She received an offer on site and accepted it.
Justin Johnson also had a job when he showed up at an office of Express Employment Professionals. He worked for an animal feed company and made $ 14 an hour shoveling piles of mud or oats. But that week the temperatures exceeded 90 degrees and went over 100 every day.
“The supervisor pushed people too hard,” said Johnson. He had to bring his own water and if it was a slow day he would be sent home early without paying for the lost hours.
He accepted an offer to work at a bottle packaging factory the next day and made $ 16.50.
Amy Barber Terschluse, owner of three express franchises in St. Louis, is primarily involved in manufacturing, sales, and administration. Wages, hours, and commuting are most important to job seekers, she said, and few would work for less than $ 14 an hour.
Ms. Terschluse said she also needs to train employers who have become accustomed to low wages and the ability to dictate schedules and other conditions.
Some employers, she said, have also gotten into a “vicious cycle of replace, replace, replace”.
In industries like hospitality and warehousing, annual turnover rates can exceed 100 percent, which can dampen overall growth. Mary C. Daly, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, said that good job matches between employers and workers produce the highest productivity and engagement.
A dynamic job market is one where both sides negotiate compensation, Ms. Daly said. If unemployment benefits allow people to be a little more picky about not being destitute, she said, “as an economist, I predict that in the long run this will be better for job matches and a better economy.”
