Why take out ads to find workers?

ZEELAND, Mich. (WOOD) - In a state with one of the nation's highest unemployment rates and amid a nationwide job drought, why would a company need to advertise on buses, billboards and TV to find workers?

"This was different for us," said Bruce Los, human resources vice president for Gentex.

The Zeeland company's billboards went up as far away as Kokomo, Ind., Ann Arbor and Benton Harbor. Its ads are on Rapid buses in Grand Rapids and the firm is advertising on television, including with WOOD TV8.

"What we've found in media and in marketing who we are is that we've needed to try (and) man different avenues to get the word out," Los said.

The safety and automotive supply firm still has openings for more than 80 hourly workers, the vice president said, and just fewer than 100 openings for salaried workers -- primarily engineering positions.

Is part of it that there aren't enough skilled workers in the region?

"There are some areas like software engineering where there's a very limited number of people even in the Midwest. It's a very specialized area," Los said. "As we get into some high technology applications of cameras, and interpreting what the camera is seeing and translating that into information for the driver -- it's not a common skill set that's in this community or even in the Midwest."

As WilliamCharles Search Group partner Chuck Smeester puts it, "what you have is a mismatch."

The mismatch is between the skills some employers are looking for and the skills unemployed workers have.

Smeester said the problem is not unique to West Michigan.

"I think that any company that would be hiring aggressively right now, specifically looking for technical people, technically trained people, will probably have to be a little bit more aggressive in terms of how they go about finding those people," he said.

Gentex's aggressive approach goes beyond targeting those looking for work. That, Los said, is by design.

"What we're trying to do is get people who may be driving home from work or sitting home going, 'Hey, is my company or job going anywhere?' And we plant a seed," he said.

The hiring ads build the company's brand, Smeester said.

To find out about current job openings at Gentex, click here.