SANTA CRUZ — Whether you want to work in tech or health care, manufacturing or sales, jobs in each of those categories will be available at the Access2Employment job fair 4:30-7 p.m. Thursday at the Cocoanut Grove, 400 Beach St.
About 35 recruiters will compete for talent at a time when the state reported July unemployment in Santa Cruz County was 4.2 percent — the lowest for this month in 18 years — with 116,500 jobs and only 6,200 people out of work.
It’s a big turnaround from 2009 when only 16 employers signed up in the wake of the economic collapse.
Coming from Scotts Valley are Threshold Enterprises, which has nearly 700 employees and 65 openings, Expertech Technologies, which manufactures thermal reactor systems and Bay Photo, which is looking for a human resources director and has Monday-Friday job openings in shipping, warehouse and shrink wrapping.
Big Creek Lumber has openings for a contractor salesperson, accounts payable clerk and an entry-level sawmill production position.
Performance Food Service Ledyard in Santa Cruz has openings for account representative, forklift operator and night warehouse worker.
Central California Alliance for Health, a nonprofit health plan with 350,000 members and 500 employees in three counties, has 20 openings, some in analytics and finance and others requiring as a registered nurse’s license.
Sutter Health and Palo Alto Medical Foundation list three dozen jobs in Santa Cruz County on their website, including five for medical assistants and two for patient service representatives.
Goodwill Central Coast has 20 positions, nine at the newly expanded Capitola store, and the others in Scotts Valley, Santa Cruz and Watsonville. Hope Services has retail positions open in Watsonville.
Recruiting agencies Employnet, Santa Cruz Staffing and Manpower will be on hand, and so will Senior Talent Career Service, a group to help professionals age 50 and older in their job search.
Employnet, based in Aptos, is offering video interviewing to expedite hiring for clients who have openings for admin, clerical and human resources positions, servers and forklift operators.
Job seekers who register in advance online at access2employment.com/ will get free tips for job hunting and be entered in a raffle to win a prize.