(Seguin) — When it comes to jobs, there’s no shortage in Seguin. The Seguin Economic Development Corporation is looking to help local businesses fill those vacancies. The Seguin EDC with the help
Workforce Solutions Alamo be putting all the available jobs on the table during Thursday’s 2021 Spring Community Job Fair to be held at Soel Venue in downtown Seguin.
SEDC executive director Josh Schneuker says it’s been a very long time since an-in person job fair has been offered in the community.
“We are very excited to be hosting this job fair. I think it’s extra special because it’s our first in-person job fair that we’ve hosted since the pandemic began. I think right now, it’s very important not only for employers but job seekers as well. There’s a lot of opportunity out there. Our economy is really on the way back to getting to pre-pandemic levels hopefully but we need to fill a lot of open positions in order to fill the demand that customers have in today’s economy and there’s a lot of open positions here in Seguin. We are excited to bring job seekers and employers back together all under one roof, connecting in person and hopefully fill a lot of vacancies at our employers and get folks back to work,” said Schneuker.
Schneuker says many employers have contacted his office to help try to find ways to attract a talented workforce. He says these Seguin area employers are looking to hire for entry, intermediate and advanced-level positions.
“We are going to have about 20 employers out at our job fair. Just in terms of the number of employment opportunities, I don’t have an exact number but I can tell you there’s a lot of opportunity out there. A lot of our companies are getting back online, getting back to their regular pre-pandemic operations and there was a lot of folks that might have left their job during the pandemic or unfortunately got laid off or something along those lines so those opportunities are now back. They are available for the job seekers that are going to be atteending our event to take advantage of. We’ve got companies like
Caterpillar, Minigrip, Seguin ISD, GVEC, United Alloy, Vitesco Technologies just to name a few that are going to be in attendance looking to fill a large amount of positions that we have in our community right now,” said Schneuker.
Schneuker reminds job seekers that job fairs are a great way to meet multiple, potential employers all in one place and have on-the spot interviews-all while practicing your career skills.
“At a lot of our previous job fairs, there have been a lot of job offers made on the spot so you need to come prepared. We always tell folks to dress to impress. You are there to sell yourself and you always want to give off a great first impression so come dressed appropriately for the event. Make sure you are bringing an updated resume and just be active and engaging with the employers that are going to be participating in the event. There’s a lot of open positions in our market and I think what that means for job seekers is there’s a lot of opportunity so we are excited to bring job seekers and employers together and we want to help get those positions filled within our community,” said Schneuker.
Schneuker says the unemployment rate for the city of Seguin was 5.8 percent during the month of March 2021, an increase from the 3.4 percent before the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
“I know there’s a lot of factors that I think are impacting some of the unemployment rate fluctuations that we continue to see today. I don’t want to get into too much behind it but there are certain things that are impacting us but I think the thing that we are trying to just encourage folks is let’s get our economy back up to pre-pandemic levels. Let’s get rolling again. Let’s back to work. There’s a lot of opportunities out there right now to find a job and most importantly, find a job that can lead to a lot of other opportunities down the road. When one door opens, you hope another one will open down the road as well and I think that’s what a lot of our employers here in Seguin can offer to folks,” said Schneuker.
Schneuker says all eyes remain on the future of the economy — an economy that only gets better when jobs are filled and operations can continue as they have.
“Right now, pretty much everywhere is a lot of raw materials and sourcing of those raw materials is getting harder and harder. It’s getting more expensive with demand outpacing supply right now. That’s one thing I think inflation is really kind of taking hold in the economy right now with the prices and everything going up from gas to lumber to food and everything like that. Everything seems to be
playing pretty heavy right now. I’m just hoping that we can continue I think as an economy to meet that demand that is definitely out there. There’s a lot of folks that want to get back out to restaurants. They want to go on vacation. They want to buy new things now that we are emerging from the pandemic but in order to do that, I think that there’s going to be some growing pains along the way and just kind of acclimating and readjusting the economy to the levels of demand that we are seeing right now,” said Schneuker.
The 2021 Spring Community Job Fair will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday at Soel Venue. Soel Venue is located in downtown Seguin at 112 W. Donegan St.
The in-person job fair will adhere to all COVID-19 requirements as recommended by the CDC. This includes face coverings and social distancing.