TEMPE, AZ — The Tempe City Council recently voted to allocate $20,000 on efforts to get residents back to work amid the coronavirus pandemic.
With that funding, the city has partnered with Career Connectors, PipelineAZ, ARIZONA @ WORK, and Best Companies AZ to launch Virtual Job Fairs over the next few months.
"It's kind of a tale of two economies," said Tempe's Economic Development Program Manager Jill Buschbacher. "Some of our businesses are doing pretty well and hiring and then others are really struggling."
For jobseekers in certain industries, like service, hospitality, and tourism - it may be overwhelming to figure out where to look for their next move.
"There's a higher unemployment rate than we certainly would like to see," Buschbacher said. "And we want to help connect those residents and those individuals back to meaningful employment."
To do that, there will be three virtual job fairs. The first on December 8, the second on January 26, and the third on March 16.
"We've been working really hard to kind of reach through the screen... to help people, like give them hope," said Career Connectors Founder and CEO Jessica Pierce. "There are jobs out there! And people are like, 'There are no jobs,' and I'm like, 'I promise you.'"
Career Connectors is a non-profit organization which was founded in 2009 during the recession.
Pierce said, she is using what they learned back then to help those suffering amid the pandemic.
"We saw a ton of people lose jobs that had never looked for a job before... going into today… again, we have a huge group of people that are stunned because they lost their job and had no clue it was going to happen."
Pierce said, the first part of the virtual hiring event will be live. Jobseekers will get to connect with roughly different businesses in different industries who all are looking to fill positions.
"We do have some of those career… or entry-level positions," Pierce explained. "But we also have some executive positions because those companies that hire the entry-level also have to hire the executive… the middle professional ground, as well."
After the live portion ends, event organizers will work to match prospective employees with employers that best fit what both parties are looking for.
"It just takes it to another level with what we're doing for the residents of Tempe," said Pierce.
Career Connectors is also offering a virtual Certified Resume Writer Panel to help prepare jobseekers. That event is free and will take place on December 2. To register, click here.
To register for one of the Tempe Virtual Job Fairs, click here.
Here are the companies participating in the first event on December 8:
Acme Aerospace[acme-aero.com]
ADP[jobs.adp.com]
BD[bd.com]
CarMax[careers.carmax.com]
CENLAR[cenlar.com]
Freedom Financial Network[jobs.freedomfinancialnetwork.com]
Logicalis[logicalis.com]
Tempe Elementary Schools[jobs.tempeschools.org]
United Dairymen of Arizona[uda.coop]
If you are a Tempe business who is looking to participate in the Virtual Job Fair, email Jill Buschbacher at jill_buschbacher@tempe.gov.
