More than 3,000 people packed into the Sheraton Hotel in Dallas Thursday hoping to land a new job.
The You're Hired Job Fair brought together nine of some of the largest corporations in the country looking to fill about 4,000 seasonal and part-time positions.
"I hear the jobs are out here, I just don't know where," said Tyrone Oates, a welder who moved to Dallas several months ago to find work.
Like many people look for work, Oates wants more than a job. He wants to a make a living wage.
"I need something that's consistent and steady. I'm going to every table, and I'm putting in an application with every last one them. I just want an opportunity," he said.
Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins organized the job fair after speaking with representatives from UPS.
"They told me they needed about 1,700 workers. It's just great that we got 4,000 living-wage jobs and all these people are ready to seize the opportunity," Jenkins said.
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Charles Ala is more than ready to seize this opportunity, but at 66, finding meaningful work has been difficult.
"They ask me my graduation date from high school, and when I tell them, they hang up or they say I'm not eligible for their program and then hang up," Ala said. "It feels pretty bad. I've got a lot to offer somebody and they just don't want to hire people of my age."
With the stock market seemingly hitting all-time highs weekly and unemployment trending in the right direction, some job seekers were surprised at the sheer number of people who waited for nearly an hour to get some face-time with employers. Many did not realize so many people were in need of better jobs.
"Some of this need is coming from employers who don't want to pay a living wage. We're coming after your employees, and we're going to get them a job where they're paid a living wage," Jenkins said. "We've also got plenty of people who have a job, but they have a dead-end job. I want to get them on a path to a living wage job. We're seeing rents go up, I want to see wages go up."
Amazon, Fed-Ex, UPS and Walmart were among the companies looking for qualified applicants at Thursday's fair.
Another job fair, with hundreds of companies looking to fill positions, will be held on Nov. 9 at Gilley's in Dallas.
