Help wanted in Rehoboth

Downtown Cowgirl co-owner Erin Kesselring recently did something she's never done in the Rehoboth Avenue store's 12 year history: post a help wanted sign.

“We’re always looking at the beginning of the season, as far back as March. We’ve had it posted since the beginning of April. This is the first time we’ve ever posted a sign or posted on our social media in 12 years,” she said.

Social media postings have led to plenty of shares, Kesselring said, but they haven't led to people coming through the door to apply.

Kesselring and Downtown Cowgirl are not alone. Trey Kraus, owner of Carlton’s, said he also had to put up a help wanted sign for the first time.

“I don’t think it’s a seasonal thing,” Kraus said. “I think what’s happened is, jobs are up, but wages are down. I think the demand has outstripped the inventory of people out there. Walking around town, you see signs in places you didn’t expect.”

Carlton’s is getting some help from the J-1 student visa program, as Kraus is hiring four international students to work at the shop. In addition, the store could pick up some international students looking for second jobs. Kesselring said she has not seen many of the international students come in yet, as they often come in for applications looking for additional work.

And it's not just clothing stores having trouble filling the ranks. America’s Pie co-owner Jenn Gummel said the Rehoboth Avenue pizza shop has been looking high and low for drivers and cashiers. She’s placed pictures in the window, ads on Indeed.com and Craigslist and postings in local newspapers. She said so far Indeed has been the best driver of perspective applicants; she felt like her paid ads were getting lost in the shuffle of so many other businesses looking for employees.

“It’s been like this since we opened. We’ve struggled to find people, especially in the winter,” Gummel said.

America’s Pie opened in September, and Gummel was nervous about what to expect entering its first summer with a short staff.

“I’m definitely having a tough time,” she said.

All the business owners are at a loss to explain why there are fewer people applying for jobs.

“I don’t know. I’ve been asking people, ‘Is it us?’” Gummel said. “I just think it's definitely fewer people coming down for summer help. I don’t know if they decided not to do it anymore or what.”

One factor she thinks has contributed is that as a Rehoboth Avenue restaurant, people may think America’s Pie is closed during the winter like many other stores, particularly on the beach block.

“Everybody seems to believe there are all these people moving down here, but why is there not a bigger pool of workers?” Kraus said. “I don’t know what the answer is.”

“I don’t know, do people still work?” Kesselring asked sarcastically. She said one applicant who was hired ended up quitting because she was asked to dust. Another applicant, who had great qualifications, Kesselring said, ended up taking another job before starting.

“I don’t know if they want to work restaurants and make money or what,” she said. “I wish I had a good answer. Where are the kids in high school that need a job?”

Kraus said he pays more than the outlets and that his work force tends to skew older, with mostly full-time, not seasonal workers. But he’s brought on international students the last few years to fill out the workforce during the summer months.

He said with U.S. students, particularly college students, often have graduation, then post-graduation activities and then other commitments during the summer before going back to school in August. Kraus said Carlton’s tried hiring American students again last year but was frequently short-staffed. He said he wished he’d hired two or three more international students in addition to the four he already has.

George Sharpley, chief of the Delaware Division of Labor’s Office of Occupational and Labor Market Information, said, “There are definitely fewer jobseekers per job opening than at any time since the recession. That is a consequence of continued job growth and a declining unemployment rate.”

Sharpley said the March unemployment rate in Sussex County of 4.9 percent is the lowest March rate since 2007. He said fewer young people are seeking work, with the labor force participation rate now 33 percent for males and 32 percent for females, down from over 60 percent for teenagers since the 1990s.

Sharpley said labor-participation rates for men 20 to 24 also declined, with just 72 percent in the labor force, well below the 20-year average of 80 percent. He said women 20 to 24 have a participation rate of 75 percent.

As for why young people are not seeking work, like Rehoboth business owners, Sharpley is at a loss.

“I don't think anyone knows for sure. It is a national thing, not just local. I think it is mostly that more people are going to school after high school and are less likely to be seeking work than someone who is done with formal schooling,” he said. “In addition, doing volunteer work may be more helpful to someone trying to get into a selective school than working a typical summer job.”