SOUTH DEERFIELD — Jeffrey Smith is a chimney sweep.
He still sweeps chimneys part-time for now, just to make ends meet. He injured his muscles going up and down ladders after decades on the job at his family’s business, and now like many area residents he finds himself looking for work.
Fortunately for him and other area job-seekers, it’s not a bad time to seek work in the region. Unemployment is down and area temporary employment agencies often have more jobs to fill than qualified applicants, according to representatives from those agencies and the Franklin Hampshire Career Center.
“Right now we have an influx of businesses looking for employees and not as many people looking for work,” said Meighan Williams, client services manager at employment agency Reliable Temps Inc., which has offices in Greenfield and Agawam.
She said that sometimes an unemployment check and available social services are greater than the hourly pay and benefits that businesses offer.
Unemployment checks typically come for 30 weeks, and competition for jobs is still steadily decreasing. Since 2013, unemployment in the area has been declining from 5.7 percent and is now down to 4.2 percent, said Teri Anderson, executive director of the Franklin Hampshire Career Center, which has an office at 178 Industrial Drive in Northampton. Her organization helps build bridges between people who are unemployed and companies looking to hire.
“Our experience is, even though people are on unemployment, they want to be working,” said Anderson.
Her organization works to match job-seekers with area employers. The center also provides a variety of financial incentives for businesses to hire unemployed workers.
“The job market is not as tight as it used to be before the Great Recession,” said Anderson.
That’s good news for those who attended a career fair Wednesday at Frontier Regional School. People of all ages, skill sets and backgrounds came ready with resumes in hand, eager to meet with employers for interviews.
The Franklin Hampshire Career Center sponsored the fair. About 42 employers showed up and there was no shortage of job-seekers. Some of the unemployed people had lost their businesses, some had gotten laid off, but everyone was looking for a fresh start.
“It’s going better than I expected. Most places seem to have immediate openings, which is great. There is a lot to choose from,” said Smith, the chimney sweep. He sat at a picnic table in the back of the career fair filling out job applications on Wednesday.
He is looking at machining companies, something less strenuous than chimney sweeping and repair work. “My body has had enough,” he said. After a year of physical therapy his doctors told him to start looking for a new job.
Employers from construction, recreation and health care industries were also at the career fair.
“We try to find something for everyone,” said Ann Deres, business services supervisor at the Franklin Hampshire Career Center.
As far as actually getting work, that depends on how motivated the job-seekers are, said Shannon Bordeaux, a staffing specialist at Reliable Temps Inc., the temporary employment agency that mostly works to fill manufacturing and clerical jobs. Her company rarely turns people away.
Bordeaux said that sometimes the phone at the employment agency rings all day, but it varies from day to day. Her advice to job-seekers is to “have a resume in hand, be presentable, personable and professional.”