WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) - “Now hiring” signs are all around the property at Airxcel in the 3000 block of North St. Francis in Wichita. As part of an expansion, the advanced manufacturing company is looking to hire about 100 new employees. This comes after Airxcel added 265 jobs last year, driven by growing demand for RVs for which the company manufactures components. Airxcel CEO Jeff Rutherford said the company has strategies to get openings filled.
“The culture and interaction that people have that really drives other people (here),” he said. “We do offer some referral bonuses and a lot of people take advantage of that.”
Getting job openings filled is an issue companies across Kansas are struggling with. Kansas Governor Laura Kelly meth with the Kansas Chamber and business leaders Tuesday (June 1). That followed a call that Kansas, like many neighboring states, bring an early end to the extra $300 in unemployment benefits. The Kansas Chamber said that is one of the biggest culprits for keeping people out of the labor market.
Wichita state Center for Economic Development and Business Research Director Jeremy Hill said he pushes back against the idea that extra unemployment benefits are creating the tight labor market.
“Increased job openings (are) definitely a sign that businesses not only see the current economy strengthening up, but the future economy strengthening up,” he said.
Hill pointed to four main reasons for the current labor market: labor allocation—where workers are living, wage growth—which he said has increased more nationwide than in Kansas over the last few years, disruption of the labor market—with people having to stay home to care for children or a loved one during the pandemic, friction—with people having skills that are no longer needed, and other factors including the retirement of more Baby Boomers.
Unemployment in the Wichita area/Sedgwick County also remains higher than the rest of the state. Hill said that is largely due to layoffs in the aerospace industry before the pandemic. Many of those jobs have yet to return.
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June 03, 2021 at 11:29AM
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Filling job openings a continued challenge across Kansas - KWCH
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