Valley residents hope for employment
CALEXICO — The creation of jobs in the Imperial Valley speeds up in the last months of the year when the economy’s expectations increase with the upcoming sales of Thanksgiving and Christmas.
The urgent need for work came to light with the recent employment fair at the Gran Plaza shopping center, where young people, professionals and those with years of work experience sought an opportunity regardless of their city of residence.
Although the offer of employment is temporary, applicants do not care about the time, much less where they are accommodated. Everyone wants a place, but not everyone will have good fortune.
Gerardo Salas is a young professional, who for the second time attended the job fair and had no luck.
He said that since May of last year, his contract as a teacher had been terminated and to date he has not been able to get a job.
“I have looked for work everywhere, and they have not given it to me. I have even gone to the field to work but it is heavy. The truth is that this time I cannot find a job. I’m going to have to move from the Imperial Valley. I’m going to have to go to San Diego, but I have faith that this time I will grab something,” he said.
“I also want to work in a store because I do not have experience and it’s important for my resume because they ask for experience when you ask for work in something other than my profession,” he said.
Mario Biben, an accountant by profession and father of two children, is the reflection of many residents who come to the Imperial Valley to look for better opportunities, but face another reality.
“I have been migrating for two months, and I have not found work in my profession, just in the (field), and I’m looking for a better opportunity, a less heavy work,” he explained.
Also, seniors who are still able to work compete with hundreds of younger people who seek the same type of employment.
That is the case of Guill- ermo Torres, a graduate in business administration and computer technician in Mexico, but hasn’t found a job in the U.S. in two years because of his limited English.
He filled more than 20 job applications in stores that had available vacancies.
Dressed to impress was Viviana Martinez, a young woman originally from El Centro, who is currently studying to be a medical assistant.
The young student commented that only the agriculture fields have given her the opportunity to be employed in the Imperial Valley, since employment is limited.
Being an only daughter and with her sick mother, she has managed to remain the breadwinner of the family, to the extent that she had to leave her studies to miss only one semester and move to Los Angeles, where she was working in an office. Despite her challenges, she decided to return to finish her studies.
“Right now I’m looking for a job because I want to go back to school, because I earn money to transport me to school, books and all that, plus the expenses that are generated in my house,” she said. “I really wish they would give me the opportunity because in the field it is heavy. When I worked as a day laborer it was at night, I arrived in the morning, I slept for a while and in the afternoon to school. I was working on celery, and seasonally there is not always work, so I would like something more stable.”
Carlos López, liaison supervisor of the employers and the employment department at One Stop, said the job fairs are in great demand.
About 20 stores joined the job fair. López estimated that each store requires between 20 and 30 employees.
“We received many calls to One Stop because for a month we were promoting the fair. We gave applications. We also helped them fill out the application, how to make a resume, to modify it,” he said.
López estimated that more than 400 people attended the job fair.