WAVE 3 TV Louisville, KY | Job seekers turn out to meet potential employers at WAVE 3 Employment Expo

Job seekers turn out to meet potential employers at WAVE 3 Employment Expo

By Maira Ansari - bio | email
Posted by Charles Gazaway - email

LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) - Thousands of people are desperate to find work in Kentuckiana, and Tuesday’s WAVE 3 Employment Expo put people together who are looking with those who are hiring. But it's not as easy as that to get a job.

Joe Florence lost his job six months ago. He was attending the employment expo looking for help.

“People get to see you. Before you have a resume and people are looking for a piece of paper,” said Florence.

Florence is not alone. Charlotte McAlister used to be in banking and has been unemployed for three years. At age 69, she hopes there is job out there for her as well.

“As long as my unemployment was coming in, everything was fine. I got my last check three weeks ago, so when that ran out, I thought, ‘okay girl, you really got to get out there hit the doors now and find out what's going on,’” said McAlister.

19 companies were on hand at the employment expo. One of those companies was Charter Communications, who earlier Tuesday announced it is hiring for 400 jobs. That could be good news for people at the unemployment office like Clara Robinson.

“I've been going to job fairs. I fill out applications. No one calls me back,” said Robinson.

Part of the problem for Robinson is she has been unemployed for two years, is 58 years old and competing with people who are in their 20's.

“People seem like they don't want to hire someone who is older. But, I’ve been in nursing since 1971. So, it's not that I don't have experience,” Robinson said.

According to economists, this is the highest unemployment rate we've had in the Louisville market since the early 1980's.

“The bad news is the unemployment rate tends to rise even if the economy tends to go back up. It lags the economy in its performance.  And that's because companies don't want to add a lot of payrolls after they just went through tough times,” said Paul Coomes, a U of L professor and economist.

Coomes said this is the perfect time to go back to school to find a new career or even start up your own business. Coomes also said you have to continue to put yourself out there.

“Don't give up. Just keep going keep pressing on ahead,” said Florence.

WAVE 3 will be hosting another employment expo on February 3, 2010.

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