With a struggling economy and the ongoing recovery from the COVID shutdown, communities continue to struggle to fill high demand jobs.
In June, Iowa Workforce Development’s Labor Market (LMI) Division reported the top job postings in the state are for healthcare professionals. Nurses topped the list with 3,200 positions open. The three highest employers with those needs were the University of Iowa, Trinity Health and UnityPoint Health.
New IowaWORKS Operations Manager Rick Ernst, in Davenport, strives to connect job seekers to those high demand occupations. The state provides support to local employers through targeted events and strategic outreach.
“We stay current with hiring trends and using data to help employers recruit people for high demand jobs,” Ernst said. “Our goal is to have focused events to assist our local employers to fill those jobs. Healthcare positions continue to be a struggle.”
To help meet the growing demand in the healthcare industry, IowaWORKS will host its first Healthcare Expo on Friday, July 19, from 1-5:30 p.m. at NorthPark Mall, 320 W. Kimberly Road, Davenport. The event will have local resources, information on career and educational opportunities in the medical field, and a hiring event on site.
The event will allow job seekers to interact with healthcare providers and educators to learn about qualifications needed to enter the medical field for positions such as nurses, physical therapists, surgical techs, physician assistants and more.
Last month, IowaWORKS held its first targeted event to help area schools. Positions schools are struggling to fill include teachers, substitute teachers, para-professionals, custodians and cafeteria staff.
“Our goal is to have these events annually to focus on occupations employers struggle to fill,” Ernst said.
IowaWORKS is gearing up for its 7th Annual Quad Cities Success Fair. The event has attracted hundreds of job seekers in the bi-state area. More than 80 employers from different sectors such as manufacturing, retail, technology, healthcare, law enforcement and more, gather under one roof to bring in applicants with diverse backgrounds.
This year, the Quad Cities Success Fair is on Wednesday, Aug. 14 from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. at NorthPark Mall, by the Von Maur entrance.
If your business is looking to hire employees, you can still register for the events by calling (563) 445-3200 Ext. 3.
Martha Garcia is a business engagement consultant for Iowa Workforce Development in Davenport. She can be reached at [email protected].
