Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, April 30, 1995 TAG: 9504290024
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: F-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JEFF STURGEON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Owens made clear he wasn't complaining about the level of wages in any particular area or industry. But when asked about a shortage of labor developing in the Roanoke Valley, he said the reality of the situation is that some workers may find it more advantageous to sign up for a government welfare program and enjoy their leisure time rather than work.
If that's happening, he suggested, it could help explain why state labor officials and some employers believe there is a shortage of people interested in jobs, particularly those paying $4.25 to $6 per hour without benefits.
The state's unemployment program pays benefits that equal the gross wages of a $2.60-an-hour job to a person with a history of making $5 an hour. Although welfare benefits can't be collected in full by a person on unemployment, a jobless adult with two children and no such conflict could receive benefits equal to the gross wages of a job paying $3.16 per hour. Those benefits come from the food-stamp program and Aid to Families with Dependent Children.
As it stands, a single mother with children receiving welfare benefits risks her financial security by taking a $4.25-an-hour job, said Ted Edlich, president of Total Action Against Poverty, a community help organization. Although she could continue to receive health insurance for herself and children for as much as a year, a day-care subsidy available to such persons would be temporary. Eventually, she would have to pay day care costs by herself from her meager wages, Edlich said.
If she loses the job, she faces a waiting period without any funds coming in before regaining benefits.
"Most people can get a $4.25-an-hour job," he said. "I don't think that's the problem."
Fortunately for people such as those Edlich wants to help, labor shortages tend to draw up wage rates, Owens said.
It's unclear how widely that's happening here. The state's only regional measure of wage trends, the average weekly wage of manufacturing workers, came in at $523.75 in February, adjusted for inflation. That exceeds the figure for February 1994 by 2.4 percent.
Meanwhile, Edlich believes the outlook for the region's gaining better-paying jobs is poor. He said he has determined that many of the new jobs in the area are low-paying or part-time positions, or both.
Last year, Edlich said the VEC, social services officials and his organization sent letters to 500 area companies asking how many people they could employ at $7, the wage at which "people can get above poverty and can make it on their own." The request was triggered by a welfare-to-work proposal in state government that was not enacted. Under that plan the government would have paid a portion of each workers' wages for a period of time.
Edlich said no company could commit to hiring workers.
"I don't think it's that you've got a bunch of people who would rather be poor and not work," Edlich said. "These folks are not readily absorbed" at a pay rate that will cover their normal living expenses, Edlich said.
by CNB