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Failed drug tests limit Ohio companies in hiring workers

Manufacturing companies in the US state of Ohio are having difficulty filling job openings due to many applicants failing drug tests.

Local workers have the skills for the jobs paying $15 (£11.50) to $25 (£19.20) per hour and offer full a benefits package. But in some cases, almost half the applicants fail drug tests.

The problem affects more than the applicants and their families. Every quarter, local company, Columbiana Boiler, cannot fill about $200,000 (£153,440) worth of orders for kettles and galvanised containers due to unfilled job openings. The company says that foreign competitors are benefitting.

“Our main competitor in Germany can get things done more quickly because they have a better labor pool,” said Michael J. Sherwin, chief executive of the 123-year-old manufacturer. “We are always looking for people and have standard ads at all times, but at least 25 percent fail the drug tests.”

The negative economic impact of drug use on the labour force exists throughout the US, with Ohio and neighbouring states perhaps most affected, as they struggle to overcome decades of manufacturing industry decline.

A study by the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control found that, in 2013, the cost to the US economy from the opioid epidemic was $78.5bn (£60.2bn). According to Curtis S. Florence, director of the study’s research, the figure does not include the larger effect on businesses due to decreased labour productivity.

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