Posted on July 26, 2021
BAY COUNTY, Fla. (WJHG/WECP) – Job fair flyers and help wanted signs are all too familiar sights for anyone in Bay County this summer.
“So, we do see that increase in the hospitality-based jobs in the summer, just matching our tourist industry and the fact that we have so many individuals coming and families coming to this area for our tourism season,” CareerSource Gulf Coast Director of Communications Brittany Rock said.
But as the off-season starts rolling in, the focus switches from seasonal to more permanent positions.
CareerSource Gulf Coast listed some of the “hot jobs” in the area this July. Although it’s still the summer season, they aren’t all seasonal positions. A lot of them are year-round and career-based like technicians, managers, and nurses.
Both Eastern Shipbuilding Group Inc. and Buffalo Rock have countless openings they’re pushing to fill.
“The jobs that we have are long-term jobs, we want you here, we can definitely keep you here, we can definitely get you hired,” Eastern Shipbuilding Group Inc. recruiter Jenny McNemar said.
“We are looking for people that want to have a career and want to be successful and fit our culture,” Buffalo Rock General Sales Manager Chad Peak said.
With federal unemployment checks ending early in Florida, some businesses hope finding employees won’t be as tough.
“Now that the unemployment has stopped, we’ll start getting a lot more people coming to us and we’ll be able to hire a lot more people,” McNemar said.
CareerSource experts said they’re already seeing the change.
“We do have individuals coming in, some trying to retain their benefits and some are looking for those opportunities to return to work,” Rock said.
For those looking to get back to work or start fresh, it seems opportunities are virtually everywhere you turn. According to Employ Florida, there are nearly 8,000 job openings listed in Bay County.
