DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) - Amidst a worker shortage, employers are doing everything they can to get people to work for them. One of those tactics is sign-on bonuses.
One company offering thousands of dollars for sign-on bonuses is HSHS.
Angela Nguyen, vice president of talent acquisition and colleague relations for HSHS, said it gets more people interested in their available open positions.
"Sign-on bonuses generally are a way for us to provide that additional incentive we need to make that offer more attractive - that total rewards package for that candidate," Nguyen said.
However, Workforce Investment Solutions employment specialist Larry Peterson said he doesn't believe the bonuses will get workers to stay around long term.
"With the employers that I talk with I have not seen any results or them offering incentives but by word of mouth you sort of hear that some people have taken advantage of the incentives and soon as their time is up that their incentives are being paid out they have actually left that job," Peterson said.
With staffing shortages becoming worse, it's a tactic employers hope will get people interested so they can show them the other benefits of the job.
"I mean we're having really tough staffing shortages right now and you know I think our hope is just, it's just another strategy to try and get people to pay attention to the openings that we have and give us a chance to entertain a conversation about what a great place it is to work," said Nguyen.
For employers not offering sign-on bonuses, they have looked at how to get employees to stay by making changes to the workplace culture.
"I've heard from different companies they're looking at their work environment to make their place a little bit more what we would call sustainable to keep a job," said Peterson.
