Shopping for Work : Economy: The Oaks mall takes on the air of an unemployment office as crowds show up for a job fair. Some of the 250 openings may not be filled.
Crowds of applicants looking for permanent jobs and extra holiday cash lined up at a job fair in Thousand Oaks on Monday to apply for jobs that might not even be filled.
They were young, old and middle-aged, most of them women. Some dressed in tennis shoes and jeans while others wore stylish suits and leather pumps.
But all of them wanted to work, hoping to land one of 250 holiday and permanent jobs listed with the state Employment Development Department by The Oaks mall in Thousand Oaks.
And as rows of job candidates waited to fill out applications, the mall took on the mood of a state unemployment office. Their faces showed no emotion. They sat with crossed arms and spoke little to those who might be competing for the same jobs.
The poor economy is affecting job-seekers all over Ventura County, said Dolores Brum, state employment services representative who was at the fair. At her regular post, Brum hears tales from the jobless about pounding the pavement with little success.
“I see all kinds of people who have been unemployed for a long time, and I can’t help them find a new job,” she said. She added that the new 13-week extension on employment benefits should help in the midst of a recession that doesn’t seem ready to quit.
Businesses are absorbing losses too. A saleswoman in a high-end clothing store devoid of customers said retailers are griping about the economy and the effect it will have on the holiday shopping season.
“There is a rough time going on,” said the woman, who declined to identify herself. “We’re surviving. Hanging on. We’re hoping things will be better next year.”
Although The Oaks mall retailers listed about 250 jobs with the employment department for the fifth annual job fair, Brum said they made no promises to fill them.
Retailers have adopted a wait-and-see attitude, she said. In hard times, “they clamp down and change their plans a little bit.”
The department feared an overwhelming number of applicants would come to the fair and decided not to advertise it, Brum said. But word-of-mouth and public service announcements brought in 189 applicants on Nov. 4 and 146 on Nov. 5, the first two days of the four-day fair.
With Christmas growing nearer, the candidates continue to stream in. Monday, on the third day of the fair, 62 applicants signed in within the first 1 1/2 hours, and Brum expected to be besieged by high school students when school let out.
Today is the last day of the fair, which will run from noon to 6 p.m. in the mall community room.
The job fair worked for 76-year-old Rose Landers of Newbury Park. She started her job Monday, selling goods in the Knott’s Berry Farm store.
“I need the money,” she said before heading over to reprice boxes of jams and jellies.
Merlie Cacho, co-manager of Contempo Casuals clothing, said that since the beginning of the month, the store has received 25 applications from the job fair for 20 jobs, only five of which will be permanent. So far, Contempo has hired 10 clerks and cashiers.
“We look for people with experience,” co-manager Lisa Ruffinen said.
Fewer people without experience will be able to find jobs this year as the employment market grows tighter, Brum said. And that makes it tougher for young people, who traditionally start out in retail jobs.
Mary Hueners, a 38-year-old mother of four, figured that after spending almost nine years out of the job market, it was time to jump back in. Sporting a red plaid blazer and skirt, she played musical chairs at the job fair along with the other applicants, moving a little nervously one chair closer to the state employment agent who would interview her.
“I figure having four kids gives you a lot of experience in a lot of different areas,” she said, adding that she came to the job fair because it was easier than going store to store. “It’s all in one place. It’s all one stop.”
