MplsGopher
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STrib today on worker shortage:
The fair itself usually hires about 2,300 people to work the 12 days, doing everything from taking tickets to helping with crowd control to emptying trash barrels and cleaning bathrooms. But it's further behind on hiring than usual this year with about 400 positions still open. And that's not counting the hundreds of jobs that vendors would also still like to fill.
...
Metro Transit has warned it will offer fewer buses to the fair this year because it is also facing a labor crunch and doesn't have enough drivers.
"Regardless, the fair will take place," said Dullinger, adding that fairgoers are being asked to have a little extra patience. "We're telling people to expect that there might be longer lines at food vendors. There might be longer lines at the gates."
Tom Bettenburg, owner of the Tom Thumb Donuts booth that has been a staple at the fair for 71 years, said he'd normally hire 20 to 30 workers, but is having trouble this year getting 20. And that's despite bumping up wages by $2 an hour.
"It's the rare vendor out here who has extra help," he said last week while hauling a ladder and setting up his tent on the corner of Underwood Street and Carnes Avenue. "Wages are up and applications are down."
He worries that some new hires won't bother showing up after the first few days, something that happens every year. So he will add a $1-an-hour bonus for each person who makes it through the whole fair.
A block away, Kevin Hannigan at the Produce Exchange booth said he's mostly turned to his friends' teenagers for staffing help. He now has 17 workers, but would prefer to have 22.
"The problem is 10 of my employees are between 14 and 17 and never had a job before," he said. "I am having a really hard time finding qualified people."
Mike Kempenich, owner of the Gentleman Forager who has a State Fair booth selling mushrooms and other foraged items, only got one response, instead of 30, to a Facebook post asking his 15,000 followers for people to work at the fair. So he'll have to be at the booth every day and has turned to friends and volunteers for help.
...
In a typical year, Sweet Martha's, which has three booths at the fair, hires between 750 and 800 employees, many of them between the ages of 15 and 18, said hiring manager Katie Atlas. But this year, it's only hired about 650, and some of them seem to be signing up for fewer shifts. That's despite a raise in starting pay to about $15 an hour.
The fair itself usually hires about 2,300 people to work the 12 days, doing everything from taking tickets to helping with crowd control to emptying trash barrels and cleaning bathrooms. But it's further behind on hiring than usual this year with about 400 positions still open. And that's not counting the hundreds of jobs that vendors would also still like to fill.
...
Metro Transit has warned it will offer fewer buses to the fair this year because it is also facing a labor crunch and doesn't have enough drivers.
"Regardless, the fair will take place," said Dullinger, adding that fairgoers are being asked to have a little extra patience. "We're telling people to expect that there might be longer lines at food vendors. There might be longer lines at the gates."
Tom Bettenburg, owner of the Tom Thumb Donuts booth that has been a staple at the fair for 71 years, said he'd normally hire 20 to 30 workers, but is having trouble this year getting 20. And that's despite bumping up wages by $2 an hour.
"It's the rare vendor out here who has extra help," he said last week while hauling a ladder and setting up his tent on the corner of Underwood Street and Carnes Avenue. "Wages are up and applications are down."
He worries that some new hires won't bother showing up after the first few days, something that happens every year. So he will add a $1-an-hour bonus for each person who makes it through the whole fair.
A block away, Kevin Hannigan at the Produce Exchange booth said he's mostly turned to his friends' teenagers for staffing help. He now has 17 workers, but would prefer to have 22.
"The problem is 10 of my employees are between 14 and 17 and never had a job before," he said. "I am having a really hard time finding qualified people."
Mike Kempenich, owner of the Gentleman Forager who has a State Fair booth selling mushrooms and other foraged items, only got one response, instead of 30, to a Facebook post asking his 15,000 followers for people to work at the fair. So he'll have to be at the booth every day and has turned to friends and volunteers for help.
...
In a typical year, Sweet Martha's, which has three booths at the fair, hires between 750 and 800 employees, many of them between the ages of 15 and 18, said hiring manager Katie Atlas. But this year, it's only hired about 650, and some of them seem to be signing up for fewer shifts. That's despite a raise in starting pay to about $15 an hour.
