Just in time for cap-and-gown season, new high school graduates will be at the head of the line in a virtual job fair that CareerSource Northeast Florida is hosting Thursday.
The online fair’s first hour – between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. – is reserved for the new graduates.
From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., anyone can join the fair, where more than 100 area businesses will be looking for employees.
To take part, job seekers have to register at http://bit.ly/virtualjob520.
The fair is happening on the first day of Duval County public schools’ graduation season, which continues through June 7.
About 7,000 students are expected to graduate in the coming weeks, said Laureen Ricks, a Duval schools spokeswoman.
Graduation season coincides with an annual influx of young people into the job market, and this year managers in many businesses have been hoping it will relieve trouble they’re having finding workers to fill jobs.
The shortage of workers is part of a jumble of conflicting measures of economic recovery as businesses rebuild after cutting jobs during the early months of the of the pandemic. Unemployment in Jacksonville’s metro area increased to 4.4 percent in state estimates last month at the same time the number of people holding jobs locally rose by about 7,500 and some restaurants paid signing bonuses to get people to take jobs.
Businesses ranging from sports apparel firm Fanatics Inc. to financial technology titan FIS Global have booked spots in the fair alongside Veritas Steel’s Palatka plant, Gate Petroleum and Sawgrass Marriott Golf Resort and Spa.
The companies have hundreds of jobs to fill, Ron Whittington, a CareerSource spokesman, said by email.