Organizational Leadership

Discussion – read this article and then share your answers in discussions week 2. Read and reply to 2 classmates’ posts.

1. Why are companies in the Midwest searching for talent in Puerto Rico

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After struggling to make ends meet in Puerto Rico, Luis Vázquez Martínez now earns $15.50 an hour at Safeway Packaging in Ohio. Photo: MADDIE MCGARVEY for The Wall Street Journal

SIDNEY, Ohio—The Instagram pitch to job seekers in Puerto Rico was tempting. The details even more so: A factory in Sidney, Ohio, was offering full-time employment at $12 an hour, with benefits. When Wilmarys Andino Avila and Luis Vázquez Martínez got an official offer, they packed their bags.

A year later, the couple is bundling up and trudging through their first full Ohio winter, among the 300 Puerto Rican workers Integrated Staffing Solutions has recruited to the Midwest in the past year and a half.

The community, which like much of the Midwest needs workers, is welcoming, just often uninformed about Puerto Rico, the newcomers and some locals say. “They ask me if I have my immigrant card,” says Mr. Vázquez. He explains he is a U.S. citizen. “They begin to get mad because I don’t know too much English.”

Mr. Vázquez and his wife, Wilmarys Andino Avila, are among the 300 Puerto Rican workers Integrated Staffing Solutions has recruited to the Midwest in the past year and a half.

Tens of thousands of Puerto Ricans have fled the U.S. territory’s struggling economy in recent years. While they mostly concentrate in traditional landing spots like New York and Florida, a number are venturing to the Midwest, where jobs in many places are more plentiful than workers to fill them.

On the island—where the unemployment rate was 8.3% in December, the most recent data—Mr. Vázquez, 28 years old, said he held three part-time jobs and struggled to pay bills. Today, he is a machine operator making $15.50 an hour at Safeway Packaging Inc. in Auglaize County, Ohio, where the unemployment rate is 3.6%.

Created with Highcharts 6.0.4Population DeclinePuerto Rico has lost almost half a millionpeople since 2007Source: Census Bureau

In the past decade, Puerto Rico has lost roughly half a million people as its economy deteriorated, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates. A September report by the Center for Puerto Rican Studies at New York’s Hunter College estimated that nearly 160,000 residents relocated to the mainland in the year after Hurricane Maria.

A number were drawn by employers that stepped up recruiting in Puerto Rico after finding it hard to secure workers locally or via the H-2B visa program that allows immigrants to work temporarily in the U.S. in nonagricultural jobs.

Carlos Román Román, an administrator at the Department of Labor and Human Resources in Puerto Rico, said those efforts were expanding even before Maria devastated the island in 2017. About 200 companies have been authorized by the Puerto Rican government to recruit in the U.S. territory in the past four years. They span a range of industries, including agriculture, health care and hospitality, and have hired more than 2,000 workers, Mr. Román said.

Downtown Sidney, Ohio. A labor shortage in small Midwestern communities has become an opportunity for Puerto Ricans fleeing their island's struggling economy.

Some of those workers have landed in states like Nebraska, Iowa and Ohio. Bayada Home Healthcare, which provides in-home care staffing in 23 states, says it extended offers to 26 nurses from Puerto Rico to fill positions in Minnesota, and 13 are currently working to get licensed in the state.

Rolando Borja-Trujillo, who runs Minneapolis-based Integrated Staffing Solutions, says he has recruited dozens to work at Norcold Inc., which makes refrigerators for the RV industry at a factory in Sidney, Ohio. Shelby County, where Sidney is located, has an unemployment rate of 4.1%.

Workers from Puerto Rico began arriving in February 2018, said Rob Trax, vice president of human resources for the Americas at Thetford Corp., Norcold’s parent company. Created with Highcharts 6.0.4Opportunity in OhioA low unemployment rate in Ohio countieshas helped make the region attractive toislanders as a potential place to find work.Unemployment rateSource: Bureau of Labor StatisticsNote: Seasonally adjusted

To pave the way for the newcomers, Mr. Borja worked with Norcold and community leaders to provide recruits with airfare to Ohio, temporary housing and clothing. A local church hosted dinners to welcome the Puerto Ricans and introduce them to local leaders and law enforcement.

Police Chief Will Balling said he talked with his officers to make sure they knew that driver’s licenses issued in Puerto Rico are valid in Ohio. He believes a police force should reflect the community and is hoping to enlist Puerto Ricans like Mr. Vázquez, who worked as a security officer in Puerto Rico. Mr. Vázquez said he is thinking about it. Transportation to work was initially an issue, said Raven Loaiza, a community activist who works closely with the Puerto Ricans to ease their transition. Many of the Puerto Ricans didn’t have vehicles. Used to more relaxed schedules on the island, some also had trouble showing up for their shifts on time, companies said.

Then business slowed at Norcold, and the company cut back on workers’ hours, causing a number of Puerto Ricans to seek other jobs. Several landed at Safeway Packaging.

Community activist Raven Loaiza, right, works with Puerto Rican transplants like Juan Maldonado Alvarado, left, to ease their transition.

Yezery Maldonado Alvarado, who studied in Puerto Rico to be an optician, left Norcold for Safeway, saying she liked the hours better. Her brother, Juan, who studied accounting, elected to stay at Norcold. The siblings say they appreciate the opportunities Ohio affords, but sometimes find the adjustment difficult. When Ms. Maldonado went to open a bank account, she was told she needed to provide a green card. She explained she was from Puerto Rico and showed her U.S. passport. She eventually went to a different bank, where she opened an account. Mr. Maldonado has made connections at Big Four CrossFit, a gym in Sidney where he exercises regularly.

On a recent evening, his workout classmates offered encouragement as he ran a mile in below-freezing temperatures, then executed several rope climbs, before repeatedly lifting a loaded barbell. “They create community,” he said.

Mr. Maldonado says he has found community at Big Four CrossFit, a gym in Sidney.

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