There are jobs in town, but not enough takers.

Selectman Stephen Holmes raised the subject briefly at Tuesday night’s Selectmen’s meeting, declaring in the “announcements” portion of the meeting that the new West Wareham Walmart is short 87 workers. He went on to say he’d heard there are open jobs at the new Dollar General and at the Bay Pointe Country Club – and that managers are having a hard time finding applicants.

Elsewhere, Shaw’s is using yard signs strung along the road in front of its Route 6 store – echoing the strategy used by Five Guys before opening in Rosebrook Place.

In a town with an unemployment rate of 5.4 percent as of July, it’s unclear why employers are finding it so difficult to hire, but that is clearly the case.

“When they moved from East Wareham to West Wareham, they wanted to employ an additional 212 workers,” Holmes said of Walmart. “They still can’t fill the jobs. At last count [two weeks ago], they are still short 87 people.”

He went on: “Bay Pointe Club has had two or three different job fairs,” Holmes said. “And nobody takes the jobs. And they are paying pretty good money. … If our people want to work, there are jobs available.”

Representatives of Walmart, Dollar General and Bay Pointe Club could not be reached for comment.

Community and Economic Director Salvador Pina said Wednesday he did not realize Walmart was having difficulty filling positions, but he speculated it may have to do with odd hours and little pay.

“Some of the jobs may be midnight shifts,” Pina said. “We talk about living wage, sustainable wage. They may pay them minimum wage. … How are you going to live on $1,600 a month? I don’t know how you do that.”

Minimum wage in Massachusetts is $9 per hour. As of April of this year, an entry-level Walmart employee makes $9 per hour, according to a Walmart corporate statement released in February. In February of 2016, the pay will be increased to $10 per hour.

Pina also said the jobs might be unfilled, because the town was heading out of the summer season, and any potential workers may have gone back to school. Or, he said, there simply may not be enough workers for whom these kinds of jobs make sense.

Holmes later said he does not understand why people bring unemployment papers to sign, when he sees there are jobs available.

“Unless everybody in town is employed that wants a job, they’re not taking our local jobs,” Holmes said. “Are you looking? Because if you are, there are three places … hiring.”

He said not having transportation isn’t an excuse.

“If you don’t have a car, you can take the GATRA,” Holmes said, referring to the regional public transportation system that runs through town. “You can take a bike. If you live in Onset, there’s two jobs you can take your bike to."