A huge recruitment drive is underway to employ more than 400 staff to work in Barstow.
The San Bernardino County Workforce Investment Board is helping to fill the vacancies for URS Corporation, an AECOM company, a federal contractor that recently won a multi-million dollar contract at the Marine Corps Logistics Base in Barstow. The contract is to provide maintenance support, including removal, replacement, repair, rebuild, fabrication of components and vehicle armor kits as well as support roles to move, transport, receive, issue, store and stock materials needed by the various shops during the vehicle maintenance cycle.
While many of the jobs are for heavy equipment mechanics, other available positions include welders, auto body repair personnel, electronics technicians, automotive painters and material coordinators. A job fair for potential candidates is being held at the Hilton Garden Inn in Victorville on Thursday Nov. 6.
“We are delighted with the support we are receiving from the Workforce Investment Board to help us find the qualified staff we need,” said Toby Bristow of URS Corporation, an AECOM company.
The company reached out to the Workforce Investment Board in June when they needed to employ an initial 285 staff members.
Since then, the WIB has held one-day recruitment events, supported URS at three WIB-sponsored job fairs and reached out to scores of potential candidates online, including postings on the WIB’s own recruitment site; these efforts resulted in more than 500 interested applicants. Expert WIB recruiters screened potential candidates before referring them to URS.
To date, URS Corporation has hired more than 200 new employees and the company is working closely with the WIB to fill the remaining vacancies.
“The WIB’s recruitment expertise and support has been tremendous and they’ve provided us with so many strong candidates. Their job fair in Victorville was particularly successful as we were able to interview more than 100 candidates and extend job offers from that single day,” said Bristow.
This week, URS Corporation announced the company expects additional workload at Barstow which would require an additional 200 personnel.
“We are offering competitive wages and an outstanding benefit package. We are pleased to be creating jobs and helping the local economy,” added Bristow.
Janice Rutherford, San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors Chair commented, “The partnership with URS is another example of how the Workforce Investment Board is connecting residents with well-paying jobs and helping businesses grow in our county.”
URS Corporation is a leading provider of engineering, construction and technical services for public agencies and private sector companies around the world. It has offices in 50 countries and employs more than 50,000 staff, producing revenue of $11 billion.
Sandy Harmsen, Executive Director of the San Bernardino County Workforce Investment Board said, “It is wonderful to see the local economy being improved by large contracts coming to our area.”
A recruitment fair for potential applicants is being held on Thursday, Nov. 6 at the Hilton Garden Inn Conference Center, Mariposa Road, Victorville from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.