Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski
The PA CareerLink Blair County job fair at the Jaffa Shrine on Wednesday featured 80 hiring employers and agencies.Local companies continue to face hiring challenges, and as job seekers stopped at the tables during Wednesday’s job fair, they heard a variety of reasons why they should apply for the open positions.Hosted by PA CareerLink Blair County, more than 80 businesses filled the basement of the Jaffa Shrine Center as employers searched for potential candidates from among the hundreds of job seekers who turned out for the event.
“Just finding bodies and people who want to work is a real struggle,” said Pam Lay from the Altoona Center for Nursing Care. She was looking to fill a number of nursing jobs and 10 people for a certified nursing assistant class offered by the center.
Luckily, she said, there was a lot of interest in the CNA class.
“There are a lot of people looking for a career change,” she said.
Cathy Albright, who also works with the Altoona Center for Nursing Care, wonders where everyone went before the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s very hard — you think people are ready to work and then they stop showing up after three weeks,” she said.
Health care seems to be the worst in relation to filling open positions because no one wants to work with COVID, Albright said.
“For those who do choose to wor …
Jaffa hiring fair attracts job seekers | News, Sports, Jobs – Altoona Mirror
