But the transportation company is offering signing bonuses anyway - to attract bus drivers.

Historically, UTA has not had to dangle $1,000 bonuses to fill vacant positions - the company is used to turning away hundreds of applicants for each available driver position. But few employers these days are immune to the effects of Utah's red-hot job market.

"Even with the signing bonus, we're still having a hard time getting anyone to apply," said UTA human resources manager Nancy Malecker, who said hiring efforts became more difficult last summer and have become even worse in recent weeks.

Blame it on employment growth that this year is exceeding even optimistic expectations, reaching levels not seen in a decade. In January, Utah added about 52,700 new jobs in the year that ended Jan. 30 for a job-growth rate of 4.8 percent- a rate that probably is surpassed only by Nevada, according to the Utah Department of Workforce Services.

State economist Mark Knold said the state's strong job growth is making it difficult for a number of employers to fill positions, especially in industries already plagued by shortages, including high technology, health care and construction.

Employers say attendance at job fairs is down and responses to online or print "help wanted" ads have plummeted. It's no surprise given the choices workers have right now. Utah job postings on Web site monster.com, for example, jumped 45 percent last year from 2004.

That is where incentives like the signing bonuses come in. They help in cases where companies need to hire a specific type of worker and cannot afford to get few or no responses. Klune Industries, for example, was advertising $1,000 signing bonuses to help increase responses to its help-wanted ad last week for machinist positions at its Spanish Fork facility.

While recruitment is a nagging issue, employers also are struggling with the issue of retaining workers as a plethora of available positions makes it easier for workers to move around or seek other jobs that offer better pay or more attractive benefits. In fact, economist Knold of the state's Workforce Services department said retention may become a real problem for some employers in the coming months if job growth remains high and unemployment remains low.

Employers can benefit from restless workers, too. Julie Gandy, human resources director for Utah decorative stamp and scrapbooking supply company Stampin' Up!, has noticed that she gets hardly any résumés from unemployed people anymore. "Nearly all are employed at other companies and are looking for something different, a step up from what they have now," she said.

Some workers are taking advantage of the surplus of jobs in a number of industries by changing careers altogether.

After eight years in sales and fundraising, Kristy Maple, of Salt Lake City, did just that recently.

Maple, who was interested in a career in which she did not have to sell anything, enlisted the help of executive search firm Devon & Devon, a division of SOS Staffing Inc. in Salt Lake City, which helped her review job openings. She settled on an office manager position at a Salt Lake City nonprofit that pays more than she earned at her last job.

High levels of employment growth also help people who are laid off find new jobs - fast. Web developer Paul Ellsworth, of Lehi, who was laid off in early January, found a new job by the end of last month at an Orem high-tech company. Since he took his new job, he has received a number of calls from employers trying to fill available positions.

"When I tell them I'm happy where I'm at, they ask if I know of anybody who may be looking for a job," he said. "That makes me feel pretty confident that if this job doesn't work out something else would come along pretty quickly."

SOS Staffing CEO JoAnn Wagner said the tight labor market is pushing salaries higher. "We're seeing starting wages go up by 8 percent to 10 percent - in some cases by 12 percent - particularly with hourly positions," she said. "

While higher wages make workers happy, employers are growing increasingly frustrated with rising labor costs.

"Employers say 'I was able to fill that position by paying $10 an hour last year, why can't I pay $10 now?' '' said Christine Kronkow, SOS Staffing area manager and a member of a private-sector board that advises the Utah Department of Workforce Services. "Times have changed."

A Workforce Services report released last week shows employers in a variety of industries are being forced to pay higher wages this year.

The department, which surveyed 4,500 employers throughout Utah in the fourth quarter of 2005, found that the average advertised wage for job openings was $12.20 an hour at the end of 2005, up nearly 9 percent from $11.20 at the same time in 2004.

Ned Callister, co-owner of A.A. Callister Corp., a Utah-based Western wear and feed store, said the higher labor costs are hurting the bottom line at his 40-employee business.

He said he already has been affected by higher fuel costs, both directly and indirectly as his suppliers have raised prices or put fuel surcharges in place.

"It affects your margins, it affects your profitability," he said.

Back at UTA, the company is acknowleging a need to raise wages but is bound by a three-year employment contract with its union.

The company later this year will be negotiating a new labor contract effective in 2007 that undoubtedly will contain higher wages.

In the meantime, human resources manager Malecker says her job has become increasingly difficult.

She said she watched in shock as only four people out of 14 who had signed up for interviews showed up for them at a recent job fair in Ogden.

"It's amazing that people aren't even showing up," she said. "They are just blowing you off."

lesley@sltrib.com