Many Jobs Available in Williston

Whether you're a secretary or a sandblaster... a bread baker or a blackjack dealer, there's a job...  More »

Whether you're a secretary or a sandblaster... a bread baker or a blackjack dealer, there's a job waiting for you. Debbie Kuehn says increased activity in the oil field is pouring over onto main street creating a demand for workers. Politicians talk about it all of the time...job creation, economic development, new business...jobs, jobs, jobs... But the people here in western North Dakota are discovering that a booming economy can bring with it a whole new set of challenges. Here in Williston for example, some businesses have resorted to opening later and closing earlier. (Jerry Brose, Williston Job Service) Our unemployment rate for August was one-point-eight. We're a relatively small labor force to start with so that gives you an idea of how many people we have left in the labor force. Typically that's what we're trying to do is establish a labor force or labor pool. The list of job openings here reads like a paperback novel. Job Service Director Jerry Brose estimates current listings at more than 600. (Brose) Employment isn't an issue. Finding housing or a place to live is definately a problem. So we caution people before they come to the area that housing may be an issue if you're looking at coming into this area. And it's hard to compete with the kind of salaries and benefits being offered by oil companies. Williams County Sheriff Scott Busching says for the first time in months, he's operating with a full staff... (Williams County Sheriff Scott Busching) We did that by raising some of our salaries up. It's nowhere near what they can make in the oil field, so we can compete somewhat. I hope it holds, I don't know that it's going to. It's hard to hire someone in the public sector when they can go out in the oil field as unskilled labor...which there isn't that much of...but you know to make 40, 50, 60 percent more than we can offer them. Well, certainly everybody has to raise their wages, often incentives to hire people again in every aspect. Residents here don't want to sound ungrateful...afteralll, this is the stuff successful campaigns are made of...but it seems the real work is going to be finding workers to fill those 600-plus jobs. For more information on jobs available in Williston you can go to the Job Service North Dakota website www.jobsnd.com.  « Less