BANGOR, Maine — Several state officials this week acknowledged Maine’s hiring crunch and the issues businesses are facing with a workforce shortage, which has forced many Maine businesses to get creative to entice people through the door to work for them.
Incentives being offered include things like signing bonuses, 401(k) plans, paid vacations, and health benefits.
Starr Corcoran, a clinical recruiter with St. Joseph Healthcare, said a full workforce has always been a challenge but the pandemic certainly didn’t help things out.
“We are offering sign-on bonuses for the positions that we are really in need of,” Corcoran said. “We are also, people coming from out of state we’re offering relocation assistance. We offer our employees referral bonuses for certain positions for them to refer their friends to. So, we have had to get very creative."
Staff at Moe’s Original Bar B Que in South Portland say their incentives have really helped them with filling positions.
The restaurant is offering a $500 bonus to part-time employees after 6 months and a $1,000 bonus to full-time workers.
“It helps us get the applications in the door which is the biggest problem,” manager Jeremy LaRochelle said.
“Normally, you're only getting a few applications when you're putting out the ads for employees but with that, we're getting a lot more applications in so we're able to make better decisions on our hiring," he said.
St. Joseph Healthcare staff will be holding an event called "Coffee and Careers" on June 9 in Broadway Park in Bangor from 8 to 11 a.m. Organizers say they will have a number of positions to hire for in several departments.