Jobs Aplenty In N. Idaho, Officials Say Employment Fair Brims With Opportunities

To hear folks at Saturday’s job fair tell it, work is about as easy to find in North Idaho as a pine tree.

“There’s a lot of professional and technical jobs, a tremendous amount of service and retail jobs,” said Ricia Lasso, state Job Service consultant. “We have 30 percent more listings than last year.”

On the table in front of her, a fat pile of papers listed 400 different jobs available in the Panhandle.

It was the same story up and down the job fair tables at Silver Lake Mall.

“We’ve got a lot of jobs and a shortage of people,” said Jerry Manes of Industrial Personnel, Inc.

Even sawmills, usually associated with labor cutbacks these days, are seeking out his company’s temporary workers. Some of those people will get hired on full-time, Manes said.

Humanix Personnel Services had to double the number of computer stations at its Coeur d’Alene training center within two months of opening last January.

“It’s going gangbusters,” said Erin O’Regan of Humanix, which co-sponsored the job fair along with the Idaho Health and Welfare Department.

Clerical workers with accounting skills are especially in demand, she said.

“We have a lot of job openings and we’re recruiting like mad,” she said, adding that a low unemployment rate and the onset of the tourist season have heightened demand for workers.

They’re not all minimum-wage jobs. Computer programmers and software engineers make from $8 on up - “and up means way up,” said O’Regan.

Colleen Howard of LaCrosse Health & Rehabilitation Center is hot on the trail of nurses and nursing assistants.

“We do pay higher than minimum wage, very much so,’ she said. “We’re even paying $600 hire-on bonuses.”

The center, she said, is willing to pay for nursing assistant training. It will also subsidize continued education for those assistants who want to become practical or registered nurses.

Job hunters wandered by the tables staffed by representatives from businesses and service agencies.

Betty Hendricks is going to college, and needs work. She was getting a bit discouraged Saturday.

“There’s lot of jobs, and lots of competition,” she said. “If you don’t have the experience they want … Even for waitresses, they want so much experience.”

Jerrid Radford has earned his GED diploma, and figures he’ll need some on-the-job training. He’s been looking for a month now. He wants to get into sales.

“I’ve been picky,” he said. “It’s got to be a good environment.”

His sister sat beside him on a bench. Shondell Murillo was filling out an application form for Albertson’s. The supermarket chain is opening a new Hayden store this summer, with a lot of entry-level positions.

Tammy Rovik was also considering Albertson’s as a possible change from assembly line work. She wants a job working with people, one that gives her the chance to advance.

“I’ve been keeping in touch with Job Service,” she said.

A lot more companies are using the state Job Service to advertise their openings, said Lasso, the employment consultant. One reason is the agency’s increasingly sophisticated approach.

“You can look at all of our jobs on the Internet now,” said Lasso.

Pilot programs in three cities - Boise, St. Maries and Pocatello - allow people to type their resumes right into the state computer. Sometime next winter, that opportunity will be available at all Job Service offices.

“We’re offering people choice. They can do the whole entire job search on their own, or ask for help,” Lasso said. “It’s about choice. It’s about customer satisfaction.”

, DataTimes