With truck drivers in big demand, hiring one for the Ellis County Road and Bridge Department isn’t easy, according to department director Bill Ring.
“We had an interview Friday that lasted four minutes,” said Ring. “The dollar figure came up right away.”
There are lots of interviews going on, he said, but they’re not getting a lot of applicants.
“There isn’t a large pool out there of unemployed people,” Ring said.
It doesn’t help that the hourly wage of $13.89 translates into $28,000 a year for a 40-hour week.
Probably the employee situation is going to get worse before it gets better, since most of the department’s employees, 32 of 48, or two-thirds, are 50 or older.
(Read more: News – The Hays Daily News)