(The Center Square) — South Carolina is among the top states where employers are struggling the most in hiring workers, a new analysis revealed.
According to the analysis from personal finance site WalletHub, the Palmetto State ranked fifth, behind Georgia (No. 4) and ahead of North Carolina (No. 8).
“The state registers a 7.10% increase in job openings compared to the previous month and a 7.21% spike in the last year,” WalletHub analyst Jill Gonzalez told The Center Square via email. “This number could indicate that businesses are expanding and creating new job opportunities for citizens, but not many take advantage of them.”
While blaming the worker shortage on people not wanting to work might be tempting, Gonzalez said the reasons are more complicated.
“It mostly comes down to employers adapting to the current trends in job requirements that many seek nowadays, such as schedule flexibility and more competitive wages,” Gonzalez said. “It might also be a matter of skill mismatch, which makes people hesitate to take on jobs where they feel unqualified.”
Nationally, Alaska topped the list, followed by West Virginia and Louisiana, while New York ranked at the bottom, edging out Washington and New Jersey. Many residents are fleeing northeastern and West Coast states and opting for southeastern states, like South Carolina and Georgia, a move that might also contribute to the worker shortage.
“States with affordable housing costs and more access to quality healthcare usually attract a higher number of job seekers to a state,” Gonzalez said. “Industry diversity, training opportunities and income growth are also aspects that influence a state’s job market, making it more appealing to people.”
On Monday, state officials said South Carolina saw “modest declines” in the number of job openings, hirings and people quitting their jobs. Additionally, the number of layoffs remained unchanged at “very low levels” during the last month.
“The numbers shown here reflect the national trend, which is a modest cooling of the labor market from the frenzy we saw coming out of the pandemic,” Bryan Grady, assistant executive director for Labor Market Information at the South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce, said in an announcement. “The number of businesses looking to hire remains very high, and we’ve seen South Carolina’s labor force participation rate rise throughout 2023 as workers come off the sidelines to take advantage of those opportunities.”
