Unfilled jobs cause some employers to waive drug testing

One of the consequences of the opioid epidemic in the US is the difficulty many employers have in finding people to hire who can pass a drug test.

Employers in the northern area of the US state of Indiana, where several manufacturers are located, are facing this problem, with the result that many are relaxing their employment standards.

According to Gerry Dick, of Inside Indiana Business, some manufacturers of recreation vehicles (RVs) are making their drug testing standards less stringent or eliminating them completely to keep their plants fully staffed.

“Companies…in and out of the RV industry are really desperately looking for workers,” said Dick in an interview for WIBC Morning News in Indianapolis. “Signs have been seen that say, ‘now hiring, no drug testing required’.”

Signs like this have been appearing in Elkhart County. Although the unemployment rate in the county is around 2%, there are many manufacturing jobs available as RV-makers continue to increase their operations.

“Companies are finding such a difficult challenge in terms of hiring workers [because] a number of them can’t pass the drug tests. We’re seeing those drug tests being relaxed a bit, or in some cases, done away with all together,” says Dick.

Dick said the move to loosen drug-testing requirements or end them entirely is not limited to one type of business or one section of the state, so that more Indiana residents may see these signs the next time they apply for a job.