NEW ORLEANS – Metro Service Group said it has been working to address worker shortages and improve employee recruitment and job training for the company’s waste operations. Now, the Louisiana Workforce Commission is providing help.
LWC will assist Metro in workforce development and recruitment through electronic outreach, help the company with tools to expand driver training, and use existing programs to make cross-training current Metro employees easier.
“These programs the Louisiana Workforce Commission offers show they recognize the need for an innovative approach to support businesses, including ours, during these difficult times,” said Jimmie Woods, a principal with Metro, in a release. “We recognize that many residents of our service district have been inconvenienced by periodic waste delays over the last forty-five days as we have experienced challenges in recruiting and retaining employees to conduct the work of keeping the city’s streets clean with ever increasing volumes during the pandemic.”
Metro said it has also boosted pay, brought employees to the city from other communities in the region, and sub-contracting with other sanitation companies to increase the pool of available workers on Metro’s routes.
Metro collects at approximately 70,000 homes in the City of New Orleans three times per week over the largest geographic area of any of New Orleans’ three sanitation contractors. The company also has operations in several other south Louisiana parishes and Mississippi counties.
“Metro has explored numerous options to recruit new workers and to retain current workers in a highly competitive employment environment,” said Woods, “These tools LWC offers give us a new avenue for recruitment and job training that we believe can reap short-term benefits as we seek to fulfill our obligations to the city and its residents as our company has faithfully done for the last nearly 40 years.”
Persons interested in applying for positions with Metro can click here.
