Westmoreland County sets another job fair to fill vacancies

Westmoreland County is looking to fill 245 open positions at the sheriff’s office, jail, nursing home and other government entities during a job fair this month.

The event will run from 3 to 7 p.m. June 28 at Westmoreland Mall’s center court.

“There is a shortage in employees right now,” said Alexis Bevan, the county’s human resources director. “We’re still functioning well. … We’re doing fine, there are no real struggles, but we are looking to fill our vacancies as much as we can.”

Open positions include sheriff’s deputies; emergency dispatchers; Children’s Bureau case workers; corrections officers; nurses, CNAs and other staff at Westmoreland Manor; positions with the Register of Wills and the county’s Area Agency on Aging; and clerical positions in various departments.

Bevan noted that some of the highest number of vacancies are at Westmoreland Manor, the county’s nursing home.

Nursing homes across the country have experienced a shortage of staff since the start of the covid-19 pandemic.

According to a June 2021 report from the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living, which represents more than 14,000 nursing homes and long-term care facilities across the country, more than half of nursing homes and assisted living providers lost key members of their staff in 2020 because of workers quitting. The study also found that nearly 75% of nursing homes said their overall workforce situation has worsened since 2020.

While health care has been hit hard by the pandemic, labor shortages have been reported across the board after 47 million people quit their jobs in 2021 in search of an improved work-life balance, higher pay and flexibility, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce found.

Various county departments will be present at the job fair. Among those will be the prison, which will conduct agility tests and interviews on the spot.

Officials also will pass out fliers with more information on the departments and available positions.

Human resources staff will be available throughout the event and can help guide applicants to jobs based on their qualifications.

Bevan said officials decided to host the event in the evening to better accommodate applicants who already have jobs.

This is the second job fair the county is hosting at the mall this year. The first one took place in March. At that point, officials were advertising between 50 and 75 open positions.

Bevan noted that a few hundred people attended the event. Fifteen were hired on the spot.

“I do think that these are going to be happening more frequently,” Bevan said of the job fairs. “They seem to be well attended.”

A full list of open positions can be found on the county’s website, co.westmoreland.pa.us. Click on “jobs” and then view county government jobs.

“We’re excited to see the community and, hopefully, get some jobs filled,” Bevan said.