MCADOO, Pa. — The Great Northeast Job Fair hosted a hiring event in McAdoo, featuring 24 different businesses with locations in Schuylkill County.
Dave Stinson is the district manager for Onvo, a chain of travel plazas. He says the pandemic has made it difficult to find workers.
"I mean, that’s the challenge of why we are here today – looking for that frontline employee. There's been a shortage of frontline employees. I think anyone that's in the retail industry understands that. And everyone is fighting for that last person," he said.
Stinson says his company has done what many others have done in order to attract workers: raising the starting wage.
"As the market started to get more competitive, that extra $2 an hour we just ended up, in most cases at least on our side of the business, absorbing that extra cost and just making it permanent," he said.
But despite companies increasing pay across the board, finding new employees still has its challenges.
“In a lake full of fish, there's only so many fish, and you're looking for employees to fill the openings that we have. So in some cases, we're competing against somebody else, which is forcing those wages to grow,” said Steve Homerda, Burger King district manager.
Both Burger King and Onvo are giving new hires other incentives and benefits.
"We offer some really strong benefits to go along with not just the wages, but a flexible work type of schedule on top of that," said Homerda.
"It's not always about what you're paying upfront, why they want to come to work. Are you giving them the environment that they want to come to work in?" added Stinson.
Although nearly 100 people came out to the job fair, there are many employment opportunities still available. You can find more information here.
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