“There’s a lot of hoarding going on – and still lots of hiring in industries that are experiencing strong demand,” said Dana Peterson, the chief economist at the Conference Board in New York.
The survey showed most CEOs expect the next downturn to be short and shallow. “If that’s the case,” said Peterson, “it makes sense to hold onto your labor force.”Arnold Kamler, the CEO of Kent International, learned that the hard way. Demand for the bicycles that the company imports and manufactures at a small factory in South Carolina was insatiable during the pandemic.
“I thought that when we went to rehire in March, we would have no problem ramping up,” he said. But only about a third of the workers returned and the company is now scrambling to find and train new employees. The factory currently has 85 workers, but Kamler would like 110.Julia Pollak, chief economist at ZipRecruiter in Los Angeles, said employers tell her they are retaining workers they wouldn’t normally keep because of concerns they will have problems ramping up. But she sees a limit to this.