Folsom Vice Mayor Sarah Aquino folds a napkin at Back Bistro in Folsom, California, Tuesday, Nov. 23. Aquino is an insurance broker but took a part-time job at one of her favorite local restaurants because they were struggling to hire people. (AP Photo/Adam Beam)
Adam BeamThe Associated PressFOLSOM, Calif. (AP) – The Hampton Inn in Folsom, California, has 147 rooms, but General Manager Enid Baldock could only rent 117 of them recently because she did not have enough workers to clean them.“I was turning people away with 30 rooms (available). Ridiculous,” she said while stuffing bedsheets down a laundry chute to help out her skeleton housekeeping staff.At the Palladio, a nearby shopping center with 85 stores and restaurants just off a busy highway, businesses appeared more focused on attracting workers than customers as “now hiring” signs outnumbered Black Friday flyers. Mac, a cosmetic retailer, was advertising a $1,500 bonus for anyone who would agree to work full time.Businesses struggled to get through the Great Rece
