CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — There are hundreds of job openings in restaurants and hotels across the Coastal Bend that employers are eager to fill.
Workforce Solutions of the Coastal Bend hosted a restaurant and food industry job fair with over 40 local businesses. Collectively they have over 300 openings they need to fill.
Some businesses say they have struggled to find new hires this year due to unemployment and COVID-related benefits. “People are still using different money that they’re getting from different government help and we definitely want to get them back to accrual payroll and getting them back to work," says Kristen Wolf, director of area sales for a local hospitality group.
Texas officially ended additional federal unemployment benefits on June 26, 2021, and COVID-19 relief packages are no longer available. Employers said they hope this will increase the number of job seekers.
“Because of the coronavirus relief packages, we’re not receiving them anymore, so a lot of people are gonna be out here looking for jobs man. And I’m one of them, I can’t rely on the government forever," says Diego Basaldua.
The businesses say they were thrilled to take part in the fair, and some even offered interviews on the spot.
