[EdFNJ]

Originally Posted by davem4616

hope they are successful hiring help

that seems to be one of the biggest challenges for businesses around here

with all the growth, the 'local employee pool' seems to be running dry....add to that the number of people that for some reason are choosing to not work (but getting money from somewhere)

Likely because "around here" most of the people are old and retired and not in the workforce. Not sure what percentage of total population from Sumter and the close-by portion of Lake & Marion counties are from The Villages but I would think it is large enough to would water down the gas station & fast food related employment around here. Not sure how many young'uns are looking to travel 40 miles to work here especially with gas costs. Besides, many of those in the gas station and fast food working age group are in school during the day. The further you head away from The Villages the closer to "normal" the employment is. Just as an example, the 3 Starbucks around here (as is Dunkin' and Panera) are having a terrible time getting help and are often closed or partially closed but head up past Leesburg and it's not nearly as bad a problem there. Same if you go into towns like Ocala and Gainesville where the population is very different from here and the gas stations and fast food places are doing much better than here with full employment.