The Seafood Industry: A Cornerstone of Alaska’s Economy Comes to the RGV (Rio Grande Valley) to Hire Workers

McAllen TX- According to The Economic Value of Alaska’s Seafood Industry report published in 2022, the seafood industry contributed 37,400 full time jobs and $2.2 billion of labor income to the state’s economy in 2019. Within the state of Alaska, there are regions dominated by salmon. The national economic impact of Alaska's seafood industry in 2019 includes $5.7 billion in direct output associated with fishing, processing, distribution, and retail.

In preparation for the salmon season which starts mid-June, E&E Foods, a seafood processing plant from Alaska, identified the need to attract and recruit a skilled workforce. E&E Foods partnered with Workforce Solutions (WFS) to host its first-ever recruitment and hiring event in the Rio Grande Valley. E&E Foods employs approximately 620 people during the salmon season and was seeking candidates who exhibited a strong work ethic, were hard-working, dedicated, and reliable with the ability to deliver their best work on time. Employees' starting wages average $18 per hour, with overtime opportunities, room and board, three hot meals a day, and transportation to and from the job site upon satisfactory completion of their contract.

“It is our mission to find employment opportunities for job seekers in the Rio Grande Valley. Many candidates will fulfill their summer contracts in Alaska and come back home to spend their hard-earned wages on local businesses,” said Francisco Almaraz, WFS Chief Executive Officer.

“We ran a national job post and began to see a high number of application responses from the RGV. It made sense to schedule in-person recruiting/hiring events" said Jaime Antunez, Staffing Manager for E&E Foods. Antunez went on to say, “the hiring event exceeded our expectations with the quantity and quality of candidates. There seems to be more interest in the area, so we are scheduling a second event.”

The Alaskan fishing season begins in mid-June. In the meantime, E&E Foods will actively be recruiting candidates. Anyone interested can access their website, and/or attend the hiring event Thursday, May 11th at the WFS Mission office located on 901 Travis St Suite 7, Mission, TX 78572. For more job information and updates on the E&E Foods application process visit https://www.eefoods.com/page/recruitment

Workforce Solutions serves as the governing body for the workforce development area that includes Hidalgo, Willacy, and Starr counties. The primary goal of the WFS Board is to respond to the needs of local employers and workers through locally designed demand-driven workforce development initiatives.

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