A6
THE ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2021
Hypoxia: ‘We’re getting more extreme events’
Continued from Page A1
By midsummer, the
winds that started the
upwelling process were still
going strong at a time when
scientists would normally
expect to see a shift and a
corresponding rise in oxy-
gen levels.
At the end of August,
oxygen levels in the ocean
off Oregon and Washington
were as close to zero as sci-
entists had seen all year. The
hypoxic zone was approach-
ing 8,000 square miles, still
growing just 6 miles off -
shore. The low-oxygen zone
— Jack Barth, an oceanog-
rapher with Oregon State
University, thinks of it as a
ribbon on the sea fl oor —
stretches from Seattle to
around the Cape Blanco and
Coos Bay area .
Scientists are waiting for
the fi rst fall storms to roll
through and fl ush coastal
waters and mix oxygen deep
down.
“That’s when we get to
really say, ‘OK, fi nally the
hypoxic event is over,’”
Chan said.
Detailed mapping
This year’s hypoxia sea-
son has emphasized the need
for more detailed mapping,
Chan and Barth said.
Ron Baldwin
Scientists are tracking low-oxygen levels off the coast.
Both men happened to be
out collecting data in sepa-
rate areas around the same
time this year. They were
able to match what they
were seeing with additional
information collected by the
National Oceanic and Atmo-
spheric Administration to
show the low oxygen levels
extended from Oregon into
Washington.
“We just have to be out
there all the time map-
ping this,” Barth said. “And
we’ve got to do a good job
of communicating where
it’s not so bad and where
it’s hurting. That way we
can more sustainably use the
ocean.”
Chan deployed 38 dis-
solved oxygen sensors with
commercial crab fi shermen
this year to expand track-
ing of low-oxygen areas.
The fi shermen zip-tied the
sensors to crab pots and
sent them down at fi shing
grounds, providing Chan
with up-to-date information
about important areas.
He plans to send the sen-
sors out again next sea-
son. These kinds of partner-
ships need to continue and
expand, he said.
Even though oxygen lev-
els will jump up with the
arrival of fall storms, ques-
tions remain about the
organisms that had weath-
ered low oxygen conditions
for months this year.
In recent years, commer-
cial crab fi shermen still saw
strong landings after a bad
hypoxia season. In waters
near the surface, the ocean is
still very productive, scien-
tists note, but the long-term
eff ects of the low oxygen
conditions on marine life in
the bottom third of the water
is unknown.
“Dead zone” — a phrase
many people use when dis-
cussing hypoxic events — is
not a scientifi c term.
“It makes it sound like
the Oregon C oast is a dead
wasteland,” Chan said.
“That’s pretty far from the
truth. There’s still a lot of
resilience.”
Fallout
Still, Chan wonders:
Did crab have to spend
extra reserves to survive
this stress or are they com-
pletely fi ne when oxygen
levels rise again? Were ani-
mals able to move away and
fi nd high-oxygen refuges, or
did they get stuck and how
did that aff ect growth and
survival?
Land-based communities
are experiencing the fall-
out from the rise of more
extreme climate change-re-
lated events, Barth and Chan
noted. People can see how
the summer heat waves hit
trees and plants this year.
They actively experience the
impacts of massive wildfi res
and long-term drought.
But from a viewpoint
along U.S. Highway 101,
the ocean looks exactly the
same.
What people need to real-
ize, Barth said, is that “all the
climate change things we’re
seeing on land and in the
atmosphere — the heat and
the fi res and the increased
hurricanes — the same thing
is happening in the ocean:
We’re getting more extreme
events.”
Workers: Many extra unemployment benefi ts have expired
Continued from Page A1
Labor pool challenge
Central Oregon’s ready
labor pool used to be one of
its key attractions for new
businesses seeking to set up
shop, said Roger Lee, Eco-
nomic Development for
Central Oregon CEO.
“Our region’s ever-ex-
panding population due to
steady in-migration, work-
force and human talent
availability was our lead-
ing strength in attracting
new employers and growing
businesses already located
here,” Lee said. “For many
of our client companies, full
staffi ng is the biggest imped-
iment to operations and
growth.”
At Nosler, a Bend and
Redmond ammunition man-
ufacturer, in order to keep up
with demand, the company
has added shifts to its pro-
duction line, which is break-
ing records, making and
shipping to keep up with the
pandemic demand to deal-
ers and distributors, but with
fewer workers.
The company has added
more staff already and off ers
overtime to keep up with
demand. Currently, the com-
pany has 62 positions open
and those vacancies are
aff ecting production.
“We’ve been interview-
ing for employees since Sep-
tember 2020,” said Donelle
Snider, Nosler’s human
resources director. “We have
experienced some attrition,
but also have increased our
workforce production.”
Like many other busi-
nesses, Nosler has cast a
wide net on various plat-
forms to attract new work-
ers. At WorkSource Oregon,
Mike Derrickson, the c entral
Oregon health care recruiter,
said he’s coached many
employers on how to reach
job candidates.
In this tight labor mar-
ket, available employees
often get contacted within
minutes of posting their
resume. Many employers
snag employees for an inter-
view and make immediate
job off ers, Derrickson said.
“It’s been something
else,” Derrickson said. “I
have a lot of job seekers
who come and I help them
with their resume or enroll
in classes, make the intro-
duction to an employer and
before I’m done, they’re
hired by another company.
“We’re seeing employers
reacting very quickly.”
Employers off ering less
than $15 a hour, especially
in hard-to-fi ll industries like
leisure and hospitality, are
often outbid by employ-
ers paying more, said Chris
Petty, the Express Employ-
ment Professionals franchise
manager. Wages have risen
in the past year, and employ-
ers are willing to train.
“Industrial jobs started
nine months ago at $14 an
hour and now are going for
$18 an hour,” Petty said.
“Clients are understanding
that they have to pay to get
the talent.”
There are so few workers
these days, Petty said that
a fi ve-hour job fair drew
18 applicants. That was a
month ago, Petty said.
Talk to Samuel Lambert,
Mid Oregon Personnel vice
president, and he’ll tell you
that it’s because the govern-
ment has paid people to stay
home.
“The government is
paying people not to go
to work,” Lambert said.
“That’s where all the work-
ers are. We had more appli-
cants when the unemploy-
ment was not so readily
available.”
Many of the federal
unemployment programs
expired on Labor Day week-
end , according to the Oregon
Employment Department.
Roughly 81,000 people will
no longer receive unem-
ployment benefi ts.
Petty said he’s heard that
companies have expanded
their search beyond their
communities and now are
off ering remote work to
people. And some people
are opting for the freedom of
self-employment by becom-
ing Uber, Lyft or Door Dash
drivers, said Petty.
Workers returning to
the fold
But the employment
picture is looking up for
Port: Lack of applications
Continued from Page A1
temporary basis,” Isom said.
“You would go back to your
list, and oftentimes, those
employees who were on call
or part time have decided to
take other jobs or they’re not
interested in the work.
“So that can be a bit of
a challenge, more so on the
on-call side, because we are
so seasonal, we can’t have
those folks working full
time in the off months.”
Among full-time posi-
tions, the Port laid off mul-
tiple employees last sum-
mer, and while some were
brought back, the agency is
working with half of the typ-
ical maintenance staff and
has several vacant adminis-
trative positions.
“When you look at our
full-time staff , it’s really
more of a business deci-
sion and, ‘Do you have the
resources available?’ … On
the part-time or on-call side,
it is generally diffi cult to
hire, and we have ongoing
postings for positions that
we have not been able to
fi ll,” Isom said.
Isom said the Port has
seen a lack of applications,
and people who do apply are
often inexperienced.
As for why the Port and
many other organizations
are struggling to fi nd work-
ers, Isom, who serves on
the Knappa School District
Board, believes that lim-
ited child care and school
options during the pandemic
have made families reevalu-
ate their fi nancial and work-
place situations.
“There’s a number of fac-
tors, and it’s hard to quan-
tify how much each factor
comes into play,” he said.
“It’s diff erent based on what
community you’re in, or
what types of jobs you are
hiring for.”
The rise in new virus
cases over the summer has
dampened the Port’s opti-
mism of escaping the fi nan-
cial tolls of the pandemic
and the labor shortage soon.
“I think earlier this sum-
mer there was a lot of opti-
mism and it felt like things
were getting better ... but
with the emergence of the
delta variant, it’s obviously
thrown a wrench in things,”
Isom said. “It has felt like
the last month or two, we’ve
kind of had to take a step
backwards.
“I’m hopeful that as we
move forward, that things
can return back to normal,
or at least some semblance
of normal.”
While Isom appreci-
ates the work of Port staff
during the labor shortage,
he recognizes the situation
is not viable for the Port or
employees.
“In the shorter term, you
can move the pieces and
make it work, but that can
only last for so long,” he
said. “At some point, you
risk employee burnout. You
can’t expect people to, on a
long-term basis, be putting
in a bunch of overtime.
“Sometimes that is over-
time from hourly employ-
ees or we have salaried staff
in the offi ce that put in a lot
of extra time as well. That’s
just not sustainable over the
long haul.”
employers, Petty said.
In just the past couple
of weeks, more prospec-
tive employees are seek-
ing work. They’re keeping
interview appointments.
At St. Charles, Berry
said the hospital sys-
tem, which is the larg-
est employer in the region
with more than 4,500 work-
ers, has hired 111 people
already and has 115 work-
ers who have accepted posi-
tions. Until the new hires
come on board, the hospi-
tal has staff ed its ranks with
traveling nurses, members
of the Oregon National
Guard for non medical ser-
vices and the state has sent
in clinical assistance.
“But our journey is not
over,” Berry said. “We
have more work to do.”
Between the nurse res-
idency program and a cer-
tifi ed nursing assistant
program partnership with
Central Oregon Commu-
nity College, another 60
medical personnel are
now in training for future
employment. The hospital
and college have doubled
enrollment in the program
that allows for employees
to get paid and train for a
certifi ed nursing assistant
position.
“We’ll have to be cre-
ative on how we recruit,”
Berry said. “We have to
stretch ourselves to look
at the problem (of staffi ng)
diff erently. We’re looking
internally on how to grow
our own staff .”
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