By NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Hutchinson and Reno County are continuing to have the same workforce issues as the rest of the country.
"We have started a Greater Hutch jobs portal on our greaterhutch.com website," said Chamber of Commerce CEO Debra Teufel. "That's our economic development focused website. If you go to that site and you go to job portal, we do have some specific jobs that have just been posted recently."
Teufel gave an example of one business she has visited that has plenty of demand to expand.
"We have companies that are trying to add positions, add shifts," Teufel said. "I was just at Kansas Protein Foods. They opened their company just three years ago and have continued to grow and they are trying to go 24-7. They have just moved to 24 hours a day, five days a week. They are trying to move to 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They have incredible customer base there."
The unemployment rate in Hutchinson dropped a percentage point in the last month.
"We're trending in the right direction," Teufel said. "What that means, though, when you get to 3.5% unemployment is, we're almost at full employment. It's tougher than ever and so companies have to work harder and harder to try to fill their open positions."
The unemployment rate in 2020 was 5.7%.