Job fair canceled for fear of crowds

[babylonsister]

http://www.boston.com/business/ticker/2009/05/job_fair_cancel.html?s_campaign=8315


Job fair canceled for fear of crowds
May 29, 2009 06:13 PM


A weekend job fair at a Dedham shopping center was postponed today after organizers became concerned that a flood of job seekers would snarl traffic and create safety problems.

"The volume of expected attendees was much larger than we had initially anticipated," said David Fleming, marketing director for W/S Development, which was planning to host the job fair tomorrow at the new Legacy Place retail and entertainment complex.

Fleming said his firm and Dedham officials became concerned when they started receiving a high volume of telephone calls about the event, which they did not advertise. He said W/S Development is now searching for a different venue for the event, which will be re-scheduled for a date within the next few weeks.

The event was expected to connect job seekers with 14 retailers that plan to hire hundreds of workers before they open stores in Legacy Place this summer. The retailers include Apple, City Sports, L.L. Bean and Showcase Cinema De Lux.

The high level of interest in the event drew parallels to a recent job fair in New Hampshire, where officials were overwhelmed with more than 10,000 attendees. They had initially expected 5,000.

Legacy Place, a 675,000 square foot complex with restaurants, stores, a cinema and other attractions, is scheduled to formally open Aug. 20., although L.L. Bean will begin operating July 24, Fleming said. Once fully open with 80 stores, the complex is expected to result in the hiring of about 1,500 people. (By Casey Ross, Globe Staff)

[lonestarnot]

1. Corporate handlers in need of slaves cowardly and shameful reaking havoc on society don't want bad

publicity.

[MrModerate]

2. Oh phooey. Working in retail isn't sufficiently revolutionary for you?

You can't tell me you know for a fact that the jobs on offer would be any more exploitive than any retail job on the planet. Store owners *not* offering jobs would be preferable?

[dem629]

4. Bad publicity like shutting down a job fair?

Oh. Whoops.

[customerserviceguy]

3. I've wondered about job fairs

I've attended a few in the past, and they seem to be a strange way of filling positions. I guess they work for "employers" who merely want to add commission-only salespeople to sell products and services of dubious value, since they get to have a sense of how pushy the prospective salesperson is in real life, and it's tough to figure that out on a resume.

But I've seen very few "real" jobs at these things, and I wonder how the carnival atmosphere helps prospective employers sort out who they want to hire except on the basis of appearance. I suppose this helps when you're trying to attract a "diverse" workforce, but it could be used to sort out white applicants if an employer is so inclined to hire only them.

It just seems like a screwy way to find competant people.

[MrModerate]

5. Happily, I haven't had to go to a job fair for years, but I'd think . . .

that -- except for entry-level positions -- you get in the door via resume transmitted electronically.

[Stevenmarc]

6. Here.s a concept, hire more security.

[baldguy]

7. .

:banghead: :banghead: :banghead: