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Saturday, April 8, 2000
No jobs in Austin after all
Temps mistakenly recruited for Dell
By Deborah Martínez
Caller-Times
Dell Computer Corp. in Austin says it has no jobs for about 100 Corpus Christi-area residents who were recruited by a temp agency.
The agency, Interim Personnel, had said there were 175 temporary jobs available, at $9.35 an hour, plus free transportation and lodging for those willing to travel to Austin.
The about-face came as an unpleasant surprise to those who applied and submitted to drug and background screenings.
Beeville resident David Sheelar said he quit his job at a fast food restaurant to take advantage of the temporary job in Austin. Unemployed now, he wonders what went wrong. So does Jorge Gonzalez, who said that he quit his job as a truck driver. "It's all been a waste of our time," Gonzalez said Friday outside Interim's offices on Everhart Road as he and others waited for a 6 p.m. employee orientation that did not occur. "They had us all day taking tests, filling out paperwork and then there's nothing."
Interim Personnel in Corpus Christi apparently misunderstood Dell's request for a workforce, said Pat Lochrie, the director of human resources for manufacturing operations at Dell, the world's top direct-sale computer vendor.
Dell officials had simply asked whether there was enough of a workforce in Corpus Christi to fill computer-shipping demands for the next three weeks, Lochrie said.
The corporation also put calls out to Interim agencies in Abilene, San Angelo, Temple, Killeen, San Antonio and San Marcos to see if there were potential workers in those cities in case extra workers were needed.
By late Friday, though, Dell executives determined they had enough workers with their full-time staff, as well as Interim workers in San Marcos, about 30 miles south of Austin.
Interim representatives in Corpus Christi declined to comment over the phone and in person late Friday, instead saying they would release an official statement by the end of the day. The Caller-Times didn't receive a statement.
None of the Interim offices in the other Texas cities misunderstood Dell's inquiry, Lochrie said.
"(The Corpus Christi office managers) got their . . . cart ahead of their horse," he said. "This is not good for the agency, this is not good for the workers in Corpus Christi and this isn't good for us. There was no intention at this time to communicate to the individuals that this offer was being made for them to be housed or bused. The question for this Interim manager was to assess what workforce he had available."
Dell has employed temporary workers from Corpus Christi before.
Last year, about 30 workers were put up in Austin, which is why the computer company called the local agency again, Lochrie said.
But there are still unanswered questions, said Joe Guyton, a Corpus Christi resident who was called around 5 p.m. Friday and told about the confusion.
"I think it's unprofessional," said Guyton, who also waited outside the local Interim office to see if there was a better explanation than the one he was given by phone. "I am in shock."
Lochrie said interested workers would have to apply through Interim's offices in Austin.
Staff writer Deborah Martínez can be reached at 886-3618 or by e-mail at martinezd@caller.com
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