Drive-Thru Job Fair Takes Place In Communities Around Wisconsin Wednesday

Statewide worker shortages have been a chief concern for the business community for years, but regulations to stem the spread of COVID-19 have since overtaken worker shortages as the business community’s No. 1 most important issue, according to survey results from Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce.

However, that doesn’t mean the challenge of finding qualified workers has disappeared. In fact, the pandemic has made it more difficult to find employees, as traditional ways of connecting are no longer considered safe options.

Businesses and members of the Wisconsin Workforce Development Association are hoping that a no-contact job fair will help be part of the solution to filling some of those vacant positions. On Wednesday, more than 550 employers are taking part in a statewide drive-thru job fair at 17 sites around Wisconsin to find eligible employees while limiting the risk of exposure to COVID-19.

“We just think this is a great way to safely get information to the job seekers who need to know about it right now,” said Bobbi Miller, business solutions manager with the Fox Valley Workforce Development Board, who is organizing the event in Oshkosh.

Miller said people will be able to drive into parking lots at various locations where they’ll be handed recruitment fliers created by regional businesses. Job seekers won’t have to exit their vehicles.

“These jobs go everywhere from entry level to very skilled,” Miller said, noting that in Oshkosh, 70 regional companies have contributed fliers that are included in the packet of information that will be dispersed at the job fair.

Miller said there is an array of jobs to be filled, including in the fields of customer service, health care, manufacturing, banking, transportation, construction, utilities, human services, corrections, sales, distribution, warehouse and retail.

There is no dress code and participants don’t need to register in advance. There’s also no need to bring your resume, Miller said. Instead, job seekers will be encouraged to look at fliers and follow through on next steps according to the information the company provides.

Speaking specifically for Oshkosh’s event, Miller said job seekers should drive their cars if they’re able but said others who arrive via public transportation or on foot will still have access to the information.

“I think anywhere someone ends up, as long as they’re being safe amongst the flow of traffic, we will get the information to them,” she said.

Miller said the idea for the event came from Lincoln, Nebraska, where a similar event was done in one community.

“We believe we’ve taken their idea and made it just a little bit better,” she said.

The job fairs will all take place at the same time Wednesday, from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Locations

• Ashland: Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College, 2100 Beaser Ave.
• Beloit: Beloit Public Library, 605 Eclipse Blvd.
• Eau Claire: Eau Claire County Job Center, 221 W. Madison St.
• Green Bay: Riverside Ballroom Parking Lot, 1560 Main St.
• Janesville: Janesville Mall, 2500 Milton Ave.
• La Crosse: Logan High School, 1500 Ranger Dr.
• Madison: 2930 N. Sherman Ave.
• Milwaukee: Employ Milwaukee, 2342 N. 27th St.; American Serb Memorial Hall, 5101 W. Oklahoma Ave.
• Monroe: Blackhawk Technical College, 210 4th Ave.
• Oshkosh: Oshkosh Chamber of Commerce, 120 Jackson St.
• Phillips: Northcentral Technical College, 1408 Pine Ridge Rd.
• Rhinelander: Northern Advantage Job Center, 51 N. Brown St.
• Rice Lake: Barron County Job Center, 331 S. Main St.
• River Falls: St. Croix Job Center, 704-B North Main St.
• Sturtevant: SC Johnson iMET Center, 2320 Renaissance Blvd.
• Waukesha: Waukesha County Expo, 1000 Northview Rd.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated. The statewide drive-thru job fair is on Wednesday, July 15, not Friday.