T-R PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY Marshalltown Community School District Foodservice Director Lynn Large, Human Resources Assistant Cindy Cisneros and HR Director Nora Ryan converse during a hiring event held at Marshalltown Community College on Friday afternoon.

Even as COVID case numbers continue to decline and — on the public health front, at least, the world is beginning to return to some sense of post-pandemic normalcy — finding great candidates to fill available positions remains a challenge for several of the area’s top employers.

Two of them — the Marshalltown Community School District (MCSD) and JBS — hosted hiring events on Friday, and representatives of both organizations said they were encouraged by the turnout they saw.

According to JBS Human Resources Director Patrick Brue, the company has hosted between eight and 10 job fairs in the last four weeks, and the goal, from his perspective, is being proactive rather than reactive.

“It’s about taking care of our employees (and) making sure that we’re completely staffed. We try to overstaff and allow for people to have a work-life balance,” Brue said. “We’re doing really well, and we want good talent. And that’s what we’re always looking for.”

JBS has raised its starting wage to $20.50 an hour, which Brue and employment director Vicky Cervantes said is part of a concerted effort to attract better candidates who are looking for a career in the meatpacking industry. Still, money isn’t the only factor for job seekers — especially in light of the so-called “Great Resignation” — and Brue touted other initiatives like the Better Futures program in partnership with Marshalltown Community College (MCC), on-site counseling, JBS Strong and Hometown Strong as a few of the selling points of working for the company.

Along with attracting prospective new employees, Brue said doing whatever it takes to retain current staff who are doing a great job is just as vital.

“It’s important for us to keep our ears open and listen to our employees, and that’s something that we regularly do — hear feedback and adapt,” he said. “I would say we’re in the best position possible at this point. The pandemic has affected the entire community and the entire nation, but we’ve been able to weather that very well and continue to feed the world and bring more to the table for our employees and our community.”

The turnout at Friday’s event, Cervantes added, was one of the strongest she had seen so far.

“I think today has been very successful,” she said.

The MCSD’s hiring struggles have been well documented, as Human Resources Director Nora Ryan said the staff shortage was “unprecedented” back in October. Still, she was encouraged when about 20 job hunters arrived at the Dejardin Hall on the MCC campus promptly at 1 p.m. on Friday for the district’s hiring event, which also ran from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday.

“We’re looking for outstanding folks to add to the team, and we’ve never done the MCSD specific job fair,” Ryan said. “We’ve always joined other job fairs, so it was a great opportunity to partner with Iowa Valley (Community College District) and also IowaWORKS to help us create this event to hopefully bring in more people, specifically for our district.”

Ryan said that foodservice, custodial and substitute teaching jobs were drawing the most interest on Friday, but one of the biggest barriers to employment for the school district is education, as all applicants must at least have a high school diploma.

In light of the current climate, Ryan also touted some of the benefits that come with working for a school district even if the wages may not always compete with the private sector — the retirement package, hours and schedule flexibility and the fulfillment that comes with guiding students on their educational journeys.

“I think a lot of people are eager to work. I think a lot of people just don’t know where to start,” she said. “If we could hire a handful of people from this, we would consider it a success.”

At the MCSD event, the district’s HR staff members were on hand to help prospective employees apply online. Kirk Mosier of Marshalltown, who is semi-retired, said he was interested in a part-time bus monitor position.

“The government part of it sounds (good)… as opposed to a private employer,” Mosier said. “I’m sure it’s going to be more structured and stable with a government job than it would be with a private employer.”

To learn more about available jobs at the MCSD, visit www.teachiowa.gov.

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Contact Robert Maharry

at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or

rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.