Labor shortages, higher minimum wage and inflation hikes challenge small businesses

By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant

Need a few good people? You’re not alone.

John Zanewych, owner of Big John Sales in Oswego, struggles to find good salespeople.

“It’s always hard to find quality people,” he said. “It’s hard getting them to stay.”

His sales staff work on a commission basis. If they don’t make money right away, they tend to leave. “You’ve got to be in it for the long haul.”

During the pandemic, his costs spiked for the heating equipment he sells. Though the costs have leveled out, “because of inflation, they’re not as low as they used to be,” Zanewych said.

Staffing woes have also challenged Jim Sollecito, lifetime senior NYS certified landscape professional and owner of Sollecito Landscaping Nursery, LLC in Syracuse.

Sollecito founded his business in Oswego 51 years ago. Physical laborers were pretty easy to find back then, he said. “Usually I would hire hungry-for-money summer college help, which is virtually non existent anymore. Blame it on COVID, or for many the helicopter parents who micro-manage and try to do everything to keep their kids from failing, including getting employment applications. Their kids really don’t want to work, and if they start, they usually don’t last long. For those that do, the real minimum wage is at least $18 an hour, and even then it is sometimes not sufficient to entice interest from Gen Z.”

Sollecito maintains a solid core of employees, some of which has been with the company for more than 30 years, but he realizes that the physical labor is taxing. He has hired 15-year-olds to help with the “heavy lifting” in the garden center.

“The hope is that when they are 18, they are still with us and we can send some out on the crew for planting work,” Sollecito said.

He used to take fishing trips to Alaska but feels he no longer can leave the business for 10 days at a time.

Inflation also has affected the business and has allocation.

“So, we now buy far ahead of time and inventory the items so we have them when we need them,” Sollecito said.

Despite the challenges of the nursery and landscaping business, Sollecito, 70, plans to stick with it.

“I chose this career, and at age ‘sixty-ten’ am not about to change course now,” he added.

Labor difficulties also plague Janet Yuckel, owner of Done Right Cleaning, which serves Oswego, Onondaga, Oneida, and Madison counties.

“People think they’re worth more than they are,” Yuckel said. “I don’t think a 20-year-old is worth $25 an hour. If I start out someone at $17, I’ll go up to $20. I can’t get people for that. McDonald’s pays $15. I feel like they don’t want to work no matter what you give them. Or they don’t have daycare. That’s the other issue.”

She has had to turn away business because she can’t staff enough cleaners to complete the work available. Currently, she has three employees, one of whom she just hired. Before the pandemic, she had eight. The shortage has caused her to change her cleaning schedule with some clients, allowing more time between cleaning sessions.

“I don’t mind paying people well if they will work,” Yuckel said. “But I don’t want people who are here to just collect a paycheck and then I get complaints. The workers want more and more and more and it never ends. Some think they’ll work for a month and get a dollar an hour raise.”

She has also struggled with reliability. Some employees call in the day before an appointment and expect Yuckel to plan to cover the lapse in work.

The absence of applications has prompted positive change at some businesses.

A lack of workers caused Beacon Hotel to shift to Beacon Office Space and Executive Suites. In 2022, the Oswego-based lodging transitioned from hotel lodging to long-term stays because they could not find staff after the pandemic.

“After COVID, it seemed like no one wanted to work,” said Julie Avery, general manager. “I couldn’t keep working as long as I was working. I was swamped. I couldn’t do it anymore.”

Many guests stay a month or more and clean up after themselves during their stay, although staff clean between guests. The pivot to a long-term stay model has helped keep vacancy low. Beacon is across the street from Oswego Hospital, a boon to medical personnel coming to the area for a long-term stay.

Beacon offers 11 rooms and an apartment and provides a laundry area and communal kitchen.