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Louisiana employment rate reaches historical high

5 years 10 months 6 days ago Tuesday, May 22 2018 May 22, 2018 May 22, 2018 6:29 PM May 22, 2018 in News
Source: WBRZ

BATON ROUGE - With the second special session of the year underway, Governor John Bel Edwards said the state needs to take advantage of its positive momentum, which includes the most people with jobs in the history of the state.

With so many people already with jobs, it's putting a strain on employers looking to fill positions.

Jason Broome is a district manger at Domino's Pizza. Lately, he's had to make deliveries himself because he can't find drivers.

"At this Government Street location, we have a $200 sign-on bonus. We do have other sign-on bonuses going on throughout the Baton Rouge market," Broome told WBRZ. "Here, we need another five or ten people. I need delivery experts."

Snelling, a hiring agency, is even having a hard time finding people to work for them.

Hiring specialist Natalie Roby says in her 12 years of staffing, she's never seen anything like this before in the job market.

The tight worker's market is being blamed partly on Louisiana's all-time low unemployment rate, a whopping 4.5%, which is slightly higher than the national rate.

In addition to fewer people looking for jobs, hiring experts also say a lot of companies are doing more to keep their employees.

"Companies are now offering more perks to keep their employees, that's bonuses, more paid time off, flexible schedules to keep their employees," Roby said.

As for Broome, he doesn't mind making and delivering pizza, but he's serious about finding good workers.

"You come over and see me, I'm going to give you an interview," he said.

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