Dan River Region hiring picks up as holidays near

Local companies are advertising more job openings and some employers are ramping up holiday hiring.

“We are seeing more hiring in the region,” said President Laurie Moran of the Danville Pittsylvania County Chamber of Commerce.

At the job fair in Danville on Sept. 22 that the chamber partnered with the Virginia Workforce Center to host, 25 employers were hiring more than 300 employees, Moran said. The chamber also knows of other companies hiring that couldn’t make it to the job fair.

Except for a couple employers, the jobs advertised at that fair were not seasonal jobs, she added.

While that’s a good sign, the chamber plans to survey employers to determine if they could project hiring for early next year, Moran said. Without definite numbers, it’s hard to predict the outlook for next year.

As of last week, the Virginia Employment Commission had 41 job orders representing 310 job openings in the area, said Selma Graves, deputy director of the West Piedmont Workforce Investment Board.

“In the past three months, there has been a slight increase in the number of openings listed,” Graves said. “That’s a positive sign.”

Most openings are in health care, retail, skill trades and “over-the-road” drivers — drivers that have commercial driver’s licenses and haul long distances, she added.

The jobs employers are finding the hardest to fill are those requiring technology- or computer- based skills to operate equipment and experienced over-the-road drivers that don’t mind out-of-town trips.

Yet, the good news is that locals have been hired through a recent job fair in Martinsville, where 585 job seekers came, Graves said. About 800 jobs were advertised, half of them seasonal.

Only employers with current vacancies or immediate needs participated in the job fair, she explained.

Additionally, this is the time of year companies hire for the holiday season.

Old Navy is advertising for associates, for example, she said. Local doll manufacturer MyTwinn held a job fair to fill between 75 and 90 openings.

UPS, one of the employers advertising through the Virginia Employment Commission, is hiring for 45 part-time jobs in the Danville area for this peak season, said spokeswoman Elizabeth Rasberry from the corporate Atlanta office.

Thirty-one of the jobs are for driver helpers to help pick up and drop off deliveries or assist with getting signatures, she said. The others are for facility help in sorting packages and putting them on vehicles.

UPS is hiring for 1,100 positions in Virginia and 50,000 nationally during this peak season.

At the end of September, Toys “R” Us announced adding 45,000 seasonal positions nationally, essentially doubling its workforce. This is 10,000 more seasonal employees than in previous years because of the need to fill about 600 new Toys “R” Us Express stores.

The company doesn’t break down local hiring figures.

Belk in Piedmont Mall added five seasonal employees already and expects to add 10 or 15 more, said store manager Shane Markham.

Belk starts gearing up in mid-November to be ready for Black Friday. Seasonal employees typically stay through Dec. 28. Those few days after Christmas are busy for returns or shoppers using gift cards or gifted money.

Some seasonal employees come back every year, like the college students who work on Thanksgiving or winter break, Markham said. Belk hopes to be decked out and fully decorated with Christmas trees and ornaments by Nov. 9.

“I’m encouraged by the fact that we know every year, eventually people do come in and shop,” Markham said. “We’re just hoping we’ll get a strong trend going.”

Tips for job seekers

• Laurie Moran, local Chamber president, said employers are looking for new hires who have good communication skills, are strong team players with a good work ethic and are drug-free. “Employers are willing to train people on specific tasks related to the job, but want people who are willing to learn and have good ‘job readiness’ skills,” Moran said.
• To check out the job listings through the Virginia Employment Commission, visit vaemploy.com or visit the local Virginia Workforce Center in Nor-Dan Shopping Center. Call (434) 549-8220.
• The work force centers also have resources for filing applications online, writing cover letters and résumés and networking events. Employers at times will come on-site to the center, said Selma Graves, deputy director of the West Piedmont Workforce Investment Board.
• For those 55 and older, the Southern Area Agency on Aging specializes in helping mature adults find work. Call 1 (800) 468-4571.
• “Just be resourceful,” Graves said. “Read the newspaper and by all means utilize the workforce centers in the area.”