Two employment-staffing firms will hold job fairs this week in Raleigh to fill more than 600 positions.
The mass-hiring efforts come as the state unemployment rate rose to 9.9 percent in June, the first increase in more than a year, and the highest level since last fall.
Manpower will hold job fairs Tuesday and Saturday at its local office at 1122 Oberlin Road to fill more than 200 customer-service positions at a call center. The contract jobs will pay about $13 an hour, and will end on a staggered basis starting in mid-December.
Kelly Services expects hundreds to turn out for its fair on Thursday and wants to fill the jobs within the next few weeks. The agency is recruiting 400 employees for two clients:
* A financial services company needs 250 people for 3-6 month contract positions in a call center. The jobs pay $13 to $20 an hour. The high end of the pay range is for supervisors.
* A health care company is filling 150 permanent technology positions, including clinical analysts, nursing analysts, clinical pharmacists, IT project managers and more. The jobs include full benefits and "above average wages."
"It means North Carolina continues to be a strong place for companies to grow," said Andrew Crawford, a Kelly Services vice president who oversees the Raleigh and Charlotte markets. He declined to identify the clients.
"Companies are turning to us, and the staffing industry in general, to make sure they can staff up and down, depending on the economy," Crawford said. "In the past year, we've really seen with more technical positions that there is still a shortage of talent. Supply hasn't been keeping up with demand."
Kelly Services will hold the job fair at the McKimmon Center at N.C. State, 1101 Gorman St., Raleigh, from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Applicants should bring resumes and dress for job interviews. Kelly Services recruiters will conduct on-site interviews and review applications.
Candidates also can email resumes to 455e@kellyservices.com.
For more information, visit Kelly Services' site here.
Manpower's job fairs are Tuesday, 4 to 7 p.m., and Saturday, 9 a.m. to Noon. For more information, call branch manager Tony Santori, 919-851-1828.
Assistant Business Editor Alan M. Wolf joined the N&O in 1999 covering the business of health care. He became an editor in 2001, and helps oversee the paper's daily business coverage and Sunday Work&Money section. He lives in Clayton with his wife and two children. Reach him at 919-829-4572 or