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While the circumstances were different, the stories were virtually the same for the several hundred job applicants that started lining up in front of the state Employment Security Commission at 5 a.m. Monday. All wanted a steady, good-paying job that included benefits.
It was an advertisement from Evergreen Packaging that brought the group together — one offering rapid promotional opportunities, low-cost family comprehensive medical and dental insurance, a schedule where employees would work 14 days and be off 14 days, all with the potential to earn, on average, $37,500 during the first year of employment.
Corey Hartrick of Canton was the first person in line Monday — though not the first on site. A dozen or so applicants came to the Waynesville employment office between 1 and 2 a.m., but were staying in the car until it drew nearer to the office’s 8 a.m. opening. They joined the line after the first brave souls decided standing in the cold for three hours would well be worth the effort.
Jobs are scarce, all agreed, especially for recent high school and college graduates who are finding nobody wants to hire anyone without several years of work experience.
Both Hartrick, who has two college degrees, and his wife, who has a master’s degree in accounting are unemployed, he said. With a 1-year-old child, the couple is eager to find employment.
Mark Hyman, a 1998 Pisgah High School graduate, had his own flooring business before the economy tanked. He started working construction with his father-in-law, but wants to get on at the mill.
“There’s really nothing out there as good as the mill or that pays as much money,” he said.
Tom Worley of Bethel was at the ESC at 1:30 a.m. to ensure his would be among the 300 applications accepted that day. He and former co-worker Stephen Burgess, who both have families, were laid off from their construction jobs in September and are looking for any work to pay the bills.
“It’s either wait on a job here or go out of town to work,” said Burgess, who said he knew of work in South Carolina where a power plant is being built.
Hunter Sheppard, a 2006 Pisgah High School graduate, said he arrived at the ESC parking lot at 1 a.m. He has $15,000 in medical bills to pay and has looked everywhere for employment. Jobs are scarce, he said.
Chad Moody, who graduated from high school in 2007 and got an associate’s degree in livestock management, agreed.
“Everywhere you go they say you have to have experience,” he said, noting he’s been doing odd jobs as he looks for permanent work.
Katelynn Wilson, a 2004 Pisgah graduate, was prepared for a long, cold wait Monday. She arrived at 1:30 a.m. and watched a movie in the car before braving the cold at 5:15 when the line at the door began to grow. She unfolded her chair and snuggled deep into a blanket to stave off the morning chill as she chatted with former classmates who were also in line. Wilson takes online classes at Haywood Community College and works three jobs to make ends meet.
“One good-paying job with benefits would be great,” she said.
Adam Sorrells and Justin Frese even tried professional softball where tournament wins can help pay the bills, but said it doesn’t compare to a job with benefits and a steady paycheck.
“Plus you have to win,” Frese said with a grin.
Bethel farmer Herman Garrison said government regulation in farming has caused him to question his future in the business. The Evergreen application process was his first venture in looking for outside work.
“I wasn’t expecting this,” he said as he surveyed the line of people that formed in front of the office and snaked to the end of the back parking lot before curving back to the street.
Periodically, Evergreen Packaging accepts job applications for a hiring pool. The ESC screens the applicants and schedules a test at Haywood Community College, said Virginia Gribble, who manages the Haywood ESC office. The test results and prequalified applications are then forwarded to Evergreen, and as jobs open, the company uses the list to call in and further screen potential employees. When the number of pool applicants dwindles, the ESC does another screening. It has been January since applications were last accepted.
Gribble said office personnel were still processing applications Monday afternoon, and even scheduled some to come back the following day.
“It was physically easier for us to do it that way,” she said, noting the company asked for 300 applicants. “I imagine we got over our quota.” Gribble brought pizza in for ESC employees so they could continue processing applicants through the noon hour. In addition, the customary 125 people who show up at the office on a daily basis looking for jobs were accommodated.
Haywood County’s unemployment rate at 8.5 percent in September is slightly better than the statewide unemployment rate of 10.8 percent.
“We’re seeing people from different areas of the workforce than we’ve seen before,” she said.
Some are in the medical field, others are in real estate or construction. While it is normal for construction jobs to dwindle during the wintertime, Gribble said there has been a jump looking for construction unemployment even through the summer.
“There’s just nothing going,” she said.
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