ST. LOUIS — When job seekers stopped by the Ameristar Casino Resort Spa table at Thursday’s job fair in Maryland Heights, they could spin a wheel and get a free T-shirt, a deck of cards or koozy.
On the other side of the large room at Orlando’s Event and Conference Center, Valerie Frohn, too, had company swag, but also something more to offer. TVS Supply Chain Solutions, which ships inventory and stores truck and van parts for the General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) plant in Wentzville, recently boosted pay.
Hoping to hire 25 employees, Frohn, the human resources administrator at TVS’ Wentzville warehouse, gave out fliers showing entry-level jobs paying as much as $18.07 an hour – a $5 increase from a month ago.
“I hand them a flier whether they want it or not because they may know someone who needs work,” she said.
As the nationwide labor shortage drags on along with the coronavirus pandemic, companies are taking varying strategies to attract workers. Many are getting creative. Among the examples are Resource MFG, a national staffing agency with an office in Fenton, which on Sept. 24 offered job-seekers the chance to win a $50 gasoline card. There also were free hot dogs and soft drinks.
“Come hungry, leave with a job!,” a sign said.
A Business Journal reporter attended several job fairs over the past few months and heard a common theme: employers struggling to attract workers and mystified by their absence — even as enhanced unemployment benefits expired, stimulus checks stopped and the delta variant of the coronavirus pandemic receded.
“They’ve changed careers or put careers on hold or taken the money they were able to hold onto for the last year and took a breather,” said Russ Smith, owner of the Bossanova restaurant and lounge in Alton, Illinois. “I don’t know what it is because I have been working like a dog, trying to keep everything solvent.”
Smith spoke on the warm, sun-splashed afternoon of Sept. 29, outside another downtown Alton business he owns, The Lovejoy. Inside, employees of the Argosy Casino Alton waited at a table for job-seekers. Over two and a half hours, a reporter saw one candidate enter the building. She declined comment.
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