At govt’s job fair, over 14k register for 5,500 vacancies

Panaji: The state labour and employment department has been inundated with registrations for the mega job fair, prompting authorities to increase the duration of the event by one day. According to the department, over 14,000 candidates are vying for 5,500 job vacancies. The number of candidates is expected to increase further.
In September, the unemployment rate for Goa was estimated at 10.9% and according to the government, there are around 1.4 lakh registered candidates on the Goa Employment Exchange looking for gainful employment.
The job fair will commence at 9am at the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee indoor stadium on Tuesday and will end on Wednesday at 5pm. A total of 155 companies will hold recruitment drives at the venue. “The event was planned for one day but the demand was so high that we were compelled to increase the duration,” said labour and employment commissioner Raju Gawas.
“Companies will be conducting interviews directly and we have requested some to extend the offer letters at the event itself, if possible.”
Some of the broad sectors that are recruiting are IT, pharmaceutical, tourism and hospitality, logistics, automobiles, healthcare, banking and finance, insurance, manufacturing, sales, marketing, aviation, and cruise liners.
In order to streamline the recruitment process, registered candidates will be randomly assigned slots on either of the two days.
“Planning to segregate the job seekers into four slots over the two days. The slots will be at random and not based on locality. The candidate has to prove his/her potential and then it is up to the company concerned to make a selection,” said Gawas.
He also announced that spot registrations will be available for candidates who have yet to register.
From the hospitality sector there are 36 resorts that are looking to hire staff. Employers participating are Princess, Costa Cruises, P&O Cruises, Carnival Cruises, IHCL, Grand Hyatt, Holiday Inn, Club Mahindra, Marriott, SpiceJet, Siemens, Codemax, Geno Pharmaceutical Pvt Ltd, Kenilworth Resorts & Spa, Godrej, CMM, Karma Group, KIA, GoaMiles, Novotel, Jubilant Motor Works Pvt Ltd, amongs others.
The labour and employment department has arranged for a free Kadamba bus service from Goa Medical College, Bambolim, to the stadium for the convenience of job-seekers.