Carlsbad Village Association Hosts First Job Fair

(Early morning hospitality table set up for the Job Fair in the parking lot of Engel & Volkers Carlsbad)

It was a busy weekend in Carlsbad Village with two events taking place simultaneously. In an effort to help downtown businesses get over their newest hurdle in the pandemic recovery - a staffing shortage - the Carlsbad Village Association (CVA) hosted its first in-person job fair. This hiring event brought together over 15 Village employers hoping to find their next best team member in the retail, restaurant, and hospitality sectors. And while the job seekers did not come out in droves, it was still a beneficial time for employers and potential applicants to meet face to face in a comfortable, outdoor environment.

As the small businesses in downtown Carlsbad continue to recover from the 18 month effect of the pandemic, they are now struggling like never before to hire and keep staff levels where they need to be. While consumers are returning to main street to shop, dine and play, workers are not returning in levels to keep up with the demand. 

“I’ve been in this industry for a long time, and I’ve never worked so hard to find qualified employees,” said one general manager of a fast-casual eatery in Carlsbad Village. “We used to turn interested applicants away because we didn’t have room for them. Now we’re just chronically short staffed and hoping people will just show up for their interviews.” Interview no-shows are more prevalent now than ever before.

To that end, CVA cannot thank you enough for continuing to support the hundreds of amazing small businesses in Carlsbad Village and shopping "local" as much as possible. It is because of you that these businesses are still with us.

On Saturday, September 25th, CVA also hosted its second blood drive of 2021 in an effort to help with the current blood shortage in San Diego County, and even nationwide. With the generous donations from this past weekend's drive, CVA's downtown blood drives have cumulatively collected 173 units of blood positively affecting the lives of 519 or more people.

We cannot thank Carlsbad Village Music enough for the use of their parking lot and for providing the volunteers and donors with live music throughout the day.

Our next Heart of Carlsbad Village Blood Drive is scheduled for Valentine's weekend - Saturday, February 12, 2022. We hope you will join us so that we can keep making a difference!