In The News

The Indianola Chamber has been an important force in making Indianola the best place to live, work and raise a family for over 100 years. Throughout the years, the Chamber leadership has continued its focus to make Indianola even better by tackling the issues at hand. 

Our issue today? Workforce. Take a drive around town and you’ll find “We’re Hiring” signs everywhere. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, for the first time in 21 years, the number of available jobs surpassed the number of job takers. This discrepancy is holding our economy back. 

Have you experienced longer than normal wait times at your favorite restaurants? Have you had longer than normal lines at the check-out? Have you noticed that restaurants, retail stores, or other businesses have cut their hours of operation or have reduced their service capacity? Have you ordered items for projects only to discover what was once a week is now months to receive? You can bet our workforce shortage is at least partially responsible for all of these inconveniences. Early retirements, individuals leaving the workforce due to daycare issues, families learning to live on less, disconnect of worker skills matching job requirements, and semi-retired individuals choosing to fully retire are just a few reasons why our workforce is shrinking. 

The answer to this issue isn’t easy, nor short. At some point, some of those leaving the workforce may choose to reenter. The problem is when. Those that don’t have skills matching jobs can be retrained, but how long will it take to retrain our workers and for them to adapt to the new jobs’ required skills? The answers simply bring more questions.   

What can you do to help? If you aren’t in the workforce or know of someone able to work but isn’t currently, check out the available jobs at indianolajobs.com and reenter the workforce. If you commute to another city to work, consider finding a job in Indianola. If you have a teenager 15 years of age or older, encourage them to consider a part-time job. You are likely to find employers who are eager to work with every job applicant. 

If you are an employer with a job opening, post your job on indianolajobs.com. The Chamber is offering the job board free to all Indianola businesses. We sincerely hope to be part of the solution in connecting job seekers with local jobs. The more jobs posted on our site, the easier it will be for job seekers to connect with you. 

Thank you in advance for being part of the solution!