Three-day job fair attracts hundreds of job seekers

Article content

Job seekers from Norfolk County, Brantford, the County of Brant and surrounding municipalities had an opportunity to browse, explore and talk to employers during the Nov. 15-17 Grand Erie Aspire Job Fair.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

Try refreshing your browser, or
tap here to see other videos from our team.

Three-day job fair attracts hundreds of job seekers Back to video

Organized by Aspire, First Work’s career exploration initiative for youth, the three-day job fair was supported by eight partners including Fanshawe College Community Career and Employment Services in Simcoe.

Just over 300 people attended the Nov. 15 job fair in Brantford, and 75 job seekers arrived in the first 30 minutes of the Nov. 16 job fair at the Delhi District German Home, a central location to draw from Norfolk County as well as Oxford County’s outlying areas. Organizers hoped to see at least 250-300 job seekers in Delhi by the end of the afternoon. A third job fair was held at the Paris Fairgrounds on Nov. 17.

“We have employers here today from Brantford, Oxford, Haldimand and Norfolk,” said Christine Propper, Job Developer at Fanshawe College Community Career and Employment Services. “Some are going to all three, not many but you will see some cross-over.”

Propper noted a similar job fair in Simcoe in June had fewer job seekers.

“I’m wondering if some people have been laid off from seasonal jobs? We advertised really well – Adient closed (Nov. 15) and we posted this on every (social media) group we could in Tillsonburg last night to hopefully draw some people from there.”

“I thought this was mainly for teenagers,” said Blake DeCoene, 16, from Delhi, who was looking for part-time work.

“There’s things here in my interests but I’m just not old enough to be hired here,” said DeCoene, who was doing an online survey provided by First Work meant to identify career interests.

Wesley Kovacs, 24, from Nixon had more success at the Delhi job fair, making a quick tour around the room before circling back again.

“This is my first job fair,” said Kovacs, feeling optimistic. “I’m going to go around again and come down the middle.”

Kovacs said meeting employers and their representatives in-person was preferrable to online Zoom calls.

“When you see the person face to face, it’s a lot more calming.”

Rassaun Services Inc. from Simcoe, one of 35 employers at the Delhi job fair, went into it looking to hire four or five people.

“It kind of depends on the skill set,” said Nadia Saunders from Rassaun Services. “That’s across the trades – Pipefitters, welders, millwrights, and electricians.”

Sharon Butcher and Greg Butcher, from Tillsonburg, had worked at Adient in Tillsonburg, which announced a day earlier it was closing immediately with a loss of 192 automotive industry jobs.

“We got hit yesterday,” said Sharon Butcher, browsing at the Marwood International booth. “We had a meeting yesterday morning at 11 and we were done by 11:30 (a.m.). ‘Clean your lockers out.’”

“We had been there almost 40 years and they had never shut the plant down to have a meeting,” said Greg Butcher, noting that was an indication of bad news coming. “They also sent out tools last week, sent them down to the US. Those were tools we were waiting for all the time. So we thought there was something funny there … they said ‘we’re only sending them down there for six weeks, then they’ll be back.’

“The sad thing is, up until three weeks ago they were still hiring new people.”

The Butchers are set to receive one year of severance pay. It means they are actively looking for new jobs but they can take their time if needed.

“If it’s a good job, obviously, but we’ll probably wait a bit,” said Greg.

“I would say about 80 per cent of the people that have stopped by here are from Adient,” said Brianna Petrie, HR co-ordinator, Marwood International at the Delhi job fair. “Hopefully we can help put some food on people’s tables and give them employment back. That’s the goal. One thing we do is offer benefits on the first day, so hopefully that helps close the gap … most employers are 90 days.”

Marwood International Inc. has seven locations – four plants in Tillsonburg, one in Ingersoll and Woodstock, and one in Detroit. They have (theoretically) 200 jobs available across the board.

“In the last five years we’ve doubled in size. We’re looking for anything – production associates, forklift drivers, team leads, supervisors, quality … ” said Petrie, noting experienced automotive workers are valued.

“We would also welcome someone fresh out of school who wants to start their career with us. I think it’s great to get both skill sets.”