S.C. industries, especially hospitality, still feeling worker shortage crunch.

By Christina Lee Knauss

The popular Midlands restaurant chain Lizard's Thicket closed its Beltline Boulevard location in recent weeks. There's nothing wrong with the building and the chain isn't giving up on the location it's a temporary shutdown because there isn't enough staff to keep it open.

The locally owned chain joins many restaurants around the state in facing a labor shortage, happening despite recent statistics that show the unemployment rate in South Carolina falling overall and the hiring rate in many industries, including leisure and hospitality, increasing.

Ending a statewide labor shortage was a goal of S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster's directive to end federal pandemic unemployment benefits starting June 26. South Carolina was one of 26 states to withdraw federal benefits before they ended nationwide on Sept. 6. While some industries, hospitality in particular, have seen employment numbers increase, they are still not attracting enough workers to operate at normal, pre-pandemic levels.

"The hospitality sector was experiencing staffing challenges before the pandemic began, and COVID-19 exacerbated the problem," said Duane Parrish, director of the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation & Tourism. "When restaurants and hotels had to make decisions to close temporarily or reduce services during the height of the pandemic, many hospitality employees lost their jobs and found new work in other industries. South Carolina tourism has exceeded expectations this summer, which has helped propel our recovery, but the labor shortage in hospitality continues to be a real challenge."

The most recent data available from the South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce showed a dip in the state's unemployment rate from 4.5% in June to 4.3.% in July, below the national unemployment rate of 5.4%. According to DEW's monthly household survey, July saw an increase of 10,217 employed people from the June estimate and an increase of 55,704 more people working this year than in July 2020.

"July was one of the best jobs reports the state has had since last year," said Erica Von Nessen, an economist with DEW. "Between June and July, that's the highest month-over-month growth rate since last August, and more than half of the new jobs added were in the leisure and hospitality sector.

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