Mimeo.com Hiring Dozens of Positions

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - One company in town has dozens of open positions that they cannot fill; Mimeo.com said it is having trouble finding people who can pass the 8th grade aptitude test.

Mimeo.com is all about making deadlines. The printing company guarantees overnight delivery on the printouts ordered by its clients. Mimeo continues to meet deadlines despite always being under staffed.

"We are hiring," said Andrew Nied, a Mimeo VP.

Nied said the company has had trouble finding employees. Working on the floor requires no experience, just a high school degree or equivalent. It starts at ten bucks an hour and has full medical and 401k. But, only one in five applicants can pass the online test that gets them in the door for an interview.

"It tests reading comprehension, following instructions as well as basic math," said Nied. "It's an 8th grade test level. You don't have to get 100 %. We ask for a 20-30 percent success rate."

And these are all people with a high school education.

"What that said about the schools, I really can't say," said Nied. "But one in five passes the test and beyond that we have additional requirements on what it takes to be hired."

Managerial positions have remained open for months. High skill positions like industrial engineers and software developers are also hard to find. For those jobs, Mimeo often recruits outside the city limits.

And other cities have started to notice. Neid said Newark, New Jersey, where Mimeo has a smaller facility, has made a push to move more operations there.

"What Newark made a pitch on was, locate within the Newark city limits and we'll give you a break on a tax stand point and also support work force development," said Nied.

But for now, Memphis is what Mimeo calls its "mother ship" facility. The company has been here for eleven years and has grown every year. Now they just need the employees who want to grow their career.

"We have a lot of success stories of people coming in and working a press and end up being a vice president in the organization," said Nied. "And a great track record of promoting from within. We want people who want that."