Employers are looking to get and retain good employees

Local businesses and industries are hiring; however finding and keeping employees can be a challenge in a competitive workforce

STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI)- Local businesses and industries are hiring; however, finding and keeping employees can be a challenge in a competitive workforce.

Companies and businesses are doing what they can to recruit and retain workers. Labor shortages have and are hitting all sectors of work.

On Thursday WCBI held a job fair from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. at the Starkville Sportsplex. Roughly two hundred people came in looking for a job

“I always wanted a maintenance job and now I feel like I really got one, I feel like I’ll be a part of a great team and it was just a good opportunity to go in there, meet new people, and get a new job all at the same time,” said job seeker Anthony Brewer.

SDR is one of more than two dozen companies and businesses looking to hire.

“We’ve done several job fairs we’ve done one on-site in Millport and then we did one at EMCC. We tell them about our bonus program that we have we do profit share bonuses quarterly and we do monthly bonuses and we have really good health insurance,” said SDR janitorial manager Stephanie Leonard.

Some offices have a great environment like the Children’s Health Center of Columbus. Human Resources Coordinator Jennifer Harper said they have a lot to offer employees.

“It’s hard competing in Columbus with the hospitals and the larger clinics because we are a small pediatric clinic and we’re very family-oriented and we try to focus on the community,” said Harper.

Harper and other employers at the job fair know they have to stay competitive; whether it be money, benefits, or assets.

“In our clinic, we offer so many in-house opportunities that the employees get to do ADHD testing to operate the x-ray equipment things they normally wouldn’t get a chance to experience in other clinics,” said Harper.

“We offer a competitive benefits package with competitive pay and competitive pay rates we attend different job fairs in the community here to try and recruit people. We have a good branch network with other branches across the state,” said branch manager of Barnhart Andrew Gordon.