Thousands Line Up for 700 Jobs at Valencia Mall

Marcia Di Fraia arrived at College of the Canyons in Santa Clarita early Saturday--at 9 a.m.--a full hour before job interviews were scheduled to begin.

But even that wasn’t early enough. Two hours later, Di Fraia found herself still waiting outside in sweltering 100-plus-degree heat with about 3,000 other people looking for work at the Valencia Town Center, a new regional shopping mall opening next month in Santa Clarita.

“We were expecting lots of people, but this is way over lots,” said Chris Cooper, one of several personnel agents from the Valencia Town Center trying, at times unsuccessfully, to keep the mob of job-seekers organized. “I guess it’s a sign of the times.”

From frustrated professionals to eager teens, the job-seekers began to line up at 8:15 a.m. for the job expo featuring about 700 openings at 44 stores that will be included in the first phase of the Santa Clarita Valley’s first major mall.

Fifteen minutes after the doors to the college cafeteria opened, mall personnel had already processed 200 job applications. But at noon, thousands still stood in line, waiting to get inside the cafeteria where two representatives from each store conducted interviews.

Job-seekers who arrived after 10 a.m. faced waits of up to three hours. All could have filled out general applications, gone home and waited to be called for a job.

“That would never happen,” said Vicki Bondar, an unemployed salesclerk who waited near the end of the line.

At 2 p.m., the expo’s advertised closing time, at least 1,000 people still waited in line, prompting organizers to extend the expo three more hours.

Many job-seekers came prepared to wait in line. Some brought books and read as they waited. Others sipped from water bottles and chatted with newfound friends.

A few, like Amelia Santillan of Pacoima, brought umbrellas to shield themselves from the sun’s unyielding rays.

“I’m just looking for a cleaning job, whatever,” Santillan said. “It’s been five or six months since I’ve worked.”

Although many organizers and job-seekers said they were surprised by the throng, Di Fraia was not. She said that after a year of looking for work, she knew there were many unemployed people out there.

“I’m a casualty of the aerospace industry,” said Di Fraia, a Canyon Country resident and former office manager for a Westlake firm. “I’m looking for any kind of work, secretarial, whatever.

“I’ve already scaled down my expectations. The aerospace industry paid very well. I know I can’t expect to get that much now. After a while, the unemployment payments run out.”

Still, Di Fraia said she gets turned down for many jobs in which her skills are not required.

“They automatically tell me I’m overqualified.”

Some at Saturday’s event sponsored by the city of Santa Clarita and the Newhall Signal, the Santa Clarita Valley’s local newspaper, were out-of-work professionals who, like Di Fraia, were willing to take minimum-wage jobs.

Maria Adeeb, an unemployed elementary school teacher, said she’d settle for a job as a salesclerk.

“I just need a job,” she said.

Others came looking for part-time jobs.

Vanessa Kendrick of Lancaster said she was looking for a job in security to supplement her income as a jailer for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

“They’ve stopped paying overtime and my family depended on that,” she said. “Now, the county is threatening to lay off people.”

Many of those who stood in line for hours were teen-agers.

“I really need the money,” said Nicole Huber, 16, who was looking for a job as a salesclerk. “I need to help pay for my car and to help my family out.”

The expo drew applicants from Lancaster to Burbank, and some Santa Clarita Valley job-seekers complained that outsiders were trying to take jobs away from locals.

“I think they should give preference to Santa Clarita Valley residents,” said one unhappy job-seeker.

After the last job applicant was processed, organizers pronounced the event a success. Judy Bijilani, whose firm organizes shopping mall openings, said the expo “is by far the largest I’ve ever seen.”

“It exceeded our dreams,” said Marlee Lauffer, spokeswoman for Newhall Land and Farming Co., the mall’s developer.

The mall, which will open Sept. 24, will provide between 2,000 and 2,500 full- and part-time jobs when all 110 shops are open, Lauffer said.