A third factor that contributes to the labor shortage in some areas of the state is a geographic mismatch. Workers in some areas may commute out of some areas because of higher paying jobs nearby. This issue is especially a problem for communities along the Minnesota and Illinois borders where wages are higher on average than they are in Wisconsin. To answer this question, I briefly report on data collected from 200 Dane County employers in the spring of 1999. Although employers may respond differently in various parts of the state, the responses to the labor shortage appear to be fairly consistent.
Findings reported here are generally similar to results in other Wisconsin counties.
Some of the most serious problems are at both ends of the skill continuum. Retail and other service establishments report difficulty in finding enough workers and employers hiring skilled trade workers are having a difficult time finding trained workers. The most common response is to raise wages. About one-fourth of the establishments said that benefit packages had become more important to attract qualified workers. Twenty percent of the establishments anticipate making changes in their benefit package in the next year, most of which are related to pensions and health care.