Spending shortage affects SWFL businesses as much as worker shortage

Big companies like Uline and Tesla are moving into Southwest Florida, but some worry the area can’t sustain that level of growth due to a shortage of spending as much as a shortage of labor.

Prices have gone up everywhere. That, paired with inflation, has fewer people going out to eat at restaurants or to shop. Overall, Southwest Floridians are living more frugally than they perhaps used to, sometimes as a matter of necessity.

Leaders with CareerSource Southwest Florida, like communications manager Amy Hanna-Eckenrode, say it’s the drop in people’s spending more than just a lack of staff that has some local businesses holding back on hiring staff or operating below full capacity as they wait to see what happens.

“Right now, we are remaining cautiously optimistic,” Hanna-Eckenrode said. “I think everybody is in a… somewhat of a little bit of a holding pattern to make any kind of guesses or educated guesses as to what’s going to be happening in the near future. We’re all… it’s a waiting game. And we’re going to wait to see what happens with the economy, with the supply chain issues, with people coming into the workforce.”

The restaurant industry is still struggling, and some of you may have seen your favorite places limit what’s on the menu, but restaurants aren’t the only ones who need help, nor is the worker shortage an issue unique to Southwest Florida. Across the country, there are major vacancies in the health care, service and construction industries, too, to name a few.

CareerSource Southwest Florida says we are also in need of workers in those fields here, as well as workers in the trucking and transportation industry due to the growth Southwest Florida is experiencing.

“I think you’ll notice that a lot of businesses… you see a lot more staffing at present,” Hanna-Eckenrode said. “But for a lot of businesses, they are still struggling. And you will notice, especially in the service industry, restaurants may not be able to open to full capacity; they don’t have enough staff for coverage, so parts of their restaurant may be shut down, sectioned off… you know, until they are able to get a full complement of staffing.”

While CareerSource is cautiously optimistic, there is no telling how or when we’ll find a solution to this worker shortage or the spending shortage. Hanna-Eckenrode says, however, that Southwest Florida has an advantage when it comes to the worker shortage, at least: The people who continue moving to the area are mostly work-ready.