The coronavirus pandemic has forced a new wave of people into the hunt for jobs while some employers are scrambling to hire workers.

Judy Ferree, owner at Hotel Saxonburg, said she placed an advertisement in the newspaper because she wasn't sure if all of her employees would return.

Since then, she received two phone calls from people looking into the jobs she has available, which includes servers and bartenders. But it was her staff who she had to let go through the pandemic who really impressed her with almost everyone returning.

“I wasn't really sure what was going to happen,” Ferree said. “The people who I have that worked here, they all really wanted to come back.”

Ferree said a lot of people are benefitting from the extra $600 per week that has been added to unemployment benefits through the pandemic.

“(My employees) would all rather be here, and they're making less money working,” Ferree said. “I felt pretty good about that actually.”

According to weekly reports by the U.S. Department of Labor, Pennsylvania reached a peak unemployment rate of 21.21 percent during the week that ended April 25. The department's figures for the week ending May 30 showed an unemployment rate of 14.56 percent.

According to the Office of Unemployment Compensation, an unofficial estimate of 2,132,891 unemployment claims have been made since the week ending March 21.

Other employers are looking to add positions due to COVID-19 needs for higher sanitation.

Carol Hidock, an area supervisor for the Tri-County Management, said McDonald's throughout its network is looking to hire employees, but not because of layoffs, which they avoided.

“We did have some employees take some time off,” she said. “We allowed them to take as much time as they needed.”

Hidock said the pandemic and the new safety standards has guided their need for additional employees.

“We've always had strict cleanliness and safety standards, but now we're adding even more,” she said. “We want to make sure we have a big enough staff, so that we can serve our customers with the highest quality service.”

Frank Skrip, a spokesman for Concordia Lutheran Services, said the company is always looking for nurses, certified nursing assistants and aides for its long-term care facilities.

“The pandemic hasn't changed that,” Skrip said.

He said Concordia also offers a program in partnership with Butler County Community College, where the company will pay tuition in exchange for agreeing to work at Concordia for a period of time. He said graduating during the pandemic tuition free could be a great starting point.

“Any opportunity to get some help with college is a positive thing,” Skrip said. “Really the point of this is to create a pipeline of excellent nurses.”

Jordan Grady, executive director of the Butler County Chamber of Commerce, said job fairs are a huge asset to both employers and employees, and now because of the pandemic, they are even happening virtually.

Grady said his chamber has partnered with Allegheny and Beaver county chambers to form a tri-county collaboration on a virtual job fair.

The job fair will be from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Thursday via a Zoom meeting.

“It's a good connection to build a sound relationship between an employer and an employee,” he said. “It's very promising that people are hiring right now.”

Tips for job seekers

Grady said people looking for jobs should remember to remain confident when applying for jobs. He said it's important that employers get to know the real person they're hiring.

“Be yourself. Don't oversell yourself to a potential employer. That'll only bite you in the long run,” he said.

Sue Bowser, site administrator for PA Career Link, said the agency's website, www.pacareerlink.pa.gov, gives their team a 24-7 platform to help people.

Bowser said the hardest part about losing employment is the loss itself.

“They have to get over that loss, before they can move onto something else,” she said. “Sometimes people need to just talk about it, and just get it out.”

Once a person gets over that loss, they can heal and begin their job search. She said people will want to update their resumes. That is an area her team can help with.

When people create an account through PA Career Link, they are asked some questions that the site then transforms into a basic resume.

“When they're done filling out all of that, they'll have a basic resume to start with, whether they embellish from there or it could be good enough to start applying for jobs,” Bowser said.

BC3 support

While Bowser helps hone people's job hunting skills, so too do the people who assist recent graduates.

Butler County Community College has resources to help their graduates find jobs, and if they can't, they set them up with the best chance to succeed.

“I would say the biggest thing for us right now is making sure students stay engaged with our resources,” said Jason Novak, dean of student development at BC3.

Novak said the college's Career Services team reaches out to students usually at the time where they are working on their core classes just before they graduate. He said often, they will have to determine which students will be entering the workforce and which will be transferring to a four-year program elsewhere.

Though the offices remain closed as of now, the team is still actively reaching out to students through the virtual medium.

“Even though it feels like it at the moment, they're not necessarily alone out there,” Novak said.

Students will also find resume building help through Career Services. Novak said the office is also prioritizing teaching skills for virtual job searches, such as using websites like PA Career Link and also tips and tricks to stand out in the virtual world, like how to properly conduct yourself in a video interview.

“It has it's own set of challenges and opportunities,” Novak said. “We certainly recognize that it's an unprecedented time for our recent graduates.”

He said the college will continue to support the students throughout the pandemic and beyond.

“We'll still be there to support the student until they find employment,” Novak said.