2011年2月20日 星期日

Bugged by unfilled positions: despite tough economy, Kalamazoo firm has problems attracting workers

KALAMAZOO — For Kalamazoo-based Griffin Pest Control, the pest control market is ripe for expansion.


But owner Linden Griffin Jr. says he can't find the workers he needs to work as service technicians.

"We just want the average guy or girl out there," Griffin said.

The company has about 100 employees spread out across Michigan and northern Indiana, working out of 13 locations. It wants to add more in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio. But Griffin said his company has been looking for quite a while, despite the tough economy.

He would not say how many workers the business needs, but said there were good-paying jobs to be filled across the three states and that the company has been advertising for job applicants since December 2009.

"We're a growing company. We've grown every year since 1929," Griffin said of the business started by his father, Linden L. Griffin Sr.

The company, which is headquartered at 2700 Stadium Drive, has worked with the state-supported employment agency Michigan Works, bought air time on Detroit radio stations and even put an advertisement on an I-94 electronic billboard near Ann Arbor, all in the hopes of attracting job-seekers. Those have not yet drawn a significant response, however.

Qualifications aren't beyond the typical requirements for employment: Applicants must pass an alcohol- and drug-screening test, must pass a criminal background check and must have a clean driving record.

Griffin said about one-third of his current work force have college degrees, but high school graduates are welcome, and prior training isn't a requirement. New employees participate in a five-week training program.

Griffin would not specify how much new workers are paid, but a median salary for workers in the industry is about $12.61 per hour, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Griffin said he has work for individuals who can write legibly, dress appropriately, work in possibly adverse weather conditions and climb over or under areas where pests may be hiding.

While much of the growth Griffin is hoping for stems from the company's traditional pest control work, such as termite and rodent eradication, some of the growth is being spurred by the recent increase of bed bug infestations across Michigan. And he said the rise in bed bug business has been anything but gradual.

"We're probably seeing a 200 to 300 percent increase (in bed bug

infestations) from last year to this year," Griffin said during a telephone interview from San Antonio, Texas, last week. Griffin was attending a bed bug conference there, the second such conference he said he has attended so far in 2011.

"The bed bugs are quite an issue, and they are not going away," he said.

Unlike other pests that can find their way into a house or a business on their own, bed bugs have to hitch a ride on someone or something to travel from one place to another. And they can become resistant to chemical sprays.

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