Area businesses look to fill vacant positions

Dalondo Moultrie and Felicia Frazar The Seguin Gazette

Now hiring signs are plastered all over windows, doors and in the front yards of businesses across the area.

As the economy tries to bounce back from pandemic shutdowns, businesses are struggling to keep up with the demand for products and services and are looking to restaff their facilities.

Caterpillar in Seguin was able to mostly maintain staff levels and keep working throughout the slower economic times of the pandemic, General Manager of Large Engines Mark Stratton said.

Now as the economy begins gaining momentum, Caterpillar’s customers are asking for more production so the company needs more employees to help meet the demand, he said.

“The economy is revving and we’re ramping up,” Stratton said. “That takes a lot of things, but most importantly it takes people. That’s the lifeblood of our business is our employees, our workforce, the people that come in every day.”

Caterpillar is looking to hire about 200 people to work at the Seguin plant in all sorts of positions and the company is offering incentives to attract potential hires, he said.

One such incentive is the opportunity to earn a signing bonus of up to $500 for certain positions, Stratton said.

Companies like Caterpillar are offering starting wages of about $14.50 for many of their available jobs and add a gain sharing program, a well-rounded benefits package, retirement plan and opportunities for growth in various areas of the business, Stratton said.

“If you stick with it, those are the kinds of things we have out there,” he said. “We want a workforce that’s looking for that stability, that want to be here with us. We’re trying to get people in the door but we’re convinced once we get them here and they understand what it’s like to be part of our team, they’ll be here a long time.”

But they’re not the only one in the community, Seguin Economic Development Corporation Executive Director Josh Schneuker said

“You’re seeing companies that don’t traditionally do hiring events are having hiring events, sign on bonuses, referral bonuses,” he said. “There is a ton of incentives out there that the employers are having to implement to get the job seeker to come in and work.”

Several of those businesses, including Caterpillar, took part in the first in-person hiring event on Thursday last week.

More than 20 local businesses — manufacturing, medical, educational and entertainment — signed up to participate, all looking to fill a variety of job positions.

“There is a ton of opportunity out there,” Schneuker said. “There are countless numbers of jobs that are available we’re hoping to fill. Our companies are aggressively seeking folks that are eager and wanting to work for them.”

EPMP LTD was among them and by noon Thursday was able to fill at least one of the 10 openings the local business had, Human Resources Manager Yvonne Arrisola said.

“He just came across and I snagged him,” she said. “I sent him over to the office and he was hired on the spot.”

Finding employees was a struggle prior to the pandemic. However, the past year was even more of a challenge, Arrisola said.

“We just can’t find anybody. We run ads, we’re sharing by word of mouth,” she said. “It’s been hard for the last four years trying to find anybody, but this last year has been really hard.”

As businesses face a higher demand and not enough supply, it trickles down to the consumer, Schneuker said.

“It will slow down products getting to your car or your door,” he said. “It is going to slow down restaurant service. It is going to trickle down and have impacts on the customer at the end of the day. If we can’t meet the demand, costs of goods will increase and we’re all going to feel it one way or the other.”

That burden is even tougher on smaller businesses.

“A lot of times, if they can’t find the help that they need and the staff that they need, they try to take the burden on themselves and that can be overwhelming for folks,” he said. We’re hoping with the job fairs, we can get our businesses the help they are looking for and help job seekers find opportunities here in Seguin.”

Community Council of South Central Texas’s Head Start Director Julie Cantu said she’s seen an overall decline in applicants, and feels the in-person job fairs will help bridge that gap.

“It is a lot different than virtual or on the phone, because here you can talk one-on-one,” she said. “You get to interact. I feel like they’re more open and you get to ask them more questions.”

Cantu said people sometimes have a misconception of what the position is based on the business.

It’s the same across the board. Some people hear Caterpillar is hiring and think they need to be a mechanic or have years of expertise in a field but that’s not the case, Stratton said. The company offers training and strides in automation open the opportunities to a wider range of the population, he said.

Anyone with any skill levels or physical abilities can work at Caterpillar. And the company needs much help, Stratton said.

“That demand just keeps going up and up and up,” he said. “It’s an exciting time for us but also puts a challenge in front of us as well to make sure we get enough folks in front of us to be able to do the things we need to do.”

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