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
By DAVID A. LIEB
Published - Jul 28, 2023, 12:24 AM ET
Last Updated - Jul 28, 2023, 12:24 AM EDT
FULTON, Mo. (AP) — 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.
