By Sean Delaney
The Emery Village BIA is hosting a community-wide job fair to connect local talent with local employers.
The event is being held April 4th, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Famee Furlane Event Centre, at 7065 Islington Avenue, Woodbridge.
If you are a business member looking to participate you can email: info@emeryvillagebia.ca, or call 416-744-7242 to register for free.
And organizers say the response has already been strong, with many employers expressing a need for staff in many areas. Job openings range from general labour to very specialized skills.
“Right now I’d have to say the majority of the needs for business are workers. Workers and transportation issues,” said Sandra Farina, executive director of the Emery Village Business Improvement Association (BIA).
Farina said there are approximately 3,200 businesses in Emery, and a majority of 80 percent are industrial and manufacturing.
“Our business members rank skill shortages and worker shortages along with transportation issues as their top priority.”
In organizing the BIA job fair event and speaking with the variety of employers she has, she’s heard a particular need for drivers and is fielding requests for numbers from many businesses which she imagines will be pleasantly surprised by the cross section of participants and job seekers.
“Some of the companies here are the largest manufacturers of products in our area. We’ve been getting a lot of calls the past few years asking how the BIA can help out, and this is what we’ve developed together.”
The full list of employers will be advertised all over the BIA website and social media, she said.
“The need seems to be across the spectrum. It’s a lot of sectors, the automotive sector, manufacturing, servicing, furniture, food processing,” said Emery Village BIA project manager Al Ruggero.
“And surprisingly even if you look at, or focus on just one sector, let’s say the food, the numbers of careers and jobs in that sector alone is incredible. The jobs are here.”
Ruggero said the variety extends to general labour, where there is a distinction for some employers between hourly workers and salary – with both being in demand.
“Employers are always looking for specialized skill sets such as how to operate machinery, tool and die, woodworking and carpentry skills.
“You can see it from small employers and large employers.”
He said one of the main reasons Emery has so many employees, with estimates of 28,000 to 30,000, is in its geography being located near many of the major highways.
“It’s often not the easiest in the industrial world to find good public transit, but here there’s always the component that our major arterial streets are well served by the TTC and will remain that way or improve.”
And longevity was a topic for both members.
“We’d like to make the job fair a regular service for members, and count on it as a yearly event that the BIA presents,” Farina said.