People lined up by the dozens to apply for hundreds of labor jobs in Florida as a result of the recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Workforce Escarosa in Pensacola is offering the positions.

According to an article in USAToday.com, Brittany Bailey, business services outreach representative, said Escarosa is recruiting 300 to 500 Gulf Coast workers for a Texas-based workforce development company called Advanced Employment Solutions.

“They need the manpower immediately,” she said.

The workers will be assigned to wherever the oil hits land, she said. Jobs available are general laborers, crew leaders, site supervisors, site safety representatives and lead safety representatives. Pay varies from $10 to $18 per hour.

Advanced Employment Solutions representatives say the duration of the jobs will depend upon the amount of damage and cleanup time, but the process will probably take three to 18 months.

Bailey said a line had already formed at 7 a.m. today. By 9 a.m., the parking lot was packed and the line was out the door and around the building. She said this is the first time a recruiting event has attracted so many people.

“We weren’t sure we’d be able to get 500 people,” she said. “But seeing the line going around the building, it’s not going to be a problem.”

Workforce Escarosa Assistant Director Kathy Karshna said the center is working diligently to accommodate the emergency situation.

“It’s an urgent need on our part (to help),” she said.

Both the employed and unemployed showed up to apply.

Donald Marini, 62, of Pensacola, who works in merchandising, said he wanted to help clean up the coast because it is going toward a good cause and it could give him a chance to travel.

“It certainly is important,” he said. “There’s no question about that.”

Cathy McLeod, 64, of Pensacola said she is applying because she is between jobs and wants to help.

“We’re talking about marine life (being damaged),” she said. “We’re talking about tourism and jobs.”

Tags: Labor Jobs Florida, Oil Spill Florida, Oil Spill Jobs

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 2nd, 2010 at 11:10 pm and is filed under Jobs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.