1,500 Jobs for 700 Job Seekers!

The year-long COVID pandemic has not only robbed people of time with loved ones, it has also boosted the unemployment rate to 7.2 per cent. February saw the highest levels since 2004, at the height of SARS.

On 25 March, Christian Action revived our annual Job Fair at the Kwun Tong Community Centre. We offered 1,500 part-time and full time positions in restaurants, logistics, retail, aesthetics, healthcare and more. Salaries were as high as HK$25,000 for full-time and HK$95/hour for part-time employees! We welcomed those with a Primary Six-or-above education. Over 15 organisations conducted on-site interviews and recruitment. More than a few visitors who found jobs on the spot went home smiling!

We spoke with 27-year-old Yaki. She has a Form-Six education and has been unemployed for over a week. While she is focused on the restaurant and retail industries, she told us she came to the Job Fair to explore more options and perhaps expand her horizons. We wished her the best of luck!

Lee, aged about 50, hoped her Form-Five education and experience in accounting would land her a part-time office role, such as data entry. May God bless her path ahead.

Chris, 23, had just graduated from university. He wanted client-facing experience in the retail and food & beverage industries.

The Job Fair also offered employment training. There were talks on Traditional Chinese Medicine and innovative social enterprises, such as a leather-making workshop, and mock online job interviews.

We were particularly excited about this Job Fair because COVID forced us to cancel both events last year. To ensure everyone remained free of covid this year, we did our best to limit the flow of visitors with a pre-registration system.

As a result, a whopping 700 people came to the Job Fair, and 500 resumes were collected. We must thank the Kwun Tong and Wong Tai Sin district Councilors, who have helped spread the word to their jurisdictions. It helped attract the unemployed, young adults, those who were laid off during the pandemic; working parents hoping to again join society; and employees who suffered salary cuts. The Job Fair was truly a great success.

I wish you all the best as you look for a job. May the Lord guide you every step of the way!