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Less than a month after announcing a restructuring plan to fill vacant positions, the City of Port Arthur is hosting a job fair this month.

“It’s a constant process and we’re working on it every day,” City Manager Ron Burton said regarding employment. “The job fair is to make sure we make that extra effort.”

The June 14 event will be accepting resumes and doing on-site interviews for positions in water purification, water distribution, wastewater treatment, streets, drainage, solid waste, as well as the police and fire departments.

In mid-May, city staff said they were restructuring employment requirements in an effort to fill 49 vacant positions: three in parks and recreation, 17 in public works, 15 in utility operations, and 14 in other departments such as police, non-civil service, IT and finance.

Director of Human Resources Trameka Williams told councilmembers the vacancies were largely due to high demand and short supply for skilled workers in the workplace. In addition, applicants don’t always have the necessary qualifications needed for the job in which they applied.

Needing a commercial driver’s license is one example. However, Burton said, the city was reviewing job descriptions to see if it was necessary for some positions. Also, he added, the city works with interested applicants to obtain a CDL if they fit the remaining qualifications.

Burton said the upcoming job fair is open to everyone, including current city employees. Depending on the results, an additional job fair could follow.

The event is from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. at the Robert A. “Bob” Bowers Civic Center, 3401 Cultural Center Drive. For more information, call 409-983-8216.