Even before the doors opened to the Buffalo Museum of Science lobby, hundreds were lined up outside hoping to be considered for positions that Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown says were promised by participating companies.
"The companies were kind enough to guarantee collectively that they would be employing more than 1,200 people," said Brown. "1,200-plus people that come to this job fair, that I've organized and put together with the help of these great employers, will find employment."
The participants included retail, healthcare, hospitality and banking companies.
"We're actually looking to fill a variety of positions in Western New York," said Beata Fijalkowski of First Niagara. "We obviously have a lot of retail positions, teller positions, platform roles, a lot of branch type positions in Western New York. But we're also hiring for operational positions, audit, compliance, information technology..."
"We're looking for all positions, mostly part-time positions but I do have some full-time availabilities," said Dawn Schick, an assistant store manager for Kohl's. "We're looking to fill anywhere from 50 to 100... it would be great to have."
Job seekers ranged from all ages, all ethnicites, and various backgrounds. One man told WBFO his position was eliminated over a year ago and he has been looking ever since for new work. One woman said after her husband was unable to find a job, it was "her turn" to find support for the family. Another woman, who identified herself as a single mother, told WBFO that after moving to Buffalo from the west coast in August, she's been looking for a job to help get off welfare entirely.
