DOTHAN, Ala.— The Alabama Department of Labor says the state’s unemployment rate has dropped.
According to Ann Carr with ‘Southeast Alabama Works’ the unemployment rate in the Wiregrass is just 4.3%, half from last year when the pandemic first started.
People throughout the city can expect to see more ‘we’re hiring’ signs all around the area. Unemployment numbers across the state of Alabama have been the lowest since the start of the pandemic.
These dropping numbers have Carr hopeful because she said last year was a very unsure time for many businesses’.
“We weren’t sure if it was going to be something that was short-term or long-term. Then you started seeing businesses having to lay off.” Carr said. “We even saw many businesses close.”
According to Kelly Stakelum the aquatic manager at Water World, the water park was forced to close its doors last summer due to the pandemic. This closure left 70 employees without a job. As COVID-19 numbers go down, their plans on re-opening allowed them to rehire their entire workforce.
“We deal with a very volume of guests that come in and out of our park and in order to manage all of those guests coming in and out it takes a lot of staff members,” Stakelum said.
The park sees close to 65,000 guest during the 90 days they are open. Each employee they hire, no matter their age have the opportunity to learn important skills they can take to anywhere.
“They learn good work ethic, communication skills, and good customer service. We try to teach them a lot of core values that they will need not just in this job but moving forward in other jobs,” Stakelum said.
Water World still has positions available for the summer. According to Carr, there are 2,500 jobs on Indeed.com for people looking to work in Dothan.
She said its not just retail and service but all fields are hiring and people should not worry if they do not have the experience because there is help out there.
“Now is the perfect time. I’d also encourage them to ask about opportunities to upgrade their skill level and their skill set because there are some funding opportunities,” Carr said.
