Lake Jackson raises efforts for competitive salaries; hires 75 new employees

The Facts
By GAYLA MURPHY gayla.murphy@thefacts.com
February 14, 2023

LAKE JACKSON — With the U.S. unemployment rate at a record low of 3.4 percent, the city is doing its part to keep that number low by hiring about 75 new employees in the last 18 months.

The city has been successful in filling laborer, refuse drivers, operators and police officer positions during this period, which was a job in itself, Human Resources Personnel Director José Sanchez said.

For a while, the city had difficulties finding people to take these jobs, not because of availability, but because of the pay rate, he said.

“At one point it was because of the pay, but the city with the council and administration, we worked on salaries quite a bit and it’s become a little bit easier,” Sanchez said. “Whenever you have a Dow, BASF or an Olin, they can pretty much take any of our employees at the drop of a dime because we’re never gonna be able to compete with the salaries they offer.”

Reasons to work for the city include the great employee benefits and the family feel of the work environment, Sanchez said.

The city has 15 slots, or 6 percent of its work force, left unfilled, but Sanchez is not content with that number. He wants to see it at 100 percent, he said.

It’s going to take time to make that happen as the city becomes more competitive with its salaries, Sanchez said.

For a laborer position, the salary starts off at $15 an hour while the assistant city manager position being vacated by Meagan Borth has a midrange salary of $134,207, he said.

“Its a team effort with the whole city,” he said.

The city offers a referral program for hourly employees to recommend anyone who is not related to them for a job. If they are hired and make it past the probation period, the person who referred them receives a $50 bonus. If the employee stays on staff for a year, the referring party gets another $50 in the form of a gift certificate.

“You don’t ever know who you’re getting when you do an interview,” Sanchez said. “It’s a 50/50 shot, and that’s sometimes why you have a high turnover rate.”

Lake Jackson is fortunate to have people working who care and have been willing to be flexible and still help get the job done when their department is a man down, Borth said.

That shouldn’t be a long-term issue because it can easily lead to employees being overworked, she said.

“I’m thrilled that we have been able to fill 94 percent of our positions. When we are fully staffed, it’s easier for managers to see what our teams are capable of and where we need to make improvements,” Borth said. “It also gives our employees a chance to breathe and really own their work because they can focus on just their own job. We want our people to thrive and grow while they are with us, and I think being fully staffed is a large piece of making that happen.”

It’s a large benefit to the community because it means the city can provide the level of service they want to and is expected of them. Everyone benefits from those jobs being filled, she said.

“Our guys that are out in the fields that are mowing the ditches, doing the baseball fields, picking up the garbage — that’s our frontline folk,” Sanchez said. “They’re underappreciated, but they’re the hardworking group of folks we have here in the city and they’re the face of the city. I can’t say enough good things about them.”

For information on available jobs with the city, go to www.lakejackson-tx.gov and click on job opportunities or call 979-415-2444.