Manufacturing employers seek workers

Unemployment in the Kalamazoo and Portage labor market (which for state reporting purposes includes Van Buren County) dropped 8.5 percent from October 2013 to  November 2013, the most recent figures available.
 

That means about 10,800 workers remain unemployed. They might be encouraged to know manufacturers in Southwest Michigan are adding jobs.

 

Michigan WORKS! will host a career fair in late January. The way it works is those who attend Tuesday, Jan. 28 in Kalamazoo and complete the first day's activities will receive a ticket to attend the career fair, Wednesday, Jan. 29.

 

The first day's activities are intended to prepare attendees for the manufacturing career fair that will take place on the second day.  Day one will include information on the skills manufacturing employers are looking for, job preview, resume critique, and mock interviews.

 

Some participating employers are American Axle, Fabri-Kal, Humphrey Products, Janesville Acoustics, Stryker, Pfizer, and many others. 

 

Job seekers interested in attending must pre-register and can do so at either the Kalamazoo Michigan WORKS! Service Center located at 1601 S. Burdick or Three Rivers Michigan WORKS! located at 16587 Enterprise Drive.  The deadline to register the event is 5 p.m., Friday, Jan. 24.

 

Employers are seeking workers to fill all levels of open positions in the manufacturing industry. Customer service, logistics, machinists, warehouse, engineers, are some of the types of  jobs available. 

 

"What an exciting time to be in manufacturing," says Jan Opalewski, Human Resources manager at Fabri-Kal. "With the advancements in technology, manufacturing has become a career path giving employees ongoing opportunities to learn and grow."