BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — President Joe Biden’s administration announced Thursday it won’t extend the extra $300 unemployment benefits when it expires September 6.
States and cities that want to continue it can use their COVID-19 rescue funds.
After months of the benefits being given out, local businesses are still struggling to hire employees.
Lloyd Taco Factory is one of those businesses. While human resources head Tiffany Gee said the Hertel location is well-staffed now there are two areas in the company still lacking: the Williamsville location and the truck department.
“Our truck department is not running and hasn’t been running this summer and that is because we’ve been having a hard time to find drivers for the trucks,” Gee said.
She said most of the hiring issues are surrounding transportation challenges, but they have come up with some unique benefits to help with that.
“Williamsville is a transportation issue because the bus route out there, I think the last bus leaves at 11 or something and that doesn’t work with our schedule,” Gee said. “We started doing an Uber business account for our employees so we will pay for their rides to get out there.”
Gee said this past spring and summer they hired a lot of people, but many of them were hiring back and making up for the people they had to lay off during COVID.
She said during the summer they usually have 150 employees and now they have 118.
“It’s kind of shifted from not having enough people in general to not having people in the right places. We’re facing the same struggles that all businesses are right now,” she said. “Everybody knows Lloyd in Buffalo I think, but I don’t think they know this is a place I can really have a career or a summer job whatever you want it to be we can make it that for you.”
She said they’ll be at two upcoming job fairs next Wednesday, one through Catholic Charities and the other through Buffalo and Erie County Workforce Development. The fairs run from 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
Anyone interested in applying can look at available positions on Lloyd’s website.
