U.S. firms face hiring difficulties, business survey says

have been obliged to boost compensation to lure in new candidates.

But they haven't.

I'm semi-retired (30 yrs early). Would like to work more, but not cheaply.

Health care costs rising are the primary reason I'm even considering, but the economy and my stocks are at all-time highs, so I don't feel pinched into "must get a job."

I've been maintaining my skills the last 10 yrs, just in-case I needed to go back to work.

What do they say? It is a buyers market? I'm waiting for the right company, with the right situation, for my lifestyle. I suspect others in my situation are doing the same.

I attempted to run an IT consulting company, but that failed. Due to my lack of business skill, not any lack of IT skills. I kept replacing Windows with Linux servers and we didn't have many repeat clients - they didn't need monthly help after we were done. Linux systems, if correctly setup, basically run themselves for 2+ yrs.