ORLANDO, Fla. – Most Central Floridians have gotten used to the I-4 Ultimate project and the headaches that come with major road construction, but the Big Drive has also meant a big opportunity for local job seekers.
“Our initial hiring, we’re over that period right now but we anticipate still growing and hiring throughout the middle of 2017,” Bryan Grassing, Skanska human resource director said.
The I-4 Ultimate project’s partner company, SGL, Constructors (Skanska-Granite-Lane) is seeking employees.
“Two years ago, we had zero employees on this job site, craftwise, and currently right now, we’re right around 750 SGL constructors craft employees,” Grassing said. “In addition to that, we have roughly 250 craft employees though our sub-contractors as well.”
Many of the people working on the project are from the Central Florida workforce, and Grassing said he expects that number to grow.
“Since a little over 65 percent of our work force is from the city of Orlando and surrounding neighborhoods, just the impact alone," Grassing said. "You know, I grew up in this Central Florida area, so for me, it’s kind of a proud moment to know that the impact that we’re going to have not only today but in the future.”
Whether anyone has construction experience or not, outlook is what matters, Grassing said.
“We’re looking for just good attitude, good work ethic,” he said.
Grassing offered some tips on how potential job candidates can get started.
“The thing I recommend the best is to go to I-4 Ultimate.com, go to project info, and then under that tab, it’s called ‘Working on I-4.’ That will display the email address, the contact information, the address and the hours,” Grassing said.
The goal for the Ultimate project was 250 training graduates, after two years SGL has about 70 working graduates with another 30 currently undergoing training.