The Federal Emergency Management Agency is facing an unexpected challenge in meeting the needs of the many people affected by this spring's widespread flooding and violent storms: a strong economy.
Tasked with responding to natural disasters that seem ever more frequent and destructive, the agency finds itself further challenged by the robust job market and an inability to match what the private sector can offer, in many cases. FEMA officials are turning for help to retirees, recent college graduates and those who lost their jobs to the disasters, though they're finding few available workers in many of the rural communities that are in some of the hardest-hit areas.
FEMA has gone to job fairs and sent emails to about 20 local colleges, with a focus on students who might be interested in an emergency management career, Doering said. He said the agency tries to focus on hiring students, retirees, veterans and those who lost their jobs or homes in the natural disasters. The agency also is working with the Nebraska Department of Labor to recruit employees.
"With record low unemployment and rising wages, it can be difficult to recruit and retain talented workers — particularly in the leadership positions requiring technical, supervisory and programmatic experience — for intermittent positions," said FEMA spokesman Michael Hart. FEMA is advertising a variety of temporary jobs in Nebraska, from administrative assistants who would earn $16 an hour to an engineering and architecture specialist who would get $29 an hour. The positions are designed to supplement full-time FEMA staffers who travel to disasters around the country. Many temporary employees eventually become full-time staffers.
Swenson said FEMA's salary offer for the engineering specialist is also at the low end of what those type of professionals can make in Nebraska. The average salary for a civil engineer in Nebraska was nearly $41 an hour last year, not counting benefits, which is well above FEMA's advertised rate. And unlike FEMA's disaster-site positions, most of the private-sector jobs are permanent.
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