Job Openings Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Rebuttal To WorkForce W.Va. Job-Seeking Services Story

“There are people out there that need work. I don’t know how to find them. And I’m not having much luck with WorkForce,” Brent Sears said.

West Virginia’s economic development, workforce and education leaders are focused on getting skilled laborers for the technological and industrial jobs pouring into the state.

But what about the many small businesses that need workers for simpler, hands-on jobs?

As we end our series “Help Wanted, Understanding West Virginia’s Labor Force,” Randy Yohe speaks with small business owner Brent Sears, who has a rebuttal after hearing our story on the job-seeking services the state’s prime workforce agency provides.

“There are people out there that need work. I don’t know how to find them. And I’m not having much luck with Workforce,” Sears said.

For 112 years, the Sears Monument Company has served funeral homes and cemeteries throughout West Virginia. Sears’ grandfather started the business, and they now have offices in Charleston, Huntington and Beckley. He said they try to hire people to do the basic cemetery monument industry’s job.

“They engrave our granite that we sell to people, we order and size and finish to the family specifications,” Sears said. “Then we actually add the names, sandblast the names in, and do the carving work. And then we load the monuments onto our trucks and take them to the cemetery and install them with a concrete foundation below them.”

Sears said he took exception when he heard WVPB’s interview with acting commissioner of WorkForce West Virginia Scott Adkins about ways the agency tries to connect workers and employers.

On the agency’s website it reads:

“The agency has a network of workforce development services to provide citizens and employers the opportunity to compete in today’s global economy.”

In the interview, Adkins described what WorkForce West Virginia does to fill positions for businesses, industries and corporations coming to West Virginia.

“We help employers recruit qualified applicants,” Adkins said. “Virtual job fairs, on-site job fairs, we do upscaling retraining, we work with the Higher Education Policy Commission, DHHR, a bunch of different partners at the state level, to make sure we’re finding the right people for the right job.”

Sears said for years now, WorkForce West Virginia’s focus on virtual job fairs and upscale retraining has failed to help get him his needed $12 an hour, laborers.

“Most of the people that I’m trying to hire may or may not have cell phones, may or may not have computers,” he said. “They can’t do the virtual things that the workforce is trying to get everybody to do. It used to be that we would send in our job, and then they would send us people. But in the last five years and even worse, or currently in the last two years, it just doesn’t happen.”

Adkins explained how his agency gauged success.

“We take somebody who is unemployed or underemployed and put them in a position where they can succeed,” Adkins said. “At the same time, meeting whatever need that employer has, which is critical.”

Sears said, in his interactions with WorkForce West Virginia, his company’s labor needs are not being met.

“I need people that can use a shovel and a wheelbarrow, and can pull heavy loads up steep hills with another person, and the use of equipment like dollies, and cranes,” Sears said. “It’s hard work. But it’s constant work. I’m not the only employer out there trying to find employees. I did talk to other business people in the community, and it’s rampant everywhere.”

Adkins said the state has tried to create a sort of self-service, one-stop job seeking operation across all state agencies.

Sears said he knows there are people out there that can work that are not actively seeking a job, and he needs the state to do more to get them employed, and his business thriving again.

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This story is part of the series, “Help Wanted: Understanding West Virginia’s Labor Force.”

Corrections Commissioner Details Job Vacancy Crisis To Lawmakers

There are more than 1,000 job vacancies division wide, with most facilities lacking from 40 to 70 percent of needed staff.

As a declared state of emergency continues, West Virginia’s Corrections Commissioner told lawmakers he would welcome a special legislative session on pay raises.

William Marshall, the Commissioner for the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation presented a report to members of the Legislative Oversight Committee on Regional Jail and Correctional Facility Authority on Sunday.

Marshall began by noting that there are more than 1,000 job vacancies division wide, with most facilities lacking from 40 to 70 percent of needed staff.

“We have over 300 National Guard members that are assisting in our facilities each and every day,” They’re doing a wonderful job for us. I’m not sure what we would actually do without them right now.”

Gov. Jim Justice called on the National Guard last year to assist corrections in non-front-line duties. Marshall said the guard assistance will cost taxpayers $17 million this fiscal year.

“We welcome the possibility of a special session to hopefully address some of the pay needs for the division,” Marshall told lawmakers.

House Bill 2879 would have given correctional officers a $10,000 pay raise over three years. The bill called for an initial $5,000 raise, followed by $2,500 over the next two years, and a $6,000 one-time bonus. The current starting pay for West Virginia correctional officers is about $33,000 a year, markedly lower than comparable positions in neighboring states and federal holding facilities.

The bill passed the House Jails and Prisons Committee unanimously but died in the House Finance Committee.

Marshall said the department’s mission now highlights increased and revamped recruiting efforts. He said they have improved the website, working to better connect with younger prospective employees through social media. Corrections now offers pre-counseling for applicants who would go through the process but become intimidated by the civil service test. They have also eliminated what Marshall called the strain of a six-week academy training stay.

“That was a strain on a lot of individuals to be away for six weeks from their families,” he said. “We’ve changed that process and we’ve got them working at the facility for two weeks shadowing an individual getting the basic training there, then taking some online courses. Then they would go to the academy for four days here and there maybe even a week,”

Sen. Charles Clements, R-Wetzel, asked Marshall about a sign he sees near his home.

“I drive by the St. Mary’s correctional facilities two or three times a week,” Clements said. “A big sign out there says ‘careers start here.’ If I decide I want to become a correctional officer, I go inside – and what happens from that point on?”

Marshall responded that throughout the corrections system, there’s a new emphasis on congeniality and helpfulness.

“We’ve instructed all of our facilities to be extremely proactive,” Marshall said. “We will sit down with you right there and get on the website and get you an application filled out right then. We’ll make it as easy as we can to get on the register and try to get them hired.”

Marshall said there needs to be some sort of compromise in getting pay raises to boost not just recruitment, but retention.

“We need to land on something to show the existing officers that we’re going to reward them with a higher salary,” Marshall said. “Our retention right now is just as big as our recruiting. We’ve hired roughly 150 since the first year, but we’ve probably lost that many.”

Several committee members said they were hopeful there would be a special session to consider pay raises for all 3,800 corrections positions, not just guards. Committee Chair Del. David Kelly, R-Tyler, told Marshall the effort to get pay raises to corrections officers will continue.

“I want your people to know that we hear them,” Kelly said. “We’re trying to do what we can to get something to happen for them.”

In a statement last week, Justice says he still agrees on needed corrections pay raises and that the problem must be solved. So far though, there is no word on a special session.

Eastern Panhandle Remains Child Protective Services Recruitment Focus

Several new workforce recruitment initiatives pinpoint the Child Protective Services plight in the Eastern Panhandle.

In Gov. Jim Justice’s Tuesday coronavirus briefing, Interim Health and Human Resources Secretary Dr. Jeffery Coben offered updated information on several new workforce recruitment initiatives recently put into action. The moves pinpoint the Child Protective Services plight in the Eastern Panhandle.

Coben said three of the previous four offers of Eastern Panhandle employment have been accepted, including two CPS workers and one youth service worker. He said their start dates are this week and they will begin their training immediately.

Coben also said one retired CPS worker accepted a new position and will begin in January. He said the initiative of enticing DHHR retirees to return to work on a limited basis without losing any of their retirement income will continue.

“We’re very excited to have them all join our workforce and to help keep our children safe as it relates to allocating funds for additional workers in the Eastern Panhandle,” Coben said.

Recently, Justice admitted the moves were made, in part, as a response to a publicly shared letter he received from Sen. Charlie Trump, R-Morgan, identifying crisis-level child welfare shortcomings specific to the Eastern Panhandle.

“These are addressing the needs that Sen. Trump brought up,” Justice said. “We have authorized the $2,500 CPS hiring bonus for CPS workers in Morgan, Berkeley and Jefferson counties be moved to $5,000.”

Other DHHR recruitment initiatives recently announced by Coben include reaching out to high school programs, the Mountaineer Challenge Academy, vo-tech programs and WVU health sciences students.

Coben has also said he’s working on plans to acquire additional technology allowing DHHR people to work smarter and more efficiently to manage cases that are in the system, both now and in the future.

Manchin Website Lists Job Openings for West Virginians

West Virginia’s U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin has launched a website with job listings for residents.

The website currently lists 22 postings, ranging from coal miner to bartender to procurement specialist at West Virginia’s Supreme Court of Appeals.

It also lists job fairs and guidance on resumes and cover letters for applicants.

Manchin says he has co-hosted 25 job fairs throughout the state since October 2015.

The Democrat, who faces-re-election next year, says the website at https://www.manchin.senate.gov/help-from-joe/jobs/job-postings is an extension of that effort.