More than half of tech execs say the labor shortage has become their biggest concern, a survey shows

• About 57% of surveyed tech executives said the labor shortage was their top concern, CNBC reported.
• For 26% of the survey respondents, supply chain issues were the highest worry.

Finding the right employees has risen to become the top concern among tech executives, amid the ongoing labor shortage, according to polling data from CNBC.

About 57% of tech executives said staffing issues had become their top concern, the network reported. It cited a quarterly survey of its Technology Executive Council, a collective of C-level staffers.

About 26% of those surveyed said that supply chain issues were their top concern, making it the second-highest, the survey said.

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The survey results came amid a countrywide reckoning for businesses, as employees in all industries re-evaluated their relationship to their jobs after a once-in-a-century pandemic caused a global economic shutdown.

Some employees, especially those in lower-paying sectors and retail, seem to have decided they don't want to return to their old ways.

More than 7.7 million American workers were unemployed as of mid-September, according to the latest government survey released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That was down sharply from the height of the pandemic.

But, at the same time, more people were quitting than ever.

Earlier this month, President Joe Biden said in a statement that wages across the country were rising and unemployment had dropped below 5% "for the first time since the pandemic struck." That made it "clear that our economy is getting back to normal despite the global challenges posed by the Delta variant," he said.

The CNBC survey, which was conducted during the first two weeks of October, found that about 70% of tech companies had expanded their searches for job applicants by increasing adding more roles for remote workers.