Trucklite has nearly 100 positions available at McElhattan plant
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LAURA JAMESON/THE EXPRESS
Plant manager Tim Hazelton talks with State Representative Stephanie Borowicz, her office manager Michelle McCann and Trucklite VP of Operations Tyler Benedict during a tour of the facility.
McElHATTAN -- Truck-Lite is "really struggling" to find applicants to fill nearly 100 positions at its plant in McElhattan.
During a tour of the facility last week, Truck-Lite officials reported that the business is trying to find a multitude of applicants to fill at least 85 positions to meet the demands of the injection molding, distribution and harness departments at the McElhattan plant.
"We have nine departments in the state and each one is hurting," Tyler Benedict, vice president of operations said.
Of the three departments at the plant in McElhattan, each one is not at its required employee needs. At Truck-Lite's Wellsboro plant, there are 70 job openings and at Coudersport there are 10 job openings, he said.
In McElhattan, the harness department only has 45 employees but requires 76, the molding department requires 65 but only has 35, and distribution has 108 employees with the requirement of 175. The company has a requirement of 312 employees with only a current head count of 226.
Benedict explained there was a "lack of work" due to the pandemic and related closures saying that the "recovery is hard for everyone".
"The COVID problem exacerbated the problem further," Greg Certo, vice president of human resources said.
The plant also added a 15,000 square foot injection molding expansion on the right side of the building which was completed in October. This expansion, which includes new molding technology and 12 new work centers, also brings more job opportunities.
Certo said Truck-Lite has also partnered with temporary agencies to have part-time and temporary positions starting at $15 an hour as well as improving their recruiting.
"We are ready to run with as much support as necessary," Certo added.
The business plans to hold job fairs for the next couple of Saturdays at the building on McElhattan Drive.
"That is the number one struggle that I am hearing (finding applicants and employees staying at jobs)," State Representative Stephanie Borowicz (R-76th District) said. "It's an ongoing problem."
Borowicz said she hopes the state will reopen and that the reopening would provide an "environment for people to want to work again and flourish. Now it is time for people to get back to work. Unemployment is not something to live off of."
Borowicz and her team suggested Truck-Lite professionals have further discussions and partnerships with local schools such as Central Mountain and Pennsylvania College of Technology.
Truck-Lite plans to continue to work and improve their skilled labor apprenticeship with Penn Tech and hopes to connect with the local schools to create a program for high school seniors to help with the ongoing demand for employees.
These programs help train new people in the industry and can even help them with a job during college.
Tim Hazelton, plant manager, noted that Truck-Lite is an essential business as they make the lights and necessary means for lighting on trucks as well as underwater lighting, and Truck-Lite has not shut down during the pandemic, thus providing some stability for workers.
There is also a lot of shift work and being able to work around a multitude of schedules, he said.
"This is a nice work environment and people can make a living here and be successful," Certo said. "There are a lot of opportunities for growth."