Under scorching heat, city officials, state officials and union representatives gathered under a tent across the street from Hartford's Dunkin' Park to discuss the shortage of public sector workers.
Officials said they need to fill about 6,000 public sector jobs. Open positions include everything from corrections, bus driving, social services and more.
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) President Lee Saunders said their union is building partnerships nationwide to recruit and retain strong candidates for public service jobs.
"We're connecting with young people who often don't know about these jobs or where to get the information about these jobs,” Saunders said. “We're reaching out to communities that are underrepresented in these jobs."
At the stadium, a jobs fair showcased 30 municipalities and state agencies recruiting including the Capitol Region Education Council and the Metropolitan District Commission water utility.
Monica Bacaro is originally from Ecuador, but has been a Norwalk resident for over a decade. She said she has a college education and came to the job fair looking for clerical work.
"The Spanish community needs a lot of help out there,” Bacaro said. “But it seems that it's kind of hard to get in. I'm kinda skeptical. I think maybe if you know somebody that can refer you. But you never know; you can try."
Julissa Echevarria is from Hartford. She learned about the job fair recently and said she is interested in finding a job with flexibility to take care of her one-year-old son.
"There wasn't really much advertisement,” Echevarria said. “I knew about this because a state employee told me. It is hard to find a good job that pays well. Hopefully, everyone can find a good job and start working again."
Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont emphasized the importance of these jobs. He said that the shortage of public sector workers affects society daily and that these open positions are an incredible opportunity to do meaningful work.
"We hired 9,000 people this year so far," Lamont said. He also mentioned there could be work opportunities for the thousands of immigrants living in the state.
"When it comes to work permits for people coming into our state, I still need permission from the federal government to do that," Lamont said. "But we are doing everything we can to put people back to work, and those people are gonna get a job as soon as we can."
Officials and union representatives urged millennials and Gen Z to join unions and reported that 88% of workers nationwide are pro-union.
David Seymour, from Manchester, has a degree in communications and said he was interested in the job postings.
"I have experience in social media management and working on campaigns," Seymour said. "I'm a millennial, and what I'm seeing is that there's a lot of seniors and a lot of people with the older generation that just need to retire.”
Officials also expressed their thanks to all frontline public sector workers for their efforts during the pandemic. Officials and the union representatives encouraged people to apply for public sector jobs which they said offer good retirement benefits.
