‘Get off your butt’ billboard paid for by Missouri business owners sparks controversy
There’s a new billboard in town. And this one is sparking controversy amid a nationwide labor shortage.
“GET OFF YOUR BUTT! Get. To. Work. Apply Anywhere.”
This billboard was placed in Springfield, Missouri, KMOV reported, and was paid for by local business owners.
Brad Parke, general manager of Greek Corner Screen Printing and Embroider, was one of those business owners, KY3 reported. The others requested anonymity.
“We don’t know where people are,” Parke told the southwest Missouri TV station. “Obviously they’re not at work. Apparently they’re at home. So that’s where we came up with ‘Get Off Your Butt.’
“And then the ‘Apply Anywhere’ is about everyone’s looking for employees. You can’t drive a block through a commercial district without someone having a sign saying ‘Now Hiring.’ There are billboards for minimum wage jobs to executive jobs and no one can find anybody to work.”
The sign has yielded lots of attention.
“Billboards cursing at the unemployed to ‘Get off your butt and go to work,’” one person tweeted. “Sounds like desperate billionaires crying that no one wants to work for minimum and no benefits.”
“I’d be happy to get off my butt...and show him exactly where he can kiss it,” tweeted another.
“Nobody owes anyone else their labor,” another person said. “If you’re having trouble hiring a giant billboard saying ‘Get off your butt and get to work’ probably isn’t the best way to get employees.”
Others, though, appreciated the sign’s messaging.
“Why would you not like this?” one person tweeted. “If it does outrage you then it’s probably for you, and you’re most likely the same person that leaves the shopping cart in the way of a parking spot at a grocery store.”
“If this offends you then you are the problem,” said another Twitter user. “Tired of rising cost then get to work and reduce inflation. Living off the government is BS.”
“Great billboard,” someone on Facebook wrote.
“So many people have their feelings on their sleeve,” Parke said, according to KMOV. “Get over it! It’s time to grow up.”
As companies face a shortage of employees amid the coronavirus pandemic, many have offered signing bonuses and raised wages.
“There are simply not enough workers to fill the open jobs by about a million nationwide,” said Sally Payne, director of workforce development with the city of Springfield, according to KOLR.
She said the labor shortage in Springfield is largely due to COVID-19, KOLR reported, though other factors include the younger generation having higher expectations in their employers, people considering career changes, health concerns and women being unable to come back to work with school closure risks.
The week of Sept. 26, the Missouri Department of Labor received 2,853 initial unemployment claims, compared to 5,442 claims the week before. Missouri’s unemployment rate in August was 4%, which is the last data set available.
This story was originally published October 8, 2021 at 12:44 PM with the headline "‘Get off your butt’ billboard paid for by Missouri business owners sparks controversy."