SHOPPING FOR WORKERS
Layoffs are occurring in many places but supermarkets taking on workers
There are times nowadays when Redner’s Markets employees don’t even have time to stack certain products on the shelves because customers are plucking them off the pallets in the aisles, said company spokesman Eric White.
That increased demand from shoppers stocking up due to coronavirus concerns has put Redner’s in a different position than most other businesses during the crisis.
Many companies are temporarily shutting down operations due to government orders or because business has declined, with some even laying off employees, but Redner’s is among those adding to its workforces.
“If you’re looking for extra work, we have it,” White said to those currently away from their jobs and missing their paychecks.
The Maidencreek Township-based grocery chain has 10 supermarkets in Berks and 44 overall, and is hiring for multiple positions in its stores and warehouses, including cashiers, stock clerks and cashiers, he said.
The need for workers comes not only from increased business but also because employees are encouraged to take off from work if they’re feeling ill or are uncomfortable coming in due to concerns about COVID-19, White said.
The current staff is doing very well at handling the surge in business, but it’s tough, he said.
Sometimes when products such as toilet paper, meat and bread are absent from shelves it’s because employees haven’t had time to bring them up from the back of the store yet, he said.
“They’re busting their tails,” he said.
But the extra staff will help, as will a temporary change in the hours at Redner’s supermarkets that are typically open 24 hours a day but now are closing at 9 p.m. so employees can catch up on stocking and do extra cleaning, he said.
At Giant Food Stores, the extreme demand by shoppers over the last few weeks has also created a rapid increase in the need for new workers, said company spokeswoman Ashley Flower.
Under normal circumstances a typical Giant store is looking for about a dozen new employees at any given time, she said.
“We have seen this need grow exponentially, in some cases more than double in just a few days,” Flower said.
And the company expects that need to continue to grow over the next few weeks, she said.
So Giant, which has six stores in Berks, is hiring service associates, cashiers, general stock clerks, drivers and other employees.
As of early this week the company already had added more than 700 new people in Pennsylvania, she said.
Weis Markets also is hiring due to unprecedented demand, said spokesman Dennis Curtin. The company, which has four stores in Berks, is looking to hire full- and part-time associates, including cashiers and stockers.
In addition, Weis, Giant and Redner’s have raised pay by $2 an hour for their store-level, hourly paid associates while the outbreak continues.
Other sectors of the economy are also hiring due to the crisis.
With dine-in restaurants increasingly being ordered to cease sit-down service, many restaurants that specialize in delivery are seeing orders increase and as a result they need more workers.
That includes Domino’s, which is looking to hire about 700 employees across more than 142 stores in the Philadelphia region, including delivery drivers, customer service representatives, assistant managers and managers.
Montgomery Countybased waste removal company J.P. Mascaro & Sons is also hiring due to the outbreak.
While some sectors of its collection business — including universities, restaurants and others — have shown a reduction in the need for services over the past couple of weeks, there has been an increase in the residential, municipal and industrial sectors as residents and companies are using this unique period to clean up, company officials said.
“What we’re seeing is different,” said Frank Sau, director of communications for Mascaro. “Now, with people confined to their residences and some businesses closing, there is more trash out there.”
He said the company is looking for laborers, mechanics, technicians and CDL Class A and Class B drivers, with 30 to 50 new employees needed for the Pottstown area. He said that extends to Berks County and across Montgomery County and Allentown.
With the demand for household products heightened, Dollar General plans to nearly double its normal hiring rate and add up to 50,000 employees nationwide by the end of April, company officials said.
The company anticipates the majority of those roles to be temporary, but said some could stay on as permanent employees.
Unique Pretzel Bakery in Muhlenberg Township also is trying to fill a number of newly created positions for packaging, mixing and machine operators,
seeking to attract those who’ve recently been let go and are worried about when they might return to work, company officials said.
Unique wants to overstaff its manufacturing positions to allow for employees who might show symptoms of the coronavirus and are told to stay home.
The company is also seeing an increase in online orders and needs help in fulfilling those orders,
company officials said.
Other companies with a presence in Berks that are adding jobs on a national scale to keep up with increased demand due to COVID-19:
• Wal-Mart, which intends to hire 150,000 new workers.
• CVS, which plans to hire 50,000 part-time, full-time and temporary workers.
• Dollar Tree, which intends to hire 25,000 employees.