'The war for talent is on:' with an increase in open jobs, Richmond area employers scramble to fill open positions

July 9, 2021 - Colleen Curran

The U.S. economy is making a comeback and local companies are scrambling to fill positions. 

U.S. employers posted a record high number of 850,000 jobs in June, the Labor Department said on July 2, a steady increase from May’s increase of 559,000. The unemployment rate was little changed, up to 5.9% in June from 5.8% in May.

“There are huge sectors of employees where remote work never has been an option: healthcare, retail, hospitality, manufacturing, and the like,” said S. Douglas Pugh, interim dean for Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of Business who previously served as chair of the school’s department of management and entrepreneurship.

Read the full story in the Richmond Times-Dispatch