NEWS RELEASE
COUNTY OF SIMCOE
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On April 26, the county and area partners collaborated on a third online Work in Simcoe County job fair connecting more job seekers to active and available employment opportunities in Simcoe County.
“As the number of available jobs within Simcoe County increases, our council is focused on assisting businesses with their labour needs, while helping our residents find strong employment opportunities,” said Warden George Cornell. “There’s opportunity within a variety of trades, careers and professions, as the county is home to thousands of well-paid, high-quality jobs across many sectors. Building on our past successes, our third session generated more than 1,000 conversations between local employers and active job seekers.”
Data collected from the County of Simcoe’s Work in Simcoe County website shows that in the month of March there were 11,074 active job openings in our region. The most in-demand skills were in sales and services, business, finance, administration, education, law, social, community and government services, and trades, transport and equipment operations.
This virtual job fair was a collaborative effort involving several key partners, including member municipalities, the cities of Barrie and Orillia, Georgian College, Lakehead University, Employment Ontario, Province of Ontario, RTO7 and the Simcoe Muskoka Workforce Development Board and Literacy Network.
The county job fair hosted 433 job seekers and 92 employers in a variety of industries including manufacturing and distribution, government and public administration, agriculture and food processing, hospitality and tourism, not-for-profit organizations, health care and social assistance, construction and the trades, education and training and more. This virtual event helped to increase awareness of local programs and services, including Employment Ontario programs available to both job seekers and employers and career exploration tools such as the Edge Factor community hub.
Job-seeker testimonials
“I made more employment connections during the job fair than I have been able to make in the last month on my own.”
“The virtual job fair was a definite success. The process was easy, user friendly and I landed some interviews. All while being able to complete other tasks while at home. Will definitely attend again if I ever need it.”
“It was a great event. The site was very easy to use and organized. I also enjoyed and found the live webinars for job seekers really helpful.”
About Work in Simcoe County
The Work in Simcoe County site includes local resources and job opportunities, as well as vital information to empower and inspire residents. Using an automated fetching tool to aggregate job listings from over 20 popular job boards and career sites and new user-friendly features, the portal provides services for job seekers, students, parents and local government and helps to link residents with local opportunities. To learn more, visit www.workinsimcoecounty.ca.
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