BOISE, Idaho — The Idaho Department of Labor held its Caldwell spring job fair today to connect recruiters with potential employees.
"We can help with resumes, and we can help with mock interviews to get them better prepared to get back out there again," said Traci Petitt, Workforce Consultant, with the Idaho Department of Labor.
Over the past few months, Idaho's unemployment rate has been at 2.6%, roughly the same since March 2022 and lower than the current nationwide rate, which is the lowest that's been in more than 50 years.
In addition to construction season getting ready to ramp up, the Department of Labor tells the Idaho News 6 team that registered nurses, retail salespersons, and management positions are seeking the highest demand.
"I think this job fair is really going to benefit me by getting my feelers out there and see what is available, and that's the biggest reason I came here," said Mark Wortman, currently searching for a new job.
Many recruiters mentioned how difficult it was to keep employees, which is why start-up company Federated Ordnance, based out of Caldwell, said in its effort to become the employer of choice they are changing what a typical work week would look like.
"We are going to have a three-day work week, so your work week will be 36 hrs long; with four days off. We are going to run a 24-hour schedule, but it will only be six days a week, so everybody has Sunday off," said Thomas Gearrey, Production Manager for Federated Ordnance.
Although retention is a big problem across different industries, Canyon County tells me they have made changes to attract and keep employees.
"Within the last year, we have actually modified our salary structure, and we have a better retention rate of the great employees who work there. So the number of open positions has gone down a bit," said Kate Rice, the Human Resources Director for Canyon County.
Right now the top two counties with the most job openings are Ada and Canyon Counties but Ada County has five times the number of openings of Canyon County.
