04-10-1996 Council Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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Twenty-one percent of the seasonal help were hired in April, 43 % in May and 35 % in June. Several of the communities commented that they would have preferred to hire employees in April, but were not able to get most employees on board until late May. Nine of the communities began advertising in January and February. Nine others advertised in February and March and five of the communities waited until April to begin advertising. Three communities did not advertise at all. The vast majority of the seasonal staff work from 7:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Monday through Friday; however, two communities had staff working 6:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. four days a week and several other communities had staff working weekends as a regular part of their shift, as well as different shift hours, such as 2:30 p.m. until 10:30 p.m., 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., 6:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., etc. Ten of the 18 communities that had 18 year old age limits had two applicants for every job opening, three communities estimated they had ten or more applicants for every job opening. Of the seven communities that had 16 year old age limits, all averaged better than four applications for a job opening, two communities averaged ten applicants per job opening and two communities averaged 30 applicants per job opening. Eleven of the 26 communities responded that 50 -75 % of their staff returned each year. Seven of the communities had 75 % or more of their staff return each year. Five had 40 -50 % return and four had 20-40 % return. The respondents were nearly split on whether or not they had problems filling positions. Of the seven communities with 16 year old age limits only one indicated they had a problem filling positions, while ten of the communities with 18 year old age limits had problems filling positions. Only five of the communities responded that they had made changes in recruiting policies in order to entice more applicants. Some of the changes made were as follows: 1. Provided skilled labor wage above the regular wage. 2. Advertised for the six month position in the St. Paul paper (was not successful this year). 3. Increased the wage, contacted college placement offices and posted in colleges, especially in the metro area. 4. Used the Minneapolis Tribune with mixed success, sent openings to colleges in the memo area (this was their best method), provided a seasonal job fair for all city seasonal jobs in conjunction with another city program. A number of the respondents provided recommendations for how cities could improve seasonal employee recruitment. Some of those recommendations are as follows: 1. Go to the local high schools. Page 69