MEMPHIS, Tenn. — With more businesses admitting to problems hiring people, some Tennessee lawmakers said that the number of available jobs that the governor says people can apply for was exaggerated.
Governor Bill Lee said that there were more than 260,000 open jobs posted on Jobs4TN website. Many are posted for positions in Memphis and Nashville.
But critical lawmakers said the number was not accurate when looking at metro cities versus rural areas.
Representative Vincent Dixie (D-Davidson County) said while jobs may be available in metropolitan areas, they may not be available in rural areas.
"Maybe there are 250,000 jobs available across Tennessee, but locally there aren’t," he said. "So maybe those jobs are here in Davidson county or some of the big four - Knox, Hamilton, or Shelby. At the end of the day, somebody from Blount County is not going to move from Davidson county to become a pizza delivery driver for $11 an hour."
He said many jobs don't pay enough to justify hours-long commutes or moving across the state. He also said although many businesses are hiring across the state, they are not paying a high enough wage to encourage people to get back to work.
WBIR contributed to this article.