OCEAN CITY, Md. - Town leaders are looking to fill seasonal jobs, including for tram drivers and conductors as there is a shortage of both. Normally, the town has 25 drivers and the same number of conductors, but Ocean City transportation operation manager George Peake says right now he only has about half of that.
“It's been difficult to recruit people I think because of COVID. Now that COVID is over we are looking for a whole group of people who have never been here before,” Peake said.
Peake says last year they only ran four to five trams due to staffing shortages. This year, the plan is to have all 8 trams running, giving people another option to get around on the three mile boardwalk. Carla Williams uses the tram and says she likes to bring her grandkids on board, but has concerns for people who rely on them.
“I have used the tram in the past. A shortage of drivers would leave a lot of the elderly without the capacity to go long distances,” Williams said.
But the town is working toward a solution. City manager Terry McGean says Ocean City is offering a $300 bonus to employees who work the full season. The town is offering another $500 bonus to employees who recruit others to come work. The mayor and city council also approved a new recruitment, inclusion and diversity specialist to help fill seasonal jobs.
“The first goal of this new position is to improve our recruiting efforts by both traditional and maybe some non-traditional methods. Maybe there are populations and communities that we haven’t done as good a job of reaching out to as we could,” McGean said.
Peake says he is optimistic they can fill the jobs for this summer. Starting Memorial Day Weekend trams will run everyday through October.