Local businesses struggle to keep up amid skilled labor shortage

Area mechanics grow frustrated as more unqualified workers fill needed jobs.

“The unqualified people are getting paid more than what they should be getting just because they’re filling a void, and we need them. It’s just sad,” said Joe Conant, owner of Conant Automotive.

Conant says in the past five years trying to hire a qualified worker has become, “an absolute nightmare.”

“They’re saying it’s the millennials. They don’t like to get their hands dirty. But, it’s not that at all. It’s that we’re not planting the seed saying, here look this is kind of neat,” said Conant.

So, Conant is taking matters into his own hands.

“I’ve been going to the school system and hiring high school kids to train them. If they want to have this as a career, I’ll supplement their tuition for the tech school,” said Conant. Read more…

Local businesses struggle to keep up amid skilled labor shortage