With over 50 companies recruiting, the South East Regional Jobs & Skill Fair, organised by Waterford Chamber, was a phenomenal success, with unprecedented numbers coming to City Hall on Saturday last in search of employment.
The event, which was sponsored by Enterprise Ireland, saw a steady flow of candidates from when the doors opened at 9am, right throughout the day.
According to Gerald Hurley, CEO Waterford Chamber, “What a day we had. It was thrilling and exhausting all in one. We saw in the region of 2,000 people turn up, those currently unemployed and looking for opportunities, people looking for a career change, students in search of part-time work and a large number of our Ukrainian friends looking to join the working community.
“Feedback from the exhibitors has been overwhelming positive and many are looking forward to taking initial conversations to the next stage.
“While we run our Business Expo every year, we had never delved into the recruitment expo space in the past. We decided to take a chance based on feedback from our members who were struggling to fill positions and it definitely paid off. We will certainly be looking to replicate this event again before the year is out and do our bit to strengthen and grow our business community.
“We were delighted to welcome Mayor John O’Leary on the day who took time to speak to all the companies and meet with the attendees and we would like to thank our media partners Beat 102 103 for their promotion, as well as the Department of Social Protection, Waterford Council for proving the large room on such a busy weekend, IDA Ireland and of course our sponsors Enterprise Ireland for their support.”