Helping South Florida rebound in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, some businesses and organizations in our area are offering jobs to those who found themselves with no income to take care of their families. Sedano’s, a South Florida grocery chain, is one of them. They want to do their part by hiring as many as 400 workers.
Unemployment numbers are staggering. Sedano’s supermarket CMO, Javier Herran, says phones are ringing off the hook. People without jobs, pleading for help.
“The person that’s fielding all those calls sits very close to me in the office and I constantly hear him all day long,” said Herran.
For this reason, Herran says his team is on a mission to hire hundreds of part-time and full-time workers. The mission includes partnering with the hospitality company “Valls Group” to temporarily hire restaurant employees that were let go.
“We spoke to our agency and we were in conversations of how do we hire more people. They instantly recognized their other client, which is the Valls Group, which owns Versailles and La Caretta. 24 hours later we came up with the plan and we had the message out to all the employees,” said Herran.
Nicole Valls, director of operations at Valls Group, says the company intends to then re-hire their employees, once the restaurants are able to fully re-open for business.
“some of these employees have been with us for over 30 years. They’re family. So, the idea isn’t to let them go. As soon as we’re able to be open, up and running, and back to normal operations [we’d like for} them to come back and by then the supermarkets aren’t going to need them. So, it’s a win-win for both companies,” said Valls.
In the meantime, Sedano’s is stepping in to offer the following jobs to laid-off workers: janitors, cashiers, stock clerks, and cooks.
“we do have a special skill that we’re looking for. Back of the house knife skills is one for our kitchen and food prep areas. It could be anywhere from produce department, to our deli department, to our cafeteria or hot food sections. Customer service skills are always the best. We feel like we’re a way to provide a little bit of relief to the community right now,” said Herran.
Sedano’s plans to hire workers at all their locations in Florida. If you're interested in applying, call 786-228-3169.
