Gillette, TD Garden hiring ‘immediately’

FOXBORO, Mass. — Ralph Davis will be one of the faces you’ll see this year working Patriots games after he saw one of the signs saying get hired immediately.

“I saw the signs here, on Facebook, Instagram everywhere,” said Davis of Rockland.

Tuesday’s orientation at Gillette had several dozen new hires like Anthony Gonzalez of Framingham.

“When I applied, they answered me within an hour,” Gonzalez said.

The need has gotten so bad, fans have even told us they’ve had to miss a portion of the first half because there weren’t enough ticket-checkers.

“I’ve been to some games in the past, and we’ve got a pretty quick entrance, but the lines were pretty long at the preseason game,” said Michelle Sando of New Bedford. “Some big crowds we were waiting to get in.”

Gillette Stadium is trying to help fix two problems. One: long wait times for people coming to the stadium. Two: the number of unemployed people in the state, which at last check with the state is about 180,000 people.

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A stadium rep said part of the reason for the long lines is people tailgating until close to kick-off time in the nice weather. Another reason, the change to mobile tickets and many people having cracked screens or simply not knowing how to pull up the app.

“People that are coming with their phones makes things difficult,” Davis said. “Take your time.”

“We met people at orientation who were college students, real estate agents, some people who lost their jobs during COVID and are applying for this after the pandemic unemployment assistance program ran out.

“I had stopped working because of COVID, and I have a buddy who works here, so he told me they were looking for people, so I filled out an application and got the job,” Gonzalez said.

As for Davis, who also lost his job, he decided not to take any of the unemployment benefits since he had plenty saved.

“Why apply if you don’t need it,” Davis said. “Other people need it, so I didn’t apply because I didn’t need it.”

But a chance to be a part of the team was enough to get him to find another job.

“This is a fun thing to do,” Davis said. “I love the Patriots. I’d love to work with them. I come out here all the time. I go to the pro shop, I go to games sometimes.”

And if you are one of the 180,000 people looking for work, it’s not just Gillette Stadium. TD Garden is also looking for people.

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