Employers and job seekers alike are gathering at the Prince George Conference and Civic Centre this week for the Prince George Employment and Training Expo.
“It is one of the largest events that WorkBC has hosted yet to date,” said Bev Schwarz, Regional Manager for WorkBC Centres in Prince George, Mackenzie and Valemount.
“What we’ve got is about 55 vendors that are both training providers and employers, so if you’re looking at doing any type of retraining, you can come down here and talk to the majority of main institutions that we have.”
Scwarz said there’s a variety of employers and training opportunities, but it is a bit more industry specific.
“If you’re looking like camp work, mining work, construction, some forestry, healthcare,” she said. “It’s quite a nice variety.”
Employers included EllisDon, the prime contractor for the UHNBC Acute Care Tower, several mining companies, and more.
“Prince George has been identified as been identified as a community in transition,” Schwarz added. “We are here and we’re really helping the community, we’re helping the mills and that as well, but it is about being here, helping the community. If you ever thought, ‘I would just like to train and do something in a different industry’, this is the place to be.”
Schwarz said some employers have been struggling to find the right people, which events like the Expo can help with.
“That’s why we have the chance for people to come here and actually talk with the employer about the job, and then the employer gets the chance to get to know that person as well, when normally you’re just looking online or you’re at the WorkBC centre and it’s just apply online,” she said, “This gives you kind of that foot in the door, and for the employers as well to make sure they’re hiring the right type of people.”
The Expo runs until 8 p.m. tonight (Thursday) and then again from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday.
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