Labor shortage made 2022 brutal year for business

Throughout 2022, employers large and small in the Northwest Corner suffered unprecedented challenges that can be boiled down to two words that deluged roadsides, storefronts, and message boards: Help Wanted.

For most of the year, just about every sector — health care, manufacturing, retail, daycare, nonprofit, hospitality, recreation and farming — faced a crippling worker shortage on top of the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, rising inflation and the evolving needs and desires of employees.

Summer was brutal for restaurants and businesses dependent on a busy tourist season. Customers were out in full force for the first time since the pandemic started, but a lack of staff due to resignations or illness forced some business owners to curtail hours of operation while others had little choice but to permanently close.

The community pool in Falls Village came days away from closing for the summer because of a lifeguard shortage. Sharon Daycare Center struggled to keep up with demand from the community, with 11 infants and toddlers on a wait list until more teachers could be hired.

May saw a surge in Help Wanted online postings Leading the industry sectors with the most job postings were health care and social assistance, finance and insurance, retail trade and manufacturing.

The lack of affordable housing is at the root of the worker shortage, particularly in Litchfield County, said state officials.

“It’s not just employees, it’s volunteer ambulance personnel and firefighters. And we have an aging community, although we did pick up some young families during the pandemic, but now we have to make sure we can keep them here,” State Rep. Maria Horn (D-64) said during an interview this past summer.

Connecticut small businesses leaders and organizations joined forces calling on policymakers to use federal pandemic relief funds to address the unemployment debt crisis threatening the state’s economic recovery.

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