year more than he could pay and even more were tempted into leaving by simply offering benefits.  The sad reality for small business owners is that this is far from an isolated incident.  Earlier this month, an Alabama burrito shop closed its doors after the entire staff quit at the same time.  A sign left on the door of Barberitos restaurant in Macon informed patrons and management of the walk-out that read:

We have worked 7 days a week for the past month and barely any time off. We are so sorry and love you all! old Barbs family, out

 

Can Small Businesses Survive this "employee drought"

It seems like the answer is to offer employees a better compensation package, but that's way easier said than done as these businesses usually operate with very thin margins.  Increased pay and benefits would eat into profits even more, and in a lot of cases would cause the business to crash and burn.  Unfortunately, offering employees the most that they feasibly can is becoming "not-enough" in a lot of cases.  Job seekers who are just trying to make a living are obviously going to take higher pay and benefits pretty much every time.