RI Ranks as One of the Worst States for Employers to Hire

RI Ranks as One of the Worst States for Employers to Hire

The horror stories are nearly endless — employers cannot fill jobs in Rhode Island.

A pizza restaurant in Providence couldn’t open for weeks because it could not find a manager or staff.

Lifespan reported in November that they had 2,400 vacancies.

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A restaurant consultant wrote in a MINDSETTER™ piece in GoLocal, “My industry, our industry, the industry that brings life to our communities is critically ill and shouting for help."

Another restaurant group announced it was closing two of its three locations due to the lack of staffing.

Longstanding East Providence restaurant Paquette’s closed, citing the inability to keep a functional workforce. The owners wrote in the announcement of their closure, "Although the hospitality industry has taken one hit after another during the pandemic, nothing could compare with the massive worker shortage that has been crippling the restaurant industry, forcing restaurants to reduce hours, [and] place heavy burdens of responsibilities on their current staff due to lack of workers,” they continued. “Our employees were working longer and longer hours, leading to an unsustainable situation amid this labor shortage.”

And on and on.

The U.S. unemployment rate declined to 3.6 percent in March of 2022 from 3.8 percent in the previous month, the lowest since February 2020 and below market expectations of 3.7 percent.

The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 3.4 percent in March, the Department of Labor and Training announced Thursday. The March rate was down half of a percentage point from the February rate of 3.9 percent. Last year the rate was 6.0 percent in March.

Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council reported on Thursday, "The Ocean State has regained 82.5 percent of jobs lost during the pandemic, whereas New England has regained 83.7 percent of jobs and the U.S. has regained 91.8 percent of jobs. In Rhode Island, construction and professional and business services are the only major industry sectors to have recovered 100 percent of jobs lost during the pandemic. While most major industry sectors gained jobs in Q1 2022, the financial services, information services, and manufacturing sectors experienced losses."

Now, new data released this week ranks Rhode Island as one of the states where employers are having the hardest time hiring.

 

Rhode Island's Hiring Struggle Stats:

Job openings rate during the latest month: 7.30%
 
Job openings rate in the past 12 months: 7.24%
 
RI's Overall rank: 9th biggest hiring struggle in the country

"During the COVID-19 pandemic, millions of Americans lost their jobs and experienced financial difficulties due to unemployment. Now, for many employers, the shoe is on the other foot. Lots of businesses are struggling to hire enough workers, which has sometimes led to delays in services and reduced business hours. In fact, the labor force participation rate has experienced the slowest recovery of any recession since World War II," writes WalletHub in unveiling this report. "Some businesses aren’t even able to keep the employees they already have – as Americans are quitting their jobs at record rates in what’s been dubbed the 'Great Resignation.'"

In order to see where employers are struggling the most in hiring, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia based on the rate of job openings for both the latest month and the last 12 months.

Rhode Island businesses have the second-highest job opening rate in New England -- trailing only New Hampshire which is ranked 3rd in the U.S. 

The states having the worst time hiring -- Alaska is ranked #1 and Georgia #2.