Milwaukie Save-a-Lot store staffing was a breeze
with the WorkSource Clackamas Business Services

John Malisani needed to staff a brand new Save-A-Lot grocery store in Milwaukie. Facing the daunting process of publishing an ad, wading through hundreds of applications, and interviewing and hiring enough employees, was understandably overwhelming. "We had absolutely no employees. Not being familiar with the area, I didn't know what to do,” said John. “The biggest challenge that kept me up at night was recruiting the right staff.”

Stephanie Hudson and Pam Clem from WorkSource Clackamas connected with Malasani to see how the Business Services team could help with recruiting and hiring employees for the new store.

WorkSource Clackamas Business Services is a local public and private workforce partnership in Clackamas County that provides a single point of contact to link an employer quickly with a range of workforce and business services. The team offers recruitment, hiring, and training services.

Pam and Stephanie started by assessing the skills and talents that John needed to fill the new jobs. Using the iMatchSkills system and other resources, the team provided John with 24 qualified candidates to interview. iMatchSkills is the state's largest pool of qualified candidates who are matched to job openings based on the skills they possess, not just the titles of jobs where they've worked. John found 20 qualified employees in one week. Six months later, all but one of those hired are still working at the store.

"Pam and Stephanie showed a real genuine interest in our needs,” said John. “What was great is that I didn't have to advertise or spend valuable time in recruiting qualified candidates. The services were a big help."