Thousands line up for CNE job fair amid high youth unemployment rates
CNE received over 50K online applications for a job at the summer fair
Growing up, Edson Segawa thought it would be easier to get a summer job.
"Looking at movies and stuff, how easy, you just go in and get a job. It's more like they were complaining about having a job, but now it's all I want," he said.
Segawa is one of thousands of young people who lined up at the Enercare Centre on Wednesday for a chance to get a seasonal job at the Canadian National Exhibition.
The CNE says it has received 54,000 online applications to work at the fair this summer – a record that reflects the current labour market.
First-quarter data from Statistics Canada says that, apart from the pandemic, Canadian graduates between the ages of 15 and 24 are facing the highest unemployment rate this country has seen since the mid-1990s.
Students, young graduates hit hardest in today's job market
Viet Vu, the manager of economic research at Toronto Metropolitan University's Dais, says youth unemployment is up because the job market has cooled over the last several months, due to fewer businesses hiring and the disruptions in trade with the United States.
Vu says a lot of young people who are looking for their first job after graduation and students who are looking for summer jobs are hit especially hard in a difficult job market.
Every year, CNE hosts the job fair to recruit people for more than 5,000 positions, including cashiers, retail associates, game attendants, food service staff, midway operators, and informational guides.
Mathushanth Premachandran arrived at Enercare Centre at 7:30 a.m., almost four hours before the fair started. This is his second year at the job fair, and he says he was surprised to see the high number of people lined up.
"I was here last year, and I was one of the first few people here, so I expected the same thing to happen this year, but there's a longer line than last year," Premachandran said.
He says the job fair is a great opportunity for the youth who are struggling to find jobs.
"Every place asks for experience, but how are you supposed to get experience if you don't have any yet?"
Young people view CNE as 'incredible' job opportunity: CEO
Joel Hiruy also arrived hours before the job fair to get a higher chance of being at the front of the line.
"It hasn't been that easy to get a job," he said. "I thought it would be really simple, just go in and get hired, but that's not really the case."
That feeling is seconded by Marcus Seepersaud, who says he has been to 10 interviews this summer but just can't land a job.
"I feel like it's the hardest it has been. Last year it was a little easier," said Seepersaud.
The CNE's CEO Mark Holland says the job fair turnout shows "how many young people understand that this is an incredible opportunity as a first job."
"There's huge demand and let's be straight, right now, for young people, is a tough environment to look for a first job, but we're here as a big part of that solution," said Holland.
He says the CNE is looking for people with a great attitude to fill the open positions.
"We're looking for that joy and energy because that's what the CNE is, this is what the fair is. It is a place of joy, so we want people who will bring that spirit."
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With files from Lane Harrison, Vyusti Magan Shroff and The Canadian Press