I posted other day about how the Austin area's unemployment is going to be a problem.  At 3.2% and with over 4% in job growth I am wondering just where the employees will come from.  The example I used was the Bee Cave area where the Hill Country Galleria Mall will open this fall.  As there aren't many people in this area who are available and interested in mall type jobs, employers will have to pull from other parts of Austin.  Here is another twist - gas prices are around $3 per gallon.

So with gas prices at an all time high, just who in the rest of Austin will want to work in a mall that requires them to drive farther than if they work in an areas closer to home???  Yes, this may be a problem.  Customer service is already a problem in some stores in the Bee Cave area and I see "help wanted" signs all over the place.  So what are businesses in the mall to do?  If they don't get creative, businesses will be short staffed and service will suffer.  This won't exactly be the best way to get a new regional mall up and running.

I have a potential answer.  If businesses in the mall get together, they may have a way to get employees to the places they will work with gas not being an issue.  They can contract with a bus company and run busses to a few areas of Austin and do a park and ride thing.  They could have a nominal fee to ride the bus or the employers could pay for it all together.  It would take some work to set this up, to advertise and promote it and to run it, but it just might work.

If any of you readers have any thoughts, I'd love to hear them.