Eye on Hospitality: Education Foundation Helps You Find Job Candidates in a Tight Labor Market

By Paul Schlienz

www.worksourcewa.com

It’s a tight labor market out there.

U.S. businesses large and small are having difficulty finding workers as the economy continues its recovery from the Great Recession. And hospitality is just as affected by this market trend as any other industry.

Enter the Washington Hospitality Association Education Foundation (EF). The EF understands the problems faced by many of our hotel and restaurant members with prolonged job vacancies and searches for qualified candidates. And EF has taken action to help you find the perfect candidates to fill your job openings.

One way that the EF is doing this is through its partnership with the Washington State Employment Security Department (ESD). ESD’s WorkSourceWA.com spotlights jobs and careers in hospitality through its hospitality microsite. If you’re looking to fill a position with the most qualified candidate, and you want to find the right talent quickly and easily, your answer is this site.

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Never have so many online staffing tools and resources been available to you in Washington — at no cost to you. And while most recruitment websites charge large fees to advertise your jobs, WorkSource offers unlimited job postings for free.

WorkSource has the largest talent database in the state. It even gives you access to Monster. com’s candidate pool for all of Washington and bordering cities in Oregon and Idaho. It uses an award-winning tool powered by Monster.com that helps you find the best candidates faster, understands concepts and context, and can search 15 million job/term combinations.

Once your preferences are set, WorkSource’s candidate spotlight quickly shows you the best candidates currently available. That means the best matches are always at the top of your pile.

“These are incredible tools,” said Sandra Miller, EF program manager. “You can filter your search so you can only see those candidates who actually have the skills for your job opening.”

Additionally, while support for most recruitment websites stops at the keyboard, WorkSource offers you access to representatives who can provide additional staffing assistance.

WorkSource’s business representatives can help you improve your job postings, arrange space for interviews, conduct candidate assessments and take advantage of tax credits when you hire.

These business representatives can provide wage rates by occupation and area. They also can connect you to other economic information important to your business.

“You’ll get an enormous amount of support from the business service representatives who work at the WorkSource offices throughout the state,” said Miller. “Each WorkSource office has representatives that can help you find employees wherever you live.”

WorkSource can save you time and money with on-the-job training, apprenticeships, customized training and internships.

“WorkSource has been a great partner for us,” said Miller. “It’s worked with us on our hospitality hiring events, which are one of the Education Foundation’s major success stories.”

Because of these events, held across the state, in 2016 and 2017, to help employers and job seekers connect, 255 people now have jobs in the hospitality industry.

“The hiring events prove our industry is incredibly welcoming,” said Miller. “We can take people with limited skills and barriers to employment and place them immediately in successful and sustainable employment.”