A Missouri school district has begun hiring some of its students to address continuing labor shortages.
The Northwest School District held a job fair for high school students to fill several vacant staff positions, Fox2 Now reported. Positions range from custodial and maintenance to food service and child care assistant jobs, with pay starting at minimum wage.
“Some of the positions have been short-staffed since last year,” said District Chief Operating Officer Kim Hawk. “We just have struggled to find any help at all, and if you drive around and look at the ‘Help Wanted’ signs everywhere, you know the competition is stiff. So, we knew we had to come up with some other plan.”
JOB OPENINGS SOAR TO RECORD HIGH 9.3 MILLION, RAISING FEARS OF LABOR SHORTAGE
The school district attempted to attract student workers with an Oct. 28 post on Facebook. The post said students must be a certain age to apply for the jobs. Under the requirements, 15-year-old students must have a work permit, but 16-year-old students can apply and students 17 or older are permitted to work in “before and after school childcare” positions.
“We have kids that are very capable and able to hold good jobs in this community and other places of employment, so to reflect on that and say, ‘Why wouldn’t we use those resources within our own facilities?'” said Northwest School District Superintendent Dr. Desi Kirchhofer.
Twenty-five students have applied for the positions, which provide more “flexibility” in their schedules as the district plans to “hire more students” than they currently need, Hawk said.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Several schools and districts nationwide announced closures due to several employers taking leave. A Michigan township announced its schools would be closed Monday after several staff members had a “negative reaction” from the COVID-19 booster shot, and a Denver high school announced they would switch to remote learning because of staffing shortages, possibly through Nov. 19.
The Washington Examiner reached out to Northwest School District but did not receive a response.
