Malena Charur
Laredo Morning Times
May 16, 2023
Workforce Solutions for South Texas, City of Laredo Economic Development and Laredo College have joined forces to host the Spring Job Fair to be held on Thursday, May 18 at the Laredo College Kazen Student Center.
Denise A. Flores, Workforce Development Center Director, said LC has partnered with these two agencies separately in the past, but now they have decided to work together to offer more jobs to prospective employees.
“Ultimately, Laredo College, City of Laredo Economic Development Center and Workforce Solutions for South Texas strive to provide opportunity and growth. Our agencies have determined that holding this fair will not only provide prospect jobs to LC students but to the community in general,” she said.
She added that with Workforce Solutions for South Texas, their partnership develops multiple career fairs such as Palomino Pathways, Red White & You, and numerous others. With the City of Laredo, LC held the Laredo Cares 2.0 Job Fair last August and provided Laredo Cares 2.0 participants and community members an opportunity to visit with multiple employers.
“This year, Laredo College invited both agencies to create an even bigger, better job fair for our community where many could benefit from employers, resources, and programs,” she said.
Although all fairs in the past have been held separate, Flores said all the events have been successful seeing between 200 to 400 participants each.
“With this collaboration, we hope to reach out to more prospective candidates in hopes that they join us for this celebration of our partnership and event to provide jobs for our community,” Flores said.
Rogelio Treviño, Executive Director of Workforce Solutions for South Texas, said that the most recent unemployment rate is 4.4% as of March 2023.
“Last year was 4.2%, but our civilian labor force was 2,000 people less,” he said. “Laredo has a civilian labor force of 119,943 (people 16 and older who are ready, willing and able to work). Of that labor force, 114,678 are employed and 5,265 are unemployed giving us the 4.4% of the labor force as unemployed.”
Treviño added that the partnership with Laredo College for this edition of the Spring Job Fair is one of many partnerships they have established with Laredo College and with the City of Laredo Economic Development Department.
“The partnership makes a lot of sense as we all are focused on improving the City of Laredo’s economic development and growth. The college who primarily focuses on education and training programs for the citizen try helping to prepare the labor force that Workforce Solutions is committed to getting employed,” he said. “As a Workforce Development Board, our commitment is to help the businesses of Laredo find skilled and trained employees.
“By partnering on this Spring Job Fair, we are bringing the employers/businesses to the Labor Force for job matching opportunities. Many college and high school students will be graduating this May and June, and we are bringing the employers to the job fair to meet with and interview potential job prospects.”
Treviño also said this fair is important because it is vital to help our local businesses match up with skilled employees.
“A skilled workforce is a business’s number one asset. By helping our employers find and hire skilled, trained and educated employees, we are helping our businesses grow and develop and in essence we are helping Laredo’s economy grow,” he said.
He said the most demanded areas of work have to do with trade and transportation being the number one industry in Laredo.
“The most jobs in demand include transportation and logistics jobs …. truck drivers, import–export jobs, freight forwarders, warehouse and warehouse support jobs. However, as Laredo continues to grow, there are other industries with great demand such as the government industry including border protection, law enforcement and other state and federal jobs are in demand,” he said. “Also, the education industry continues to grow and all the school districts in the area are looking for employees in the education field and in support fields.”
Treviño highlighted that as population increases and ages the demand for medical job continues to grow.
“The pandemic made it clear that Laredo is a medically underserved community, so there is great demand to fill jobs in the medical industry, jobs such as doctors, nurses and medical technicians,” he said. “Also, support jobs that will help in doctor’s offices and hospitals are in high demand.”
Treviño said the goal is to have 60 booths between employers and providers in the Spring Job Fair, and they are hoping to attract more than 500 job seekers.
“We will continue to work with our education and economic development partners in helping our labor force get skilled and educated to meet the needs of our growing businesses,” he said. “Workforce Solutions will continue to monitor and evaluate the South Texas Labor Market to ensure that we are communicating with our education and training providers so that training programs for high-skill, high-wage jobs are created.”
Flores said this fair will offer opportunities for both employers and job seekers.
“Employers will have an opportunity to interview on spot, so we highly recommend participants to register early for the fair, dress to impress and have a resume on hand because you may be able to obtain a job that day,” she said.
Both Flores and Treviño invited those wanting to attend this job fair to pre-register in advance.
“This fair is for Laredo College graduates, alumni, students and, of course, for our Laredo community,” she said. “You can pre-register to attend the fair so that your information will be on file which will be easier to apply for employment. You can also register on site and one of our friendly staff members at Workforce Solutions can help you.”
The Spring Job Fair will be held on Thursday, May 18 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Ft. McIntosh Campus in the Kazen Student Center.
“If you are looking for a new job, a new field, or trying to get back to school, talk to our 60 or more employers, community resources, and Laredo College recruiters and let’s get you started on this new career pathway,” Flores said.
All those interested in attending the job fair can pre-register by visiting https://bit.ly/sprn2023.
mcharur@lmtonline.com
Read the story online here https://www.lmtonline.com/local/article/laredo-college-host-spring-job-fair-featuring-60-18096660.php
