According to the latest data from the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, the state's unemployment rate is 2.8%. But the rate is slightly higher in Leon County, at 3.1%.
One state agency is looking to get more people employed by connecting applicants with employers face to face. The Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation hosted its first job fair in Tallahassee in hopes to fill 100 job openings.
Secretary of Florida DBPR Melanie Griffin said its been challenging trying to find qualified applicants. "It's not just the vacancies, but the limited number of applications that we we're receiving. So we used to get dozens per position, now maybe you're only getting one to three and those may be re-applicants or, for whatever reason, someone who wasn't the best fit for that role," said Griffin.
Florida DBPR is in charge of licensing and regulating businesses and professionals, such as cosmetologists and real estate agents. It also protects people from individuals who aren't licensed.
Griffin said hiring more people can help prevent these things from happening. "They want to do the best job they can for the people that we serve and when you don't have enough people on the team, it starts to get really tough to do that and so just hearing them say that they're hopeful makes me jazzed that they're so excited about this turnout," said Griffin.
Brooklynne Wright has been looking for a job in Tallahassee for about three months. She is coming out of the Marine Corps and is looking for a stable job. "I'm also looking forward to being a civilian and moving forward with life and making a more secure decision for my family," said Wright.
Wright was one of the hundreds of applicants that came to the job fair today. After her interview, she was hired on the spot as an IT Professional. "I feel great. It's awesome that I am getting out of the Marine Corps and I'm moving into another government job."
Griffin hopes that more people like Wright will be able to join their team soon. She said they'll take the next few weeks to process the applicants that came out today.
There were so many applicants today, that they had to turn some job seekers away. However, people can still apply to any openings on Florida DBPR's website.
They currently have 300 job openings statewide for anything from entry level to executive positions starting at $15/hour.
