By
NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Hutchinson/Reno County Chamber of Commerce CEO Debra Teufel told Hutch Post that the Chamber is doing its best to let displaced workers know where open jobs are.
"We put together a job seeker resource guide, and we just continue to add to it this week," Teufel said. "Honestly, when we began it two weeks ago for the hospital layoffs, it was really healthcare focused, but with a lot of other local employers that we knew were hiring. I think that the folks that are getting laid off at Sonoco have a lot of other kinds of skill sets. We posted it on our website. We also posted some other resources for job seekers there, about how you file for unemployment and how you access the services at the Kansas Workforce Center."
There are easily enough jobs to absorb the workforce, it's just a matter of matching up skill sets.
"We have had a really great response this week, of companies that we weren't even aware of that were hiring that wanted to be a part of it," Teufel said. "The great thing is that we can just continue to update it. It's downloadable, but it's also electronic, where there are live links to all of these employers, where you can either email them or go to their websites to access the jobs."
It also gives the Chamber the chance to use its own job portal to help.
"We have really gotten a good response to the Greater Hutch job portal," Teufel said. "There is a link there to the job portal. You can obviously access it directly at greaterhutch.com, but just to have everything in one place, we thought it would be good to have everything on the homepage at hutchchamber.com. This week, we have been getting calls from, not just local employers, but regional employers that really want to surround those workers with all the help they can get. It's not been a secret that it's been hard to find workers in this climate. I think this is a great time for the folks that are getting laid off to know that there are jobs out there for them."
There are jobs all over the area, from here in Hutch to area towns, like Moundridge.
"The Bradbury Group, they said they have 30 job openings right now," Teufel said. "I know that Superior Boiler has a great number of job openings. Takako is another one. Kuhn Krause reached out. There are dozens, if not hundreds of jobs open right now in our area. It's a really good opportunity. They may not even have to develop a full resume. It may just be go to these employers sites and go to the links that we have posted. From Monday until today, we have added 100 jobs on the Greater Hutch job portal."
With overall unemployment in the area still well under 5%, it is a competitive environment for workers, no matter your skills.
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