Local job fair another sign of getting back to business

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Helping to line up jobs for people has long been one of the primary roles of UHC — Hub of Opportunities, but that has been curtailed by the ongoing pandemic.

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But on Saturday, the local help agency was able to stage its first in-person job fair in over two years.

Large tents and heaters were set up outside UHC to accommodate eight employers from the area’s landscape sector, while dozen of job hunters showed up with resumes in hand hoping to secure one of the more than 100 available job openings.

“Landscape Ontario (which represents the sector) approached us as they needed an influx of people to join these eight employers,” said June Muir, the agency’s CEO. “It’s a good feeling today because we were able to connect them to meet with people face-to-face.

“The past two years everything has been through (online) and that’s not the same.”

She indicated there were 40 people looking for jobs who registered within the first hour of Saturday’s job fair.

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“We did ask everyone to bring a resume,” Muir said. “In some cases, they are doing on-the-spot interviews, so some people will walk away today with a new job.”

The job fair was organized at the request of Landscape Ontario which oversees the local industry that includes golf courses, deck and fence businesses, plus other landscape-related companies.

The available job openings varied from minimum wage labour positions to highly-skilled apprenticeship jobs.

“Not an employer in our industry has been able to keep up with demand,” said Liana Desmarais, incoming board president of the Windsor chapter of Landscape Ontario. “Everyone is staying home and putting their vacation dollars into their backyards.

“Landscaping is not just a summer job. It’s a skilled trade position. We work 12 months out of the year. In the winter months, we do snow removal and other types of work in the off-season. It’s so much more than sod and trees.”

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Being able to stage the job fair Saturday was a blessing for those businesses taking part and desperately in need of workers, she said.

“For me, it’s the human connection,” said Desmarais, who also owns her own local landscape business. “For the last two-years I have been doing Zoom interviews. But the work we do is outside and working side by side, so it’s nice to make that face-to-face connection with someone you are going to hire.

“It’s amazing to kick off our season this way and look for fresh recruits to bulk up for our business.”

Muir indicated for those unable to attend the job fair on Saturday, resumes can still be dropped off at UHC to apply for the landscape-related jobs. She also indicated there will soon be more job fairs scheduled by UHC.

“Absolutely, we will get back at it and definitely do more,” Muir said. “It’s a great feeling to help job hunters meet face-to-face and be hired in person.”