Some companies get creative to fill jobs. Hiring retirees and disabled is a way to cope with shortage

Antoinette Lucero figured she’d never find a job. Unemployed and on welfare for five years, she wondered who would hire a deaf woman with little training.

But the 29-year-old single mother learned about a free program sponsored by staffing company Manpower Inc. to earn certification in electronics assembly. She’s now an inspector and assembler at Sennheiser Electronic Corp. in Albuquerque, living in her own apartment and saving for her daughter’s college education.

"It’s a career for me; it’s not just a job," Lucero said. "So there’s a big difference. I never felt before that I had a career."

Companies are starting to get creative when it comes to filling jobs, looking to hire people who may be underemployed, sometimes disabled like Lucero, or luring back retirees by offering flexible hours. Staffing companies like Manpower and others say it’s already tough to find skilled labor. Things are only going to get worse with the nearing retirement of the baby boomer generation, they say.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates 10 million jobs will be unfilled in 2010, when the first wave of boomers retires.

By Emily Fredrix
Associated Press

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