In his “State of State” address, Gov. Tony Evers said he will call a special legislature session on how to use the state’s $3.8 billion projected budget surplus to tackle a statewide labor shortage.
Nearly nine in 10 Wisconsin employers report they are struggling to hire despite a statewide 2.8% unemployment rate, according to a Wisconsin Employer Survey.
Business confidence is diminishing, according to the survey. Approximately 55% of Wisconsin employers said labor availability was their top concern, and 88% percent of employers reported having difficulty hiring. This has resulted in businesses substantially increasing wages to attract workers.
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Wisconsin has lost two years of economic growth in returning to pre-pandemic employment levels, Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce Vice President of Communications & Marketing Nick Novak said.
“Our labor force participation rate is roughly the same as it was pre-pandemic but about 10 points lower than it was in the late 1990s,” said Novak. “We’ve seen a dip in the last twenty years and if we’re not getting more people involved in the workforce, that’s going to be a challenge moving forward.”
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The survey found that 82% of Wisconsin businesses expect to increase wages by 4%, but only 68% of businesses anticipate the number of their employees to increase.
The challenges of a smaller labor force have affected Wisconsin employers for decades, Evers said in his speech.
“But with so many Wisconsinites already working, I know employers struggle with the same challenges they’ve faced for a decade trying to find new workers to fill jobs,” Evers said. “We’ve gotten to work trying to find innovative, long-term solutions to the workforce challenges we face.”
Before the pandemic, the state had invested $60 million dollars in programs designed to increase the number of workers in Wisconsin, Evers said. Some of these programs included job training and making childcare more accessible, Evers said.
Evers plans to do even more to help employers with Wisconsin’s $3.8 billion projected budget surplus.
“Tomorrow, I will sign an executive order calling a special session of this Legislature to take up my surplus plan,” Evers said. “Let’s help address rising costs, let’s help make sure folks can afford to join our workforce, and let’s do what’s best for our kids. This is the people’s money. Let’s get it back to them.”
