Bradford Forest Inc. is trying something new this year in their
hiring practices by using a temporary employment agency that
specializes in employing Hispanic workers.
The reason for this new direction, said company president Mark
Conolly on Tuesday, is due to the lack of committed unskilled
laborers available here.
“We are not able to hire people for the entry-level jobs which
are essentially unskilled,” said Conolly. “The people we hire don’t
last very long, primarily for attendance reasons.
“There are only six” of the hispanic workers, added Conolly.
Mary Jo Sandy, human resources director at Bradford Forest Inc.
said this is the first time the company has tried this type of
hiring.
“It’s a trial run for us and so far it has worked out well,”
said Sandy.
She said the subcontractor they hired the workers through is
called the Placement Group; the Lewisburg, W.Va., firm specializes
in Hispanic labor.
“They are temporary employees used to fill positions we have
problems filling and keeping,” added Sandy. “We are not paying them
– we pay the company. It is just like a temporary employment
service.”
Sandy said the workers are legal immigrants and papers are
provided to Bradford Forest Inc. for each one of them to work.
She said the workers could be from North or South America, that
there is no particular nationality of the workers.
“Some (of the workers) are bilingual. For every six there is one
translator that comes with the group and he is also a worker,”
added Sandy. “We also have some people here that speak Spanish as
well. We have been fortunate we have been able to use some of our
employees to help in translation.”
She said the subcontractor finds housing for the workers and she
said just the workers, not their families, live in the area while
they are employed.
When asked, Sandy said Bradford Forest has always seen an issue
in finding and keeping the employees they have.
“It has been more so lately. Even (businesses) who pay more
money have issues with the workforce in this area,” added
Sandy.
