Governor Phil Murphy is suggesting the on-going worker shortage in New Jersey is a good thing. Long a supporter of increasing the minimum wage to $15 per hour, Murphy thinks the pandemic will make that happen sooner and might increase wages even more. With the enhanced federal unemployment benefit of $300 per week, workers who make less than $15 per hour make more staying home then going back to work. The disparity has hit the hospitality sector particularly hard. Some shore businesses say they have increased their starting salaries to as high as $16 per hour, and still can't hire enough workers. Murphy, however dismissed talk of enhanced unemployment benefits being a disincentive to work. As he was preparing to march in a Memorial Day Parade in Bergenfield on Monday, the governor said lingering COVID-19 fears have left many workers "scared" to return to work. He also blamed a lack of daycare and school concerns for the worker shortage. Yet at the same time, Murphy suggested the worker shortage is good thing with free market forces and the demand for workers forcing businesses to up wages, "It may be that (business owners) will have to pay them more."