To the Editor:
Great article on the labor shortage at restaurants in The Villages, but unfortunately it does not end there. Every trade in Marion and surrounding counties are having the same issue. Electricians, plumbers, air conditioning companies, etc. are all in the same boat as well. Some of us are offering up to a $1,500 sign-on bonus with wages ranging $20-$30 an hour and are still not getting any applicants.
Due to the lack of employees we are currently not accepting any new customers and are starting to lose some of our existing ones and I have heard stories like this from all sorts of businesses.
I am not sure about the solution, but I think one option would be for the government to offer incentives to go back to work instead of ones making it easier to stay at home making just enough to stay home.
George Ishak
Ocala
