THOUSAND OAKS : Job Faire at Oaks Mall Has Small Turnout

Mimi Dahle, a Santa Claus photo concessionaire, swept into The Oaks mall Monday to hire a troop of five bearded men, but found the early season’s pickings a bit thin.

“Where are all of Santa’s helpers this year?” asked Dahle, whose Santa Clauses pose with starry-eyed children in the mall each year.

She was not alone.

Anticipating a bustling holiday season, shopkeepers at the Thousand Oaks mall plan to hire twice as many temporary employees--nearly 700--as they did last year.

Yet the mall’s eighth annual Job Faire drew only about half as many applicants on its first day this year as it did last year. Most were Thousand Oaks-area youths.

“It could be that more people are already working,” said Dolores Brum, a representative with the state Employment Development Department.

Held Monday and today and again on Nov. 21-22, the job fair is an attempt to match employees with jobs at about 100 shops and department stores at the mall.

Last year, fair organizers filled 348 jobs.

This year, employers hope to fill at least 687, including those for sales clerks, cashiers, food-service workers and gift wrappers.

“It was really amazing how fast I got the job,” said Veronica Malanche, 17, a senior at Newbury Park High School. She had marched up to a reception table for an application, completed it and was hired on the spot by United Artists Theatre.

Stacey Skala, 17, was hired just as quickly.

“Every Christmas, my mom puts me in charge of wrapping gifts,” Stacey said with amusement. Now she will get paid for it.

Doug Martin, a J.C. Penney personnel manager who hired Stacey, said his firm is seeking about 120 temporary employees, compared to about 60 last year.

He attributed the increase in job demand to the Jan. 17 earthquake that closed some San Fernando Valley stores, including J.C. Penney in North Hollywood. Many displaced shoppers may now come to the easily accessible Oaks mall.

Dahle, meanwhile, was having better luck in finding her Santa.

Sam Wolfe, 41, of Simi Valley was filling out an application for one of the five positions Dahle was offering.

“I’ve always adored Santa so I wanted to be him,” Wolfe said. “Ho, ho, ho.”