Nearly 90% of Wisconsin businesses say they are struggling to hire workers, according to a survey. Many plan to raise pay.

A survey of 265 Wisconsin businesses found 88% of them are struggling to hire workers and more than 80% plan to raise their wages 3% or more this year, according to Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce. 

When listing the reasons why businesses are having trouble hiring people, 44% said there is a lack of qualified applicants, 36% cited the labor shortage and 9% cited generous unemployment benefits, according to the Wisconsin Employer Survey.

“Wages are rising much faster than they have in recent memory,” said WMC President and CEO Kurt Bauer.

“Wisconsin does not have enough people to fill the jobs we have available, and that creates an aggressive competition for talent. We are seeing wages rise at a faster rate, sign-on bonuses, work flexibility and many other strategies from companies to attract and retain talent.”

The survey, released Monday, was conducted during the last three weeks of January with 53% of respondents rating the state's economy as strong or very strong.

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Nearly 90% of the respondents reported being profitable in the last six months, and when looking forward to the next six months 68% plan to increase the number of employees and 30% plan to keep the same number of employees. 

WMC conducts the survey twice a year to get a snapshot of how employers feel about various economic issues.