The department, he said, could not afford to hire any more public employees.

"Everyone seems to be going out for the same two reasons," he said, "too much work and you can't afford to hire help."

"And I guess now her son can afford to hire a good lawyer."

But whether owners can afford to hire is not the issue.

To meet the demand for her work, she can now afford to hire an assistant.

Their parents won't like this, plus I can't afford to hire anyone.

As time went on and we could afford to hire help, this dropped to ten hours a day.

The man had no money and could not afford to hire a lawyer.

Schools could not afford to hire new teachers in the Depression.

None of these could afford to hire him, even had they needed his services.