The issue is labor quality, not quantity.
2AC NFIB 6-15, The NFIB Research Foundation has collected Small Business Economic Trends data with quarterly surveys since the 4th quarter of 1973 and monthly surveys since 1986. Survey respondents are drawn from NFIB’s membership. The report is released on the second Tuesday of each month. This survey was conducted in May 2023. 6-15-2023, "Small Business Economics Trends," NFIB Small Business Association, https://www.nfib.com/surveys/small-business-economic-trends/ ---ML
Forty-four percent (seasonally adjusted) of all owners reported job openings they could not fill in the current period, down 1 point from April. Thirty-eight percent have openings for skilled workers (up 1 point) and 20 percent have openings for unskilled labor (up 1 point). The difficulty in filling open positions is particularly acute in the construction, transportation, and manufacturing sectors where compensation gains are more frequently reported. Openings are lowest in the agriculture and finance sectors. Owners’ plans to fill open positions remain elevated, with a seasonally adjusted net 19 percent planning to create new jobs in the next three months, up 2 points from April but 13 points below its record high reading of 32 reached in August 2021. Overall, 63 percent reported hiring or trying to hire in May, up 3 points from April. Fifty-five percent (89 percent of those hiring or trying to hire) of owners reported few or no qualified applicants for the positions they were trying to fill (unchanged). Thirty one percent of owners reported few qualified applicants for their open positions (up 2 points) and 24 percent reported none (down 2 points).