How can this be?

[impik]

Some Firms Struggle to Hire Despite High Unemployment

In Bloomington, Ill., machine shop Mechanical Devices can't find the workers it needs to handle a sharp jump in business. Job fairs run by airline Emirates attract fewer applicants in the U.S. than in other countries. Truck-stop operator Pilot Flying J says job postings don't elicit many more applicants than they did when the unemployment rate was below 5%.

With a 9.5% jobless rate and some 15 million Americans looking for work, many employers are inundated with applicants. But a surprising number say they are getting an underwhelming response, and many are having trouble filling open positions.

"This is as bad now as at the height of business back in the 1990s," says Dan Cunningham, chief executive of the Long-Stanton Manufacturing Co., a maker of stamped-metal parts in West Chester, Ohio, that has been struggling to hire a few toolmakers. "It's bizarre. We are just not getting applicants."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704895004575395491314812452.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_LEFTTopStories

[raccoon]

1. I suggest these firms advertise in other states/cities if they can't find people locally.

Sounds unbelievable to me, though.

[leveymg]

2. A lot of discouraged workers, an Arab airline, and not many tool and dye makers left in America.

These are anomalies - most employers see 30-100 or more applicants for each open position they advertise.

[Jennicut]

3. Low skilled and high skilled jobs are harder to fill, naturally.

Most people don't want the pay cut that low skilled jobs offer and the higher skilled jobs require certain certificates and specialized training. Offering training programs that lead to the job seems to be the way to go. As for the low skilled jobs, well....no one wants to be paid peanuts. "Globalization" is to blame.

[Th1onein]

4. Sounds like bullshit to me.

I'm in a position to hire constantly and, in this economy, I can be VERY picky. Almost a hundred people a day are calling when I run an ad.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

5. Something ain't right....(nt)

[Bluenorthwest]

6. So Americans not rushing to work for the Emirates

you see as some form of statement that is negative about Americans? I remember the last version of this bull, it was John McCain spouting off about lettuce pickers getting 15 an hour and no one would do it. That was also bull, also Republican bull.
You are pulling into focus.

[sandnsea]

7. Trades

We've done a terrible job creating a path for young people to be trained for a trade or know where to go to look for a job when they are trained.

[Starry Messenger]

8. How can what be?