SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) –Monday, Onondaga County and Onondaga Community College held a job fair meant to help businesses as they increase operations.
The fair was open to the public and ran from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the SRC Arena.
Now that COVID-19 restrictions are lifting and the city is opening up, many restaurants and companies are looking to hire new employees.
“There’s not a business that hasn’t been affected as far as lack of being able to get employees,” said Andy Boucounis, owner of Andy’s Produce. “We personally at the worst point of this were down 70% in sales. I mean we had 21 employees we had to we had to go down to seven or eight employees.”
Boucounis was one of the organizers who helped plan the job fair. He said that it took about three months of planning. In his business, and what he has heard from others, the sudden surge in people going out causes employees to feel the stress of being short staffed.
This is what gave him the idea to have a job fair and reach out to the career center at OCC.
Byrne Dairy employee Mike McLoughlin said job fairs are just one way to attract potential employees.
“In my career, I’ve been doing human resources and all the functions that work around it for about 20 years,” McLoughlin said. “From a heavy population from a job fair standpoint, really what we see is its more about the employment branding and making people aware.”
Restaurants, service, manufacturing, government, and educational institutions are among many businesses that participated in the job fair.
Organizers say that some companies are even offering signing bonuses and entries into raffles.
Wegman’s even held a vaccine clinic on site for those still in need of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Student Salim Mohammed said that he attended the job fair for his mom and hopes to pursue a career in construction.
Other people in attendance said job fairs are good for finding your first job, or for those thinking of making a career switch after the pandemic.
