“Companies involved in applying for permits to run liquefied natural gas (LNG) transfer hubs at the Port of Brownsville touted thousands of open construction jobs for each facility and hundreds of permanent jobs once the plants are completed by 2020. When salaries for all the jobs — from maintenance workers to supervisors — are averaged, most of the companies boast an average salary of $70,000.
Willis said it’s likely that candidates across the Rio Grande Valley will be in line for the open slots and commuting is common for many residents.
‘Many people commute from Starr County to Hidalgo and between Cameron and Hidalgo counties each day,’ he said. ‘If it’s creating a lot of high paying LNG jobs, like specialized maintenance crews, technicians and welders, the recruiting market broadens.'”
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KRISTEN MOSBRUCKER | STAFF WRITER | June 23, 2015
McALLEN — While local unemployment has dropped steadily for a few months, it bumped up again slightly last month across individual cities, the state of Texas and nationwide.
May’s unemployment rate for the McAllen-Edinburg-Mission metro area sat at 7.2 percent, down from 7.3 in April. But city unemployment rates for McAllen, Edinburg and Mission increased about .1 percent to 4.6, 4.8 and 5.7 percent, respectively.
Overall, the region’s unemployment rate nears pre-recession lows but hasn’t dipped low enough yet.
In Texas, the unemployment rate was 4.3 percent last month, up from 4.2 percent in April. The national rate was 5.5 percent, up from 5.4 percent.
“It’s good news but not dramatic; it’s (been) slow job growth but it adds up,” said Mike Willis, senior business relations representative for the McAllen Workforce Solutions office.
This month, hundreds of job seekers attended two job fairs in Edinburg for positions in the manufacturing and education sectors.
“It’s a common experience that you might feel like a little fish in a big ocean and making the face-to-face connection helps you gauge your success,” Willis said.
The Santana Textiles denim fabric manufacturing plant in Edinburg recently had about 700 job seekers show up to apply for 300 open positions. Many applicants applied online during the job fair, which also had on-site interviews.
At the Region One educator job fair, about 600 eager teachers and teaching assistants sought to squeeze into 350 slots and many school districts encouraged prospective applicants to also upload their credentials online.
“A lot of companies at the job fairs refer applicants to their website and a lot of folks down here may not have computers at home so Workforce Solutions staff to help facilitate job fairs,” Willis said.
Companies involved in applying for permits to run liquefied natural gas (LNG) transfer hubs at the Port of Brownsville touted thousands of open construction jobs for each facility and hundreds of permanent jobs once the plants are completed by 2020. When salaries for all the jobs — from maintenance workers to supervisors — are averaged, most of the companies boast an average salary of $70,000.
Willis said it’s likely that candidates across the Rio Grande Valley will be in line for the open slots and commuting is common for many residents.
“Many people commute from Starr County to Hidalgo and between Cameron and Hidalgo counties each day,” he said. “If it’s creating a lot of high paying LNG jobs, like specialized maintenance crews, technicians and welders, the recruiting market broadens.”
kmosbrucker@themonitor.com
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