More employers are posting job positions with Work Force Solutions of West Central Texas, but a “void” in the number of applicants still means hiring woes for some, said Bill Dean, its director of business services.However, “if you’re able to work, work and you’re willing to work, positions are available,” Dean said. Some employers have had to offer incentives and increase benefits and pay scale “just to be competitive.”According to the Texas Workforce Commission, weekly wages in the 19-county area that composes the West Central Workforce Development Area rose in the second quarter of 2022 an average of $74 per week, compared to the second quarter of 2021.Weekly wages rose to an average of $950 per week in the area, compared to $876 a year ago.That said, employers currently coming to job fairs “are not seeing an adequate number of applicants to fill (open) positions,” Dean said.That’s especially a concern in the wider, 19-county span that composes the West Central Workforce Development Area, even as some companies look to expansions and major employers such as Great Lakes Cheese look to hire workers.”There’s more postings and job openings than people that are looking for work,” he said, with a low unemployment rate.”The unemployment numbers that we were seeing, post-COVID, are definitely way, way down,” Dean said. “There’s not people that are reporting to Texas Workforce Commission that they c …
