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Mark Kahn of West Wyoming talks to Aubrey Daniels, employment manager and Jennifer Brown, employment specialist at Mohegan Sun Pocono at the Great Northeast Job Fair.
Billy Nocero of Old Forge talks to Amazon recruiter Eric Warrior at the Great Northeast Job Fair.
Anna Rinaldi, human resources manager; Sue Mursch, assistant human resources manager and Dave Doeing, maintenance manager at Simona America Industries, a plastics fabrication company in Archbald, came to the Great Northeast Job Fair looking to fill positions.
People attend the Great Northeast Job Fair at Mohegan Sun Pocono, Plains Twp., Wednesday.
Mark Kahn of West Wyoming talks to Aubrey Daniels, employment manager and Jennifer Brown, employment specialist at Mohegan Sun Pocono at the Great Northeast Job Fair.
Billy Nocero of Old Forge talks to Amazon recruiter Eric Warrior at the Great Northeast Job Fair.
Anna Rinaldi, human resources manager; Sue Mursch, assistant human resources manager and Dave Doeing, maintenance manager at Simona America Industries, a plastics fabrication company in Archbald, came to the Great Northeast Job Fair looking to fill positions.
People attend the Great Northeast Job Fair at Mohegan Sun Pocono, Plains Twp., Wednesday.
PLAINS TWP. — Officials from 31 companies participated in the Great Northeast Job Fair on Wednesday in Mohegan Sun Pocono’s convention center offering higher wages and sign-on bonuses to try to fill positions but they said it’s a struggle to hire.
Companies trying to hire people included Mohegan Sun Pocono which advertised sign-on bonuses of up to $600 for positions including housekeeping attendants, cage cashiers, security officers, environmental services and hotel desk agents as well as culinary jobs.
Yet, Aubrey Daniels, employment manager at Mohegan Sun Pocono, did not see a big turnout Wednesday morning at the job fair hosted by Times-Shamrock Communications.
She said it has been difficult to schedule interviews and job candidates do not always show up for interviews.
“We’re not immune to the nationwide struggle that everyone is having,” Daniels said. “We’ve really had to be persistent. We do our best with the benefits that we offer our team members and we really try to emphasize that this is the place to build a career.”
Mohegan Sun Pocono employed more than 1,200 people before the COVID-19 pandemic and now employs about 800, Daniels said.
Like other casinos, Mohegan Sun Pocono was forced to shut down for months during the COVID-19 pandemic and to operate at reduced capacity for periods before it could return to normal.
Daniels said Mohegan Sun Pocono decided to join the “sign-on bonus bandwagon” to try to recruit more employees. While it has helped, she said it’s still a struggle to fill about 75 open positions.
She said some reasons businesses can’t find workers are related to COVID-19.
“A lot of people have reevaluated their work-life balance,” Daniels said. “Some think work at home positions are much more appealing.”
West Wyoming resident Mark Kahn, a semi-retired substitute teacher, came to the job fair and stopped by Mohegan Sun Pocono’s booth to inquire about job opportunities.
He said he is interested in jobs in public relations, writing, instructing and possibly cooking but he found many manufacturing positions available at the job fair.
Manufacturers with open positions included plastics manufacturer Simona America Industries in Archbald.
Anna Rinaldi, human resources manager for Simona America Industries, said the company is trying to hire forklift and machine operators and mechanics and fill maintenance jobs.
She said wages for machine operators start at more than $18 an hour without experience and more than $20 with experience but she didn’t see much interest.
“There aren’t a lot of people walking through the door today,” Rinaldi said.
Rinaldi said one reason it’s been difficult to fill jobs is there are many options in the area when it comes to manufacturing and warehouses.
“You hear on the news they’re going to put a new plant in with 500 jobs but there are all these employers here who are looking to fill positions so I don’t know if that’s necessarily good news,” she said.
Big warehouses looking to fill positions on Wednesday included online retail giant Amazon.
Amazon recruiter Eric Warrior said he is looking to hire warehouse associates for the company’s locations with extra large products in Gouldsboro and Jessup. He said Amazon trains workers how to operate forklifts.
Warrior said starting wages vary depending on shifts in Amazon’s 24-hour operation but they range from more than $15 an hour to $22 an hour.
“We’re looking to hire about 100 and probably more as we’re gearing up for our Christmas peak season,” he said. “Although we’re gearing up for our busy season, we’re constantly hiring. Amazon is constantly expanding so we’re always looking for new talent.”
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