ARLINGTON, Texas — The Texas Rangers went on a hiring spree in the off-season spending half a billion dollars on shortstop Corey Seager and second basement Marcus Semien.
But jobs are still open at Globe Life Field.
You won’t take home anywhere near the kind of cash Seager and Semien are, but wages are up at Delaware North Sports Service – the company in charge of food, beverage and retail at the stadium in Arlington.
“It’s been a huge issue for us,” said Delaware North Sports Service General Manager Casey Rapp.
Hiring for hospitality jobs remains a challenge.
“We still don’t have the full staff that we need. We make up with non-profit organizations that come out here and earn money. We also have a few temp companies,” Rapp said.
“Interestingly, we actually bus people in from Houston sometimes to help us out.”
Rapp said Delaware North has increased hourly wages and because Globe Life Field is an indoor facility, some jobs are now year-round instead of seasonal.
At Texas Live!, the restaurant and entertainment complex next door to the ballpark, a hiring fair the week before opening day drew a crowd.
Texas Live Chief Operating Officer Jim Watry said the company has not had to change hiring tactics but has probably focused a little more energy in recruiting people.
“We pay our employees a recruiting bonus if they have a friend that wants to work here,” he explained.
“And we actually recruit from the floor. If we have a concert and see big group of people having a good time we say, hey you should work here. We hired two people like that last week.”