SAVANNAH, Ga. -- A few years back, heavy-equipment manufacturer JCB held a job fair in the glass foyer of its sprawling headquarters, but when a throng of prospective employees learned the next step would be drug testing, an alarming thing happened: about half of them left.
That story still circulates within the business community. But the problem has gotten worse.
All over the country, employers say they see a disturbing downside of tighter labor markets as they try to rebuild from the worst recession since the Depression: They are struggling to find workers who can pass a pre-employment drug test.
That hurdle partly stems from the growing ubiquity of drug testing, at corporations with big human resources departments, in industries like trucking where testing is mandated by federal law for safety reasons, and increasingly at smaller companies.
But data suggest employers' difficulties also reflect an increase in the use of drugs, especially marijuana -- employers' main gripe -- and also heroin and other opioid drugs much in the news.
Ray Gaster, owner of lumber yards on both sides of the Georgia-South Carolina border, recently joined friends at a retreat in Alabama to swap business talk. The big topic? Drug tests.
"They were complaining about trying to find drivers, or finding people, who are drug-free and can do some of the jobs that they have," Gaster said.
He shared their concern.
Drug use in the workforce "is not a new problem. Back in the '80s, it was pretty bad, and we brought it down," said Calvina Fay, executive director of the Drug Free America Foundation. But, she added, "we've seen it edging back up some," and increasingly, both employers and industry associations "have expressed exasperation."
Data on the scope of the problem are sketchy because figures on job applicants who test positive for drugs miss the many people who simply skip tests they cannot pass.
Nonetheless, in its most recent report, Quest Diagnostics, which has compiled employer-testing data since 1988, documented an increase for a second-consecutive year in the percentage of Americans who tested positive for illicit drugs -- to 4.7 percent in 2014 from 4.3 percent in 2013. And 2013 was the first year in a decade to show an increase.
John Sambdman, who employs about 100 people in Atlanta at Samson Trailways, which provides transportation for schools, events, tour groups and the military, must test job applicants and, randomly, employees. Many job seekers "just don't bother to show up at the drug-testing place," he complained. Just Thursday, Sambdman said, an applicant failed a drug test.
In August, Gov. Nathan Deal of Georgia promised to develop a program to help because so many business owners tell him "the No. 1 reason they can't hire enough workers is they can't find enough people to pass a drug test."
That program is still under discussion. When job seekers contact Georgia's Department of Labor, which provides some recruitment services to employers, the state would like to begin testing them for drugs; people who test positive could receive drug counseling and ultimately job placement assistance, Mark Butler, state labor commissioner, said in an interview.
"Obviously, it's not an easy process, and it would be costly," Butler said. "But you've got to think: What is the reverse of that?" People needed to fill jobs are turned away, and, he added, "it's pretty much a national issue."
In Indiana, Mark Dobson, president of the Economic Development Corp. of Elkhart County, said when he went to national conferences, the topic was "such a common thread of conversation -- whether it's in an area like ours that's really enjoying very low unemployment levels or even areas with more moderate employment bases."
In Colorado, "to find a roofer or a painter that can pass a drug test is unheard-of," said Jesse Russow, owner of Avalanche Roofing & Exteriors, in Colorado Springs.
That was true even before Colorado, like a few other states, made recreational use of marijuana legal.
In a sector where employers like himself tend to rely on Hispanic workers, Russow tried to diversify three years ago by recruiting white workers, vetting about 80 people. But, he said, "As soon as I say 'criminal background check,' 'drug test,' they're out the door."
Gaster's human-resources director, Chuck Keller, said its drug-free status reduced workers' compensation payments for its nearly 50 employees by 7.5 percent in Georgia and 5 percent in South Carolina. The savings, about $4,000 this year, offset costs of about $2,500 for laboratory and on-site testing and related requirements.
"We're always short of drivers," Gaster said, "and drug testing is part of it."
Terry Donaldson, 53, who was tested when he started 20 years ago, supports the policy: "If they want to have a good job, the drugs got to go."
So it was for some of his new co-workers.
Britt Sikes, 38, a single father of three young girls, lost his teeth to methamphetamine and used marijuana since he was 8 -- until three weeks before taking the test for his $13-an-hour job as a Gaster door installer.
"I'm a recovering drug addict myself, and to raise my girls, I had to learn to leave it alone," Sikes said.
Kevin Canty, 55, said in his experience, "most people can't pass the drug test because they don't want to pass a drug test."
"They want the job," he added, but "they still want to be in that lifestyle. And they have to choose."
One of the newest hires, Frederick Brown, 34, said, "I come from a society where drugs is common -- marijuana, weed, it's common," and people who cannot pass a drug test seek work at McDonald's. Most restaurants do not test.
"I asked for this job," Brown said, calling it a blessing. "I already knew what I had to do -- you know what I'm saying?"
SundayMonday Business on 05/22/2016