Sign Of The Times

The organizers of the “Put Your Talent to Work” job and resource expo hadn’t planned on so many people attending the job fair. The event, hosted by the California Employment Development Department, was expecting close to 400 job seekers to attend. Two hours into the expo nearly 1200 people had arrived.
Laid off construction workers, real estate agents and mortgage brokers dressed in suits carrying briefcases and folders containing their resumes crammed into the Crown Plaza hotel in Concord in hopes of landing a job. I was blown away at how many people there were. They just kept coming in the door.
Companies like Comcast and Sears were courting unemployed workers. I am not sure how many jobs were actually available but I thought I heard someone say 200 from the dozens of vendors in attendance.
A range of different faces peppered the long line as people waited to get in to the expo. People from all walks of life did their best to make light of the difficult situation. I overheard two women talking, one of them saying that she had been out of work for close to two years. The other would be one year in February.
I can only hope that things will improve for these people and for the many good friends of mine that are in a similar situation.