US factories desperate for workers, even as ranks of jobless remains high By Reuters – Investing.com

US factories desperate for workers, even as ranks of jobless remains high By Reuters – Investing.com

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© Reuters. Matt Arnold, CEO of Look Trailers, tours the company's utility trailer manufacturing facility in Middlebury



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By Timothy Aeppel (Reuters) - Matt Arnold just spent $5,000 to run help-wanted ads for his company's five trailer factories scattered from Pennsylvania to Utah. "We hired two from the ads," said Arnold, just a fraction of the 125 he needs to get back to full strength of 673 workers. Half the welding jobs at his Texas plant are open, for instance, creating a bottleneck in an operation that builds trailers on metal frames. U.S. manufacturers have long grumbled about labor shortages, but the past year has proven particularly frustrating. As the pandemic pushed millions out of work, most from service industries such as hotels and restaurants, many factories were pushed into overdrive by surging demand for everything from pickup trucks to