Florence sees huge increase in job applicants

FLORENCE — In today’s economy, any job is a good job as companies continue to scale back and lay off employees. That also means the competition is becoming fiercer for any position available.

“People are applying for any job that they can right now to get their foot in the door,” Darene Stankus, city of Florence human resources director, said.

Stankus, who has more than 30 years of experience working in human resources for the city, said more people are also applying for positions they probably never would have considered in the past

“Recently, we had a meter reader position (open). We had over 100 applications, and that’s very unusual,” she said. “We had a clerical part-time position, (and) we had over 50 applicants.”

City leaders said they normally see about two dozen people applying for city job openings, but now they’re seeing nearly five times that amount.

Florence employs about 400 people and layoffs are rare, Stankus said. When there is an opening, she said, her job becomes even harder because so many people apply.

“Working in an organization such as ours, we do have job security, we have wonderful benefits, and we do take care of the employees,” she said. “There are really positive elements we can offer to anyone coming on board with us.”

Stankus recommends that anyone looking for a job should apply for open positions, saturate the market, do research and, of course, hope for the best.

City officials also said that for police and fire department positions, pre-screening takes place year-round and applications are always accepted.

Only one position for the city is open, Stankus said. To apply or for more information, visit the human resources office in Room 507 of the Florence City-County Complex, 180 N. Irby St., Florence, or visit http://www.cityofflorence.com/employment/how.html online.