MACON, Ga. — Angela Stallard always knew where the future would take her.
"I always wanted to have my own business, since I was a teenager,” she said.
After traveling the country because of her dad and husband's careers in the military, she finally put down roots in Macon and opened up Heart of Gypsy Boutique.
She opened her doors in spring 2020, and soon had to adapt her business plans because of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Three years later, she's still adapting.
"Having to pay them a little bit more than I would really want to as a small business owner in fear that they’ll leave to another job where they can possibly make more money," Stallard said.
She normally would start her employees at $10 an hour, but recently bumped up wages to $13 and $15.
It still wasn't enough to keep one of her three employees, who recently quit because she wanted more hours.
"They’ve kind of lived in this online world and we haven’t quite adjusted to wanting the flexibility, and wanting to work from home. And some jobs that works for, and some it doesn’t,” Associate Professor of Economics at Middle Georgia State University Dr. Greg George said.
Dr. George said a "great resignation" happened during the COVID-19 pandemic, and those people have been slow to return to the same jobs since.
In 2023, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger reported that total business formation filings increased from 25,438 in Jan. 2022 to 26,520 in Jan. 2023.
The increase in new businesses made it even harder for people like Stallard, who already have to compete with big corporations who can pay their employees more.
Central Georgia had an unemployment rate of 3.8% in May.
Dr. George says low unemployment rates may seem like a good thing, but that's not necessarily true.
"Unemployment rates can be too low. And that’s kind of a difficult pill to swallow, but basically, in order for labor markets to function efficiently and fluidly, you need a pool of available workers ready to fill in jobs as they come available," he said.
He said unemployment being low, along with inflation, has led a job shortage.
Dr. George also said that if employees can't fill their jobs, they may decide to automate their jobs, taking more jobs out of of the marketplace.
For Stallard, she hopes she can hire more people so she can go home to her family each night, instead of staying later at work to keep her business running.