More than 70 people were offered jobs after last week”s Golden Triangle Employment Expo and hundreds more wait to hear back from companies after on-site interviews.
Event organizers released the final tally of 73 job offers thus far, Thursday afternoon.
More than 1,100 people registered for the 14th annual GTEE, which featured 52 employers.
Walmart, Severstal, Zaxby”s and Toyota interviewed the most people, said Towanda Williams, Mississippi University for Women”s assistant director of career services and chair for this year”s event.
The employment expo strives to bring area employers face to face with job seekers, acting as a catalyst for the hiring process.
Over the years, expo organizers have reported high numbers of interviews and on-site hiring.
“Having everything under one roof in a convenient place makes it easier to manage,” said Williams.
Companies like Toyota, which plans to start production at a new plant in Blue Springs by fall 2011, were feeling out the local worker pool.
The company will hire about 2,000 people for the production line, maintenance and some salary positions.
Other employers were searching for specific positions. American Eurocopter was looking to hire avionics technicians, order processors and airframe and power plant mechanics. Severstal has positions open for shipping analysts and computer programming.
“Going forward, around March, we”ll have to hire probably a hundred or so (people) for our second phase,” said Ativa Prater, human resources representative for Severstal.
Zaxby”s, which opens a new restaurant Monday in Columbus on Highway 45 North, was also among those interviewing on site, at MUW”s Pohl gymnasium, last Wednesday.
“Most were taking applications or sending people online to complete applications,” Williams said.
Still the number of job offers was significantly higher than last year, she noted.
“With the job market being so scarce we were fortunate to have a really good turnout of both employers and applicants,” Williams added.
In the past, the GTEE has boasted more than 70 employers sign up as vendors at the job fair. Williams attributes the decline in employers to the recession.
“The job market is at an all-time low everywhere,” she said. “We are feeling the effects of the recession in our area as well.”
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