The Ohio Chamber of Commerce Research Foundation conducts a quarterly survey – #ProsperityPulse- sent to Ohio business leaders (Owners, Presidents, CEO’s, CFO’s & COO’s).  Our first quarter survey in 2017 revealed that our business leaders were VERY concerned about their future workforce.  In the second quarter survey, we asked them to specifically list barriers they face when attracting/hiring employees.The picture below, sums up their top ten barriers (based on repetitive answers).  Other barriers listed: competition with public assistance, lack of soft skills, lack of basic skills (reading, writing and math), competition with other companies, finding seasonal or part-time employees, hard to find people who will be loyal, unattractive industry, entry level qualifications want upper level positions, lack of truthfulness on applications, employment taxes are too high, sales are down, tight budget for advertising open positions, lack of time to sort through applications and then train, an aging workforce, too many people with long gaps in employment, outdated position titles and we struggle to retain due to lack of advancement opportunities.  See full survey results here.