Tempe takes new approach to getting people working again with 'job monsoon'
TEMPE, Ariz. - Across the nation, businesses are understaffed because of a labor shortage brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, and certain industries are working hard to find talent, but aren't having any luck.
The city of Tempe has come up with a solution. A job fair, but it has a twist.
The "job monsoon" is what it's being called.
Applicants can walk into any of the businesses with balloons on their business storefront and apply on the spot.
So far, the new way of job hunting has been working.
"It has been slim pickings trying to get people in the door to apply for jobs," says Bill Clayton, manager of Snakes and Lattes in Tempe.
When there's a lack of extra hands, current employees have to work twice as hard to bring their customers the service they're used to.
Because some of these businesses are so short-staffed they couldn’t afford to send one of their employees to sit at a job fair and look for potential new hires.
Jill Buschbacher with the city of Tempe says, "Some of our businesses have had to turn away business, hotels told us they couldn’t accept reservations they wanted to because they turned them away because they don't have enough staff."
At Snakes and Lattes, they hired three applicants thanks to the job fair. Now — they are almost at a full staff once again.
"Instead of paying for ads and throwing out a net and trying to catch a wide array of people, we had a good crowd come in and visit us which made it a lot easier," Clayton said.
For more information on the job fair, visit this link.
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