Despite Down Economy, Emeryville Job Fair Struggles To Draw Applicants
EMERYVILLE (CBS 5) - Many Bay Area residents have been struggling to find work in recent years, so it may come as a surprise that only a couple of dozen people showed up for a job fair in Emeryville Monday.
The new Black Bear Diner invited prospective employees to show up Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to apply for 100 open positions. The franchise is set to open next month, and management has said they don't yet have enough qualified staff to run the place.
"We had a very small turn out in comparison to our other job fairs and we were a bit shocked," said Mauro Rivero, President of the Emeryville franchise. "We had job fairs in Vallejo and Milpitas where we had hundreds show up justlining outside the door."
The company put the word out through several online job sites for the past week, hoping find enough help to start training next week.
"In Emeryville it's been totally different, maybe it's because it's the holidays and people are busy, but at the same time, if you're looking for a job, from my experience, it doesn't matter what the time of the season," Rivero said.
According to the state, Alameda County has an unemployment rate of 8.6 percent, leaving Rivera puzzled as to why so few people have shown interest.
Interviews will continue until 8 p.m. Tuesday and resume from Noon to 8 p.m. Wednesday at the Four Points Hotel located at 1603 Powell St. Prospective employees are asked to bring Bring Photo ID, Social Security Card and one other form of identification, and copy of SafeServe Certificate, as well as email contacts for references.
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