More than 66 employers set up recruitment tables at the job fair at the Calvo Field House on April 28.

There were a few who were recruiting some of the island’s workers to consider employment outside of Guam. Among them was Cloverdale Foods, a company that makes meat products such as bacon and sausages. The company offers a starting hourly wage of $18 for some of its jobs.

The tradeoff: You would have to store away your tropical lifestyle and head for chilly North Dakota.

A number of Guam residents have decided it’s worth the move.

Past recruitments in Guam have resulted in more than 90 Pacific Islander employees who now work at the North Dakota plant, said Angelica Rivera Torres, a human resources support specialist for Cloverdale.

The company’s experience with recruitment in Guam has been great, Torres, a native of Puerto Rico, said.

In addition to a good starting pay, she said the company helps new workers with finding an apartment.

“People here remind us a lot about our culture our values – we are a lot about family and also adventure,” she said. 

Saipan looking for health care workers 

Saipan’s hospital operator, Commonwealth Healthcare Corp., also was recruiting at the UOG job fair.

The Saipan hospital needs a wide range of workers, from nursing assistants to nurses to medical assistants, said Clare Ngirausui, a recruiter.

There were some inquiries from UOG nursing students, she said.

Retail and travel

Goodwind Development Corp., whose Guam affiliate businesses include Micronesia Mall and Philippine Airlines, was hiring at the job fair, too.

Jea Ferrer, a UOG junior majoring in business administration, was at the job fair, not to look for a job but to help recruit.

She works at Philippine Airlines while finishing her degree.

“It seems super successful – we got a lot of applicants,” she said, gesturing to a sign-in sheet full of names and contact information.

In another glimpse of Guam’s changing employment landscape, representatives for the Navy set up a table to recruit for its initial need for more than 90 Guam employees who will be working at a future onshore submarine ship repair facility in Guam.

These are good-paying jobs, according to Navy Shipyard representatives at the job fair.

According to a Navy report, the plan to open a land-based, submarine repair facility detachment in Guam will have more than 170 civilian employees and 400 military personnel permanently stationed in Guam by 2025. 

Dean Lawrence Camacho, of Enrollment Management and Student Success, said the UOG job fair sees more employers participating each time it is offered. Certain employers have asked for another UOG-hosted job fair in the fall, he said.

Some employers have said they get more success with recruitment at UOG’s job fair than through media advertising, the dean said.

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