GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – While non-essential businesses are temporarily closing – some people are losing work. In fact, more than 69,000 Wisconsinites filed for unemployment during the week of March 19th – totaling more than 135,000 in just two weeks.
But with 20% of the Greater Green Bay regional economy coming from manufacturing, those people could quickly find interim jobs.
“You can still go out and have income coming in. They know that they’re hiring you for a specific limited period of time, and then you can go back to the job that you had before,” says Greater Green Bay Chamber Vice President of Economic Development Kelly Armstrong.
The Chamber is teaming up with the NEW Manufacturing Alliance to promote employment opportunities around the area.
“We still have a lot of companies in the area that are hiring. They’re hiring for both regular long-term positions, career opportunities – and they’re hiring for short-term interim positions,” Armstrong says, “Everything from manufacturing paper to food to metals – it’s just a whole slew of different opportunities.”
With a quickly rising unemployment rate and a growing need for more efficient manufacturing amid the pandemic, the job market is hotter than some might think.
“These positions are going to be hired in a rapid pace, probably much quicker than people are normally used to,” Armstrong tells WTAQ News, “It’s an opportunity to fill that gap and for some people – an opportunity still to finding your career path.”
All Greater Green Bay businesses are being encouraged to funnel job opportunities through a site set up by the Chamber to streamline the openings for job-seekers.
“When a company notifies us that they are doing a layoff, we’re asking them to put it in front of their employees,” Armstrong says.
Those employees are also encouraged to check out the page while simultaneously applying for unemployment benefits form the Department of Workforce Development.
