Newton Businesses Say Housing Shortage Makes It Hard To Hire

NEWTON, MA — A housing shortage is affecting employers’ ability to hire in Newton. The members of the Newton-Needham Chamber of Commerce have noticed it for a while. Now, the chamber is hoping to draw some attention to the issue.

"Finding and keeping workers have become a full-blown crisis," said Newton-Needham Chamber of Commerce President Greg Reibman to a room full of business owners at the annual spring breakfast Friday. He pointed to a stat from an economic development survey, which found that 85 percent of those of us who live in Newton commute out and 89 percent of workers in Newton commute in.

"That's absolutely astonishing," said Reibman.

At the event, Reibman announced the beginning of a campaign to call attention to how the region’s housing shortage has created a hiring crisis for area employers.

In a recent survey conducted by the chamber, 61 percent of its members said “attracting and retaining workers” is their number one challenge when it comes to their business.

Workforce worries were even more pronounced for the market’s largest employers, with 89 percent of Newton and Needham businesses with 100 or more employees saying staffing would be critical to their 2019 success, he said.

Seana Gaherin, owner of Dunn-Gaherin's told Patch recently in the decades since she opened shop in Newton, it's been more and more difficult to find and retain workers. She attributes that to a combination of lack of affordable housing nearby and for anyone coming from out of town lack of easy transportation.

"Ask almost any business, they'll tell you the same," she said.

“Transportation and housing are two of our region’s top public policy challenges and are absolutely interconnected,” Reibman said. “There’s no way we can effectively combat either problem alone.”

Watch business leaders share what it's like to hire and retain staff right now:

Mike Kennealy, secretary of Housing and Economic Development for the Baker Administration took the podium to speak on the Governor's Housing Choice bill, which Gov. Charlie Baker filed last year.

Since 1920, Massachusetts has required a two-thirds vote of a Town Meeting or City Council to rezone properties for any purpose, he said. Since housing is such a huge issue, the governor's office said "let's identify nine different types of developments and make it easier for communities to permit those," said Kennealy. Things like multi-family housing, starter homes, that would create density in downtown areas near public transportation, according to Kennealy, adding to the housing stock.

"What's important about this bill," he said, "There are no mandates here. We're not telling cities and towns what to do. We're making it easier for them to do what they want to do."

Keannealy and the governor have been touring the state making the case for the bill, which is endorsed by the AARP and a number of others including chambers, including the Newton-Needham Chamber.

"This is a business workforce issue. It's a talent retention and talent attraction issue. Unless we have housing that works for everybody businesses will have a hard time growing," he said.

Robin Chase, co-founder and former CEO of ZipCar highlighted how transportation and housing are intertwined.

"When we don't have workforce housing, you can't get workers. We really need diversity in income housing. And we need make those less than 3-mile trips viable. You have to have both of those things," Chase told Patch after her presentation.

As for the safety concerns right now as Greater Boston watches Brookline pilot scooters, especially in light of the Day 1 incident where a woman needed medical attention following her first scooter ride in Brookline.

"People say scooters are unsafe. There's 40,000 deaths by cars [a year]. Cars are unsafe. Cars are unsafe. It was interesting that 30 percent of accidents, according to the CDC, are first time riders," said Chase, adding training, road side bike lanes are a way to help that.

"We really need scooters," she said.

Imagine, she said, if you could let your children ride to school and after school activities using scooters or bikes as happens safely in the Netherlands.

"But instead we're all trapped, fat and unhealthy," she said.

Patch reporter Jenna Fisher can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna).