A month or two ago, The Reporter received an anonymous email from a former employee of Regional Ambulance Service (RAS) in Rutland. The writer claimed that RAS was experiencing such severe staffing shortages as to effectively be mismanaged and, moreover, that the mismanagement was putting local residents at risk. We chose not to publish the email because we didn’t know who had sent it, but we did feel obligated, at the very least, to investigate the claims.
We went down to Rutland and talked with Jim Finger, Executive Director of RAS, who was quite forthcoming about the staffing issues his service is facing. We spoke with former employees of RAS and physicians affiliated with Rutland Hospital. But instead of malfeasance or mismanagement, we discovered an earnest organization suffering from the same labor shortages we’re seeing all over the country. There was nothing about RAS that set it apart from the scores of other emergency services in Vermont, including those in the Brandon/Pittsford/Proctor corridor, that are struggling to recruit and retain staff (we wrote about the struggles of Brandon’s services last summer). In fact, there was nothing about RAS that set it apart from all the businesses in fields as disparate as hospitality and agriculture that are finding themselves woefully understaffed these days.
In Vermont, we see firsthand the effects of the labor shortage when, with increasing frequency, local businesses close because they don’t have enough help. Or when we can’t find a plumber, electrician, or carpenter. Or are shocked by how much it costs when we actually do find one. We see companies raising wages and offering signing bonuses to attract workers. And yet no one seems able to answer the simple question, “Why is this happening?”
There is consensus that the labor market was easier for employers before COVID. Mr. Finger of RAS absolutely sees a clear before and after in his ability to attract staff. Anecdotally we all sense that something has shifted in the years since 2020. But no one is really sure what the problem is. Is it that the population in Vermont is just too small? Is it that COVID caused people to reconsider their priorities and demand a better work/life balance? Is it that COVID triggered a wave of retirements, leaving jobs unfilled?
The truth is probably that it’s a combination of all of the above, plus other factors specific to particular professions. It’s a problem with so many causes that it feels impossible to formulate a solution that doesn’t require a thousand separate fixes.
We spoke with Stephanie Jerome and Butch Shaw, who represent Brandon, Pittsford, and Proctor in the Vermont House of Representatives. We asked them what the legislature is doing to try to address the labor shortage. Both of them listed multiple pieces of legislation that provided funding for workforce development, affordable housing, childcare, and parental leave. It was clear that Montpelier is working hard on the problem and also that there’s no easy answer. Legislatures across the country are scrambling to implement programs, hoping that someone will hit upon the magic formula that will reverse this rapid decline in the workforce.
One issue that was mentioned by everyone we spoke with is immigration. Though Vermont has seen a net increase in population over the last several years—COVID and climate refugees have been flocking to the state—the gains have been concentrated in the Burlington area, leaving the rest of the state to age and depopulate, as is the case in many other rural parts of the U.S. We need lure people to those other areas from elsewhere, whether that be from another state or another country.
And yet, for reasons both political and practical, that’s no easy task.
Several years ago, an attempt was made to welcome Syrian refugees to Rutland City. Depending on whom you ask, you’ll hear a different explanation for why the program failed. Perhaps it was xenophobia. Perhaps it was administrative incompetence. Anyone who was here at the time will recall that it was a contentious issue that likely cost then-Rutland Mayor Christopher Louras his bid for a sixth term. But things are different now, in our post-pandemic world. Maybe people are ready to face the reality that without an influx of new residents, Vermont may well feel unlivable in 10 years, when there’s not enough people to provide even the most basic services we rely on.
But the practical obstacle to immigration is housing. Where are new residents supposed to live when even those of us already here are having an incredibly tough time finding homes we can afford? All over the state, attempts are being made to build housing. We have an article in this week’s issue on the proposed affordable-housing complex in West Rutland, for example. But these projects, though necessary, are expensive and often get mired in bureaucracy. Construction costs are so high now that developers don’t want to waste their energy on lower-end projects. And in many places in Vermont, zoning laws prohibit the most cost-effective housing: apartments.
Then, we need to relax our zoning regulations. But then we run up against environmental concerns. Increased density means increased burdens on our natural resources and increased pollution. Vermont has long protected its environment from the sort of development you might see in suburban Boston. No one wants to compromise the health of our environment or lose what makes Vermont special. But passing development-friendly policy in Vermont is a Sisyphean task that must necessarily be made easier if Vermont is going to thrive in the long run.
And so it goes…each fix requires a slate of different, prior fixes to succeed.
However, apathy is not an option. What’s happening at RAS, and elsewhere in the state, will only get worse if we don’t find a way to increase our workforce. We need to start having tough conversations about what we’re willing to do, or we will end up having discussions about what we’ve lost.
