As employers continue to struggle navigating through the ongoing workforce shortage, more businesses are looking at increasing wages to attract new employees.
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Wisconsin Employer Survey (winter 2022 edition), released Monday by
Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce (WMC), shows that eight in 10 companies in the state plan to raise wages by 3% or more this year. Data provided also shows that 34% of businesses in Wisconsin said they plan to raise wages by over 4%.
These planned increases in wages comes at a time when 88% of Wisconsin businesses are struggling to attract new workers, according to the WMC survey. This number is up slightly from a WMC survey
released last June, which showed 86% of employers saying they were struggling with hiring.
“Wages are rising much faster than they have in recent memory,” said
Kurt Bauer, WMC president and chief executive officer. “Wisconsin does not have enough people to fill the jobs we have available and that creates an aggressive competition for talent. We are seeing wages rise at a faster rate, sign-on bonuses, work flexibility and many other strategies from companies to retain talent.”
To conduct the Wisconsin Employer Survey, WMC surveyed 265 employers that make up a representative sample of its membership. Businesses of all sizes, industries and geographic locations in Wisconsin were included.
Labor availability is the top concern for businesses surveyed, with 55% of respondents selecting this as their biggest issue. Supply chain came in second, with 19% of businesses surveyed saying it is their biggest concern, and health care costs is third, with 6% of respondents marking it as their top concern.
In the next six months, 68% of businesses surveyed expect their number of employees to increase, 2% say their numbers will decrease, and 30% expect no change.
The Wisconsin Employer Survey also gauged how much optimism business owners currently have when it comes to Wisconsin’s economy. When asked to rate the current economy, 53% of those businesses surveyed said they thought it was strong, 44% gave it a moderate rating, and 3% said it was weak.
The state’s economy received a better response than the U.S. economy, with 13% of respondents saying the U.S. economy is weak, 47% giving it a moderate rating, and 39% saying it is strong.
Business owners surveyed have a positive outlook of the Wisconsin economy, with 58% expecting moderate growth over the next six months. Only 3% of businesses surveyed expect a decline in the Wisconsin economy over the next six months, while 33% expect it to remain flat and 7% expect good growth.
“Wisconsin’s business community is cautiously optimistic about the economy moving forward,” said Bauer. “While employers are still confident in their own business, historic inflation, supply chain challenges and a persistence workforce shortage are clearly impacting their outlook in 2022."
