Labor Shortage or a Housing Shortage? Companies Aim to Fix One with the Other
Many companies take a ‘if you build it, they will come’ approach to filling open job positions.
“It’s a labor-market issue they’re solving, not a housing-market problem,” said Chris Herbert, managing director of the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University.
Facing a national unemployment rate of 3.6% as of April 2022, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, along with record-high job openings and turnover, companies face the challenge of filling open positions.
To help attract employees to fill positions, meat packer JBS USA Holdings Inc., along with other companies such as Walt Disney, plan to add housing near job sites.
Both availability and affordability are among the top issues when it comes to finding housing for employees.
Where available housing doesn’t exist, companies might provide house and apartment options for employees to own or rent, in contract with employment.
On the flip side, employers in locations with high-cost housing might offer a housing subsidy to help with expenses.
This ‘Field of Dreams’ logic might help attract employees and encourage them to stay, filling the essential openings within companies.
