About 2,000 people in search of work braved icy roads on Dec. 28 to attend the annual Homecoming Job Fair at Biltmore Square Mall in Asheville. They were greeted by approximately 86 local employers looking to fill an estimated 1,800 jobs over the next few months, according to Rick Elingburg of the N.C. Employment Security Commission.
The job openings are a sign that the economy is on the rebound, Elingburg suggested.
“The sense is that locally, in the Asheville, Buncombe and Henderson areas, the economy is getting better,” he said, citing statistics that show unemployment in the area hovering at 7.2 percent, compared with 9.8 percent statewide.
“There are a lot of employers here looking to fill jobs, where last year they were looking just to make a showing — being here as a morale boost — but they weren’t really hiring,” explained Ellie Waters, a counselor at the Mountain Area JobLink Career Center.
Businesses at the fair included about 25 manufacturers, as well as a number of banks, call centers and health care providers. Elingburg estimated that the positions being advertised at the fair pay an average of $12 to $14 per hour.
“That’s somewhat typical of our area,” he explained. “We don’t have a lot of technical or higher management positions readily available. That’s one thing we continue to work on: bringing more businesses to the area that would hopefully bring more of the upper management kind of jobs. But unless you’ve got their headquarters, offices, more regional offices or something here, then you’re not typically going to get those kinds of jobs.”
The annual Homecoming Job Fair is sponsored by a host of local organizations and businesses; the two major organizers are the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce and the Economic Development Coalition.
— Jake Frankel can be reached at 251-1333, ext. 115, or at jfrankel@mountainx.com.
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