'We cannot find enough people': Recruiters look to Steele High School to fill record job openings

AMHERST — Mike Galbin kept his eyes peeled Thursday for the perfect job candidate. His company, Cleveland-based Apollo Supply, needs warehouse workers, inside sales reps and truck drivers to keep roofing, siding, gutters and windows moving to contractors across the region. But like many employers nationwide, it's struggling to fill job openings. "We cannot find enough people. That's why we're branching out into things like this, trying to find some young blood," said Galbin, nodding to the hundreds of seniors who moved from table to table at Marion L. Steele High School's inaugural career fair. The event attracted recruiters from 32 companies, including Sherwin-Williams, Sprenger Health Care, the Cleveland Clinic, Mercy Health, Hyland Software, Bendix, several military branches and more. While seniors were given the first shot at talking to business reps, Principal Joe Tellier said the goal was to give the entire student body a chance to mingle. Companies jumped at the chance to get face time with Steele students, he said. "They wanted to bring applications," he said. "They need what they have to offer, and our students have what these businesses need. It's just a matter of marrying the two." School counselor Katheline Santos said at least 60 percent of students aim to go to college. The career fair aimed to provide options for the other 40 percent that is considering jumping straight into the workforce. But finding a job has changed a lot in the past few decades. Gone are the days of pounding the pavement with resume in hand, replaced by online applications that are bereft of face-to-face interaction, said intervention specialist Kristen Kowalsic, who planned the career fair with Santos. Students are hungry for jobs, Kowalsic said — they just need a little help taking the first step. "They know they want to go out and find employment, but they don't know how to go about it," she said. A big barrier to the whole process, said Santos, is convincing kids to talk themselves up. They've been taught that humility and modesty are virtues — and they are — but you have to market yourself when looking for a job. That's a formula that senior Aidan Boden seems to have solved. He attended the career fair even though he's already gotten a job cutting hair, which he hopes to make into a career. Still, Boden said he was keeping his options open and looking for the next step up. "I feel like I haven't looked hard enough," he said, circulating among the recruiters at Steele. That's the kind of initiative Nordson Corp. talent acquisition specialist Brandi Kessler was looking for. Armed with a scholarship for graduating seniors or college students, she was hunting for teens with strong business and engineering instincts. "Just forming these initial connections with these young students is important for us so that we have a relationship when they're ready to graduate from college," Kessler said. Nordson, which was founded in Amherst and has grown into a multinational corporation with headquarters in Westlake, has a large number of entry-level openings across the nation, she said. It also has about 50 internships filled this year, and opportunities for newly created leadership development programs in finance, marketing and sales. There are about 11.5 million job openings in the United States, according to May numbers released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That's the largest number on record. But hires were stuck at 6.7 million, showing little change from previous months and leaving employers short-staffed. Companies are gaining ground when it comes to filling positions in transportation, warehousing, utilities, education and government, according to the BLS. But workers are increasingly shying away from taking jobs in retail and durable-goods manufacturing. Workers have the upper hand right now, the BLS' Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey shows. Results of a Pew Research Center survey published in March show the "Great Resignation" isn't the result of laziness. Instead, workers are tired of low pay and no chances for advancement — so they are going where the money is, leaving vacancies behind. Among those who quit a job in 2021, 63 percent said pay was too low, 57 percent said they felt disrespected at work, 48 percent cited child care issues, 45 percent wanted more flexible hours, 43 percent said their benefits stank, and 39 percent said they were working too many hours. "The survey also finds that those who quit and are now employed elsewhere are more likely than not to say their current job has better pay, more opportunities for advancement and more work-life balance and flexibility," according to Pew. Contact Jason Hawk at (440) 329-7122 or news@lcnewspapers.com.