Employers look to boost hiring in growing economy

The number of recruiters attending the largest job fair in the state Wednesday was up sharply from a similar event just four months ago, illustrating the continued strengthening of the labor market in Hawaii.

The WorkForce job fair attracted 171 employers, including five companies that had never before recruited at the event, which is held three times a year at Blaisdell Center. That was up from 150 employers at the previous job fair at Blaisdell in January, said Beth Busch, executive director of WorkForce. The number of jobseekers was unchanged at about 3,500.

Many employers who had held off hiring for several years after the 2008-2009 recession are now having to boost their payrolls to meet growing demand for their products and services, Busch said.

"Some of this is trickle-down from the increases in tourism that we’ve been seeing for months," she said. "Why weren’t employers hiring before? They were still kind of scared having been through that recession. When the economy started improving they were thinking ‘What if we hire a bunch more people, what if it was a blip?’ Well now I think they’ve figured it out. It’s not a blip. This is the real thing. So they’re looking to hire," Busch said.

She noted that the state unemployment rate has fallen precipitously over the past year, dropping to 5.1 percent in March from 6.2 percent the same month a year earlier.

Among the companies recruiting for the first time were Lawson Station, Kona Brewing Co., Turtle Bay Resort, Hawthorne CAT and Pacific Links Hawaii.

Lawson, a Japan-based convenience store, recently opened two stores in Waikiki, and plans to open 20 to 30 more stores in Hawaii and the West Coast in the next three years, said Damien Muller Jr., a recruiter for Lawson. The company plans to open a third store in Waikiki by the end of this month, followed by its first store outside of Waikiki near Ala Moana.

Future Hawaii stores are targeted for Maui and Hawaii island, Muller said. The company hires between 20 and 30 employees for each store, he said.

Company executives in Japan have been pleased so far with sales volumes at the new stores, he said. "We’re doing so much better than we thought we would," Muller said.

Darlene Bryant-Takamatsu, a Hawaii native who moved back to Honolulu two years ago after living for 20 years in Japan, said she planned to apply for a job at Lawson.

"From what I’ve seen they’re a solid company," said Bryant-Takamatsu, who has a Master of Business Administration. "I think they’ll do well here."

Turtle Bay Resort is boosting its workforce to keep up with growing demand in the tourism industry, said Terry Moeai, a member of the hotel’s human resources department. The hotel is also reopening several facilities as it nears completion of a $1 million renovation project, he said.

Job openings at the resort include group sales manager, director of revenue, aloha ambassador officer, massage therapist and spa concierge.

Jack Porter and his wife, Flora, who sat through a presentation by Turtle Bay Resort, said they both planned to apply for jobs there.

Jack Porter said he thought his background in management would transfer well to the hospitality industry.

"You can transfer people skills across a wide variety of industries. The skill that transfers is being able to put together a good team, and being able to motivate and bring that next level of service whether it be to guests at a hotel, or people at a restaurant or a retail shop. Its all how to bring that level of service," he said.