For the second year in a row, St. Louis-area employers are saying that a shortage of qualified workers is the biggest hindrance to expanding employment here.
That follows years in which employers complained that a slow economy or government regulation were the biggest obstacles, according to new report from St. Louis Community College.
Six out of 10 business leaders surveyed this year complain that the remaining job seekers here often have a weak work ethic and poor interpersonal and problem-solving skills.
Complaints about the applicant pool have grown as unemployment in the St. Louis area has shrunk, from a high of 10.4 percent in 2009 to 4.6 percent as of June. The number of people looking for work here shrank from 104,000 in 2013 to 68,000 in May, a 35-percent decline in three years.
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The community college surveyed 478 employers, concentrating this year on businesses in health care, manufacturing and logistics. Those industries provide a quarter of the jobs in metro St. Louis.
Last year’s survey targeted a broad collection of St. Louis industries but produced similar complaints about the applicant pool.
“We believe this reflected a largely recovered economy and a tight labor market,” wrote the authors of the report, titled State of the St. Louis Workforce 2016.
About half of surveyed businesses cited as their biggest headache a lack of applicants with the right knowledge and skills. That was followed by economic conditions and government policies and regulation.
The report bodes well for hiring this year. The survey found that 42 percent of employers in the three targeted industries plan to expand employment over the next 12 months, while 57 percent expect to hold steady, and less than 2 percent expect cuts.
It found that 35 percent of employers added new jobs in the past year. Of the rest, 53 percent showed no change, and 12 percent planned to cut their work force.
