If you want to wear jeans to work, you might want to consider working for the City of Palm Coast.
Forget “Casual Friday.”
That’s so 20th century. Jeans aren’t just for the blue collar worker anymore. And as far as the dress code for the City of Palm Coast is concerned, jeans are welcome Monday through Thursday as well.
“Just recently it was implemented city-wide that on any day of the work week employees are permitted to wear jeans to work,” said Kim Trettner, the recruiting specialist for the human resources department for the City of Palm Coast.
Now, of course, there are times when dressier business attire is a good idea, she noted. For instance, when interviewing candidates or entertaining VIPs.
But for the most part — especially for the front line staff answering customer questions — the “jeans any day” standard is a break from previous wardrobe requirements that included dress shirts and ties.
“A lot of our employees now wear their City of Palm Coast shirt and their jeans,” Trettner said. “It’s a big deal. A lot of our employees tell us that they really enjoy it.”
The City of Palm Coast is not alone in the relaxation of the work dress code. A quick online search by this writer netted a couple dozen recent articles posted on the websites of Career Trend, Indeed and National Public Radio — to name just a few.
Now, something that the City did recently do on its own was to host a solo job fair. In a first ever move in the beginning of June, the human resources department held its own job fair.
“It went very well,” Trettner said the week following the event. “Much better than we anticipated. So much so that we are considering doing it twice a year.”
Of course, cost factored into this decision. It simply is more spendy to participate in a job fair held by another entity than it is to conduct one in-house, Trettner explained.
It wasn’t so much that there was a glut of open positions at the end of May and early June, Trettner said. The City often has numerous job openings.
Its starting wage in just about every job category is lower than the private sector. That makes attracting young employees – who tend to be more focused on their hourly wage than benefits – a challenge, she said. It’s even more difficult now that much of the retail sector is paying $15 to $18 an hour for entry level positions.
For example, the starting salary for new equipment operators who must have specific training and licensing is $17-$19 an hour. An entry level facilities administrative clerk earn $17 an hour.
“It is very difficult for the City to compete with the private sector on this level of starting wages when now people can earn the same amount per hour working at Hobby Lobby for example or many other retailers now and not having to have nearly the qualifications in place less alone any experience,” Trettner said, noting that earning various quals necessary for certain jobs isn’t cheap.
By holding its own job fair, Trettner and other City employees had the opportunity to share with potential candidates the “other” reasons for working for Palm Coast.
“The City of Palm Coast offers excellent benefits that make a difference over the long-term,” Trettner said. “And we have an incredibly supportive team environment here.”
New employees with the City of Palm Coast begin their positions with 12 vacation days and 12 sick days. Those roll over to the next year if not used. Medical, dental and vision insurance is available and personal retirement accounts such as 401K is matched at ten percent of the employee’s base salary, Trettner said.
“Working for the City of Palm Coast is very good for families,” she said. “It is what attracted me here and it is what keeps me here.”
Learn more about job opening with the City of Palm Coast at www.palmcoast.gov. Look under the blue highlighted tab “Get Involved” for the word “Careers” appearing in white lettering against a blue background.
