AN upcoming job fair is 'even more important' in the wake of economic uncertainty caused by the pandemic.

A jobs fair in Cumbria next month is 'particularly important' in the wake of redundancies and economic uncertainty caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

That’s the message from Leigh Williams, who is organising the online event on behalf of The Building Better Opportunities Getting Cumbria to Work (BBO GCtW) project.

The BBO GCtW project supports people in the Barrow and South Lakes area aged 18 and above, who are either unemployed or economically inactive and are furthest removed from the labour market

Ms Williams said: “The jobs fairs are something we do for participants and potential participants on the BBO GCtW project, but we are also opening the doors wide to the whole community in recognition of the significant state of redundancies and potential redundancies locally following the pandemic.

“Usually the fairs are held in a physical location but this year’s event will be held online.”

Companies attending the jobs fair will include representatives from the retail, marketing, health and social care and building trade sectors.

There will also be organisations which help put employers with vacancies in touch with potential recruits, including All Together Cumbria, which supports clients with resourcing challenges by identifying, attracting, recruiting, redeploying and retraining local people and St John’s Staff Hire, which supplies staff of all natures to businesses in the hospitality, retail and care sectors.

Ms Williams addeD: “The online jobs fair is a way to find out about a variety of employment and training opportunities for anyone who is interested in changing careers or anyone who is unemployed or training and wanting additional support, advice or information.

“It will be useful for anyone who is furloughed and anyone who is at risk of redundancy or who has been made redundant. It will be an ideal opportunity for them to come along and find out about different sectors.”

The jobs fair is on Wednesday, October 21. There will be two separate sessions – from 10.15am to11.15am and from 11.30am to 12.30pm. To book your place, visit www.trybooking.co.uk/ttd or call 0300 111 4002.