Judy: The number of Americans
filing for unemployment benefits
fell to 250,000 last week,
signed that demand for workers
remains high.
The strong overall labor market
has made it difficult for state
and local governments to find
enough workers affecting almost
every service they provide from
trash pickup to policing.
Peschel correspondent and
Washington post columnist
Catherine has the story.
>> I am afraid to ask what is
floating on top?
>> Greece is one of our --
grease is one of our biggest
problems.
Reporter: Bill Davis showed us
around a was -- a wastewater
treatment plants.
That is what you think it is.
>> Wastewater is typically a
light brown color.
Reporter: You have had some time
to acclimate to the smell.
>> It is just poopy water.
Reporter: Public service is
noble work but not for everyone.
It can be smelly.
Stressful.
And often not super lucrative.
In Richland county, south
Carolina, nearly a quarter of
government jobs are vacant up
from 13% before the pandemic.
And it is not the only place
struggling to hire says Joshua.
>> State and local employment is
still below its peak from the
February 2020 timeframe.
Reporter: Nationwide private
sector jobs have recovered with
more jobs today than pre-covid
but state and local governments
are still way behind despite a
lot of covid relief money from
the feds.
Partly this is about
retirements.
>> 3-5 years older on average
relative to their private sector
peers.
Reporter: And those not
retirement age are demanding
more pay.
Government employers are often
slow to adjust.
>> One of the things we were
challenged with is if you have
$15 an hour and you are going to
go to Amazon and make $18 an
hour to drive a forklift and
picked up boxes and listened
your airpods all day, do you
want to do that or play in the
poopy water or do you want to
make 25% more and work at
Amazon?
Reporter: It is especially hard
for governments to match pay for
jobs where private employers are
rapidly raising wages like truck
driving and construction.
What would help the situation?
>> Money.
Reporter: Brian night and will
said they were short 36 out of
190 positions.
When people are leaving, but do
they tell you about why they are
>> The majority we hear is pay.
You have to support your family.
The rising costs of food and
fuel.
Everything going on right now.
To do the same job in the
private sector and get paid
more, it is that decision at the
end of the day.
Reporter: Worker shortages
alongside higher material costs
are causing problems all year
round.
In the summer, potholes are not
getting filled.
In the winter, roads are not
being plowed.
>> If you do not have the
personnel to do it, we cannot
complete the projects.
>> Our road network is
deteriorating quicker than ever
and we have more cars on the
road and people in the area.
With the staffing, we are
falling further behind.
Reporter: Constituents notice.
A Jefferson county manager says
--
>> The citizens know they pay
taxes and they expect the
services to be done and they
don't understand that it is
unlimited expectations against
limited resources.
Reporter: In Richland county
that sometimes means garbage
pickup problems.
>> We have had some other issues
with missed collections and
those were due to a lack of
workforce, replacement workforce
that was not trained properly
and also the equipment.
Reporter: Trucks and other
equipment have hit supply chain
issues but the key concern is
still labor.
>> There has been a low pool of
drivers interested in the
challenge.
Reporter: Jefferson county
sheriff Jeff Schrader says it is
not only about the money.
Some jobs have become less
attractive for other reasons.
>> Through 2020 we saw a lot of
people getting out of law
enforcement.
They were -- people hired into
law enforcement are not my age,
they are younger people.
Their social groups were
probably questioning based on
the dialogue going on the role
of police and its legitimacy.
Reporter: The work has always
been stressful and polarizing
but today it is even harder to
recruit applicants.
>> From 2019 pre-pandemic,
pre-george Floyd until 2021, we
saw a 39% decrease in the number
of applications for deputy
sheriffs.
Reporter: He argues the stakes
are high.
>> If public safety -- if there
is not staff to put first
responders out on the street or
we are not able to bring people
to jail that need to be in jail
because of staffing concerns,
ultimately the public is at
risk.
Reporter: Between higher crime,
the pandemic and dangerous
heatwave's, first responders are
stretched thin.
>> Because of the increased
demand for services, that means
an increase in workload for that
particular crew for that
paramedic and the emt working on
the ambulance.
Reporter: Captain Adams says
burnout is work -- is worsening.
>> They are normally getting a
911 call right off the bat.
They will run the call, get to
the hospital and get another 911
call.
Run that call, get to the
hospital and get another call.
It is hard to find time to take
a break to eat or to just be
able to use the facilities.
Reporter: They are recruiting
aggressively to find new staff
and recently opened a training
boot camp.
>> Our job is to save lives.
If we don't have adequate staff
to run the calls and get to the
patients, then we are not able
to do our job which is saving
Reporter: Government managers
are trying to increase pays
though voters and elected
officials are not always keen to
hand more tax dollars to
workers.
>> There is a cost-of-living
adjustment that will go into
effect for the next fiscal year.
Reporter: Even though inflation
is higher than 4%?
>> Absolutely.
And we cannot compete with
inflation.
Reporter: Governments are also
recruiting by singing the
virtues of public service.
>> Government gets a bad rap.
Reporter: But says Davis --
>> I was in the Marine Corps for
27 years and people that work at
local government, they are as
patriotic as any marine or
soldier that I have ever lead in
30 years.
They want to make a difference.
Reporter: It only goes so far.
>> The challenges when you are
asking employees to give more
but they still have bills to
pay, that makes it more
difficult in the long run.
Cannot pay them what is
competitive in the market.
Reporter: As it turns out, even
Davis himself has been poached
by another local government.
He switched jobs shortly after
this interview.