Mounting job vacancies push state and local governments into a wage war for workers
Pay is rising for many public sector employees as governments try to compete for new workers and stem a tide of retirements and resignations FULTON, Mo. -- At the entrance to Missouri prisons, large signs plead for help: “NOW HIRING” ... “GREAT PAY & BENEFITS." No experience is necessary. Anyone 18 and older can apply. Long hours are guaranteed. Though the assertion of “great pay” for prison guards would have seemed dubious in the past, a series of state pay raises prompted by widespread vacancies has finally made a difference. The Missouri Department of Corrections set a record for new applicants last month. “After we got our raise, we started seeing people come out of the woodwork, people that hadn’t worked in a while,” said Maj. Albin Narvaez, chief of custody at the Fulton Reception and Diagnostic Center, where new prisoners are housed and evaluated. Public employers across the U.S. have faced similar struggles to fill jobs, leading to one of the largest surges in state go...