When You Lose Your Latin Workers, the Burmese Step In

Despite the downturn in the economy, there are still many jobs that go begging. That's why meat packer JBS Swift last year set up a war room with maps showing concentric circles of where people might possibly live who would consider working at the big meat plant. The idea at first, according to a WSJ story on Friday was to target workers within a 60-mile radius. and run an ad blitz using billboards, radio, job fairs to try to get Americans to take the tough jobs packing meat in their Cactus Beef plant.

You see, in 2006, the company was raided and nearly 300 undocumented workers were discovered. "This raid almost brought the company to its knees," said Jack Shandley, head of Human Resources. Plan B was to get Americanos to work at the plant. They even set up free bus service from Amarillo to the plant, more than 60 miles away. But not enough US citizens would take the jobs, they they had to keep reaching out further and further. It just didn't work.

But it seems that a crisis on the other side of the world has turned into a blesssing for Swift. Today hundreds of refugees from Burma are now living in dormitory housing near Cactus. The local school district now has more than 110 Burmese children enrolled. The company has faced many problems, from fears about tuberculosis to some refugees charging huge fees to take their countrymen from Houston to the factory.

But in spite of this, most of the refugees are happy to have a job paying much more than they could make at home. The company is building affordable housing on 50 acres near the plant, and they are also paying for Burmese speaking caseworkers to help with their transition.