Special Questions

Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey

Data were collected January 18–26, and 95 Texas manufacturers responded to the survey.

NOTE: 94 responses.

NOTES: 66 responses. This question was only posed to those negatively impacted over the past month by the current surge of COVID-19.

NOTE: 94 responses.

*This answer added to the survey in January 2022.
NOTES: 78 responses. This question was only posed to those currently trying to hire or recall workers.

NOTES: 56 responses. This question was only posed to those noting a lack of available applicants/no applicants.

NOTE: 93 responses.

Special Questions Comments

These comments have been edited for publication.

• Two employees quit for other jobs. This is out of 105 employees.

• If you people in government would stop paying people not to work, we could hire all the workers we need.

• We are at capacity, people and equipment wise. Retirements (two out of 31 employees, with no replacements currently available) and very few new applicants have affected productivity. Over the last six months, younger new hires have quit or failed random drug tests a few months after they were hired.

• We need workers but are not even making an effort to hire.
• We have been very generous with our sick pay due to workers having COVID, and all have come back to work now.

• We have so far not felt any issues from the “great resignation.” We have our employees working from home, and they appear to be satisfied with their jobs and the company.
• The quit rate is higher, mostly based on new hires deciding they did not want to stay/not a good fit. Longer-term employees have been a very stable workforce, with no increase in turnover.

• COVID was a plus and minus. It boosted market demand for our products, but supply and personnel problems increased our costs and inhibited our ability to supply the demand.

• A certain resignation to COVID/omicron has set in. You get vaccinated twice, get a booster, get the flu shot, mask up as warranted and go with it.

• Our quit rate has been mitigated by increasing wages—meeting competitive offers.

• Wages requested are significantly higher than in previous months.

Texas Service Sector Outlook Survey

Data were collected January 18–26, and 276 Texas business executives responded to the survey.

NOTE: 273 responses.

NOTES: 191 responses. This question was only posed to those negatively impacted over the past month by the current surge of COVID-19.

NOTE: 273 responses.

*This answer added to the survey in January 2022.
NOTES: 173 responses. This question was only posed to those currently trying to hire or recall workers.

NOTES: 128 responses. This question was only posed to those noting a lack of available applicants/no applicants.

NOTE: 274 responses.

Special Questions Comments

These comments have been edited for publication.

• Inflation and supply-chain problems are worse than COVID ever was.

• We see an  increase in attrition, especially in accounting/IT areas. Workers are looking for more flexible work schedules. (For our office, workers generally work three days in the office/two days from home.) [We are hiring] less-qualified applicants, increasing compensation/sign-on [bonuses], etc.

• Uncertainties in business conditions and expected higher costs continue to slow decisions and partnership projects in some cases.

• We were ready for distributed work. Then, we put in a new phone system and upgraded our imaging system to better accommodate at-home work.
• Business operators that require a more-rigorous, hard-labor, workforce are having a hard time filling vacancies. The quality of that labor force has been diminished.

• We have had to deal with working remotely, but our staffing has been stable, thank goodness. We have had a number of positive COVID tests lately, impacting in-person work schedules.

• We are having to throw a much wider net to get candidates.

• Inflationary wage pressure is making it hard to hire for the long term or keep your employee base intact.  None of it has to do with all the issues that dominate the talk from talking heads today. It has to do with the most money versus the easiest, least-effort opportunity available. Nothing we do is easy or of little effort. I suspect the workforce pulls its head out of its rear when a correction or recession makes jobs scarce and people start to feel the pain or fear of not providing for their family and loved ones—assuming the government doesn't jump back into the fight and pay them to do nothing again. A great lesson you taught the workforce, politicians!

• Even though the oil price has increased over the past six months, capital project work does not seem to be going forward at a significant pace. As an independent consultant in the energy arena, my work prospects have not really increased.
• [There has been an] increase in productivity disruptions and staff absences due to COVID-19 infections. In January, COVID has impacted over 30 percent of our staff—either the employee was infected or a member of their household was infected or they were exposed by close contact to someone who later tested positive. With the holiday disruption in November and December and the January COVID surge, productivity has suffered. [There has been a] loss of momentum and drive in staff psyche.
• Allowing people to work from home has extended their work life. Before the pandemic, we had several people thinking about retiring, but once we allowed them to work from home, most decided to continue to work.
• We are in a holding pattern for now.

• We've received more applications than we did for open positions last fall, but most are currently employed and appear to be looking for higher-paying positions. 
• We do not have turnover in our company; however, we are experiencing retirements in several areas.

• We see rising demand without any premium pricing. [There is] burnout, exhaustion and limited capacity.
• We need skills ranging from entry level to most highly specialized and are paying over market rates.
• This is limiting expansion but mostly fatiguing those remaining on staff.
• We work very hard on employee retention and engagement. We gave additional bonuses to all employees in December, seeking to preempt additional employee loss. Wage increases and employee shortages are the greatest challenges to our success in 2022.
• In my opinion as a small business owner, the Federal Reserve raising the interest rate to shorten liquidity in the market will not control inflation, but it does control the stock market exuberance, which is a disconnect from inflation. The inflation question is: Is it a factor of supply shortage and infusion of COVID funds into the system or a systemic issue that needs to be addressed with interest rate moderation? A key area that definitely needs to be kicked up the priority list is the human resource shortage issue that is noticed especially in health care and education environments. For example, it has been stated that 5,000 cardiologists retired and only 500 new ones are added every year. How long would it take to replace these retiring cardiologists, nurses, teachers, etc.? This is creating a real wage inflation across the board.

• The employee quit rate has remained fairly consistent, but the applications to fill vacancies are very low.

• I wish I understood where employees have gone. Everyone I know is saying the same. If the government would allow businesses to hire those coming to this country, it would solve many problems.

Texas Retail Outlook Survey

Data were collected January 18–26, and 45 Texas retailers responded to the survey.

NOTE: 45 responses.

NOTES: 28 responses. This question was only posed to those negatively impacted over the past month by the current surge of COVID-19.

NOTE: 44 responses.

*This answer added to the survey in January 2022.
NOTES: 30 responses. This question was only posed to those currently trying to hire or recall workers.

NOTES: 24 responses. This question was only posed to those noting a lack of available applicants/no applicants.

NOTE: 45 responses.

Special Questions Comments

There were no comments for the Texas Retail Outlook Survey for this release.