State hosting virtual women and women Veterans career fair May 10
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- With the state reporting women in the workforce are at a 34-year low due to the pandemic, the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment is hosting a virtual career fair to help women.
"That's been the biggest loss in our public square is women, especially during the pandemic," said Kathy Ford with the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment.
According to national figures, 1.1 million women left the workforce from February 2020 to January 2022, which accounts for 63%of all jobs lost.
"Whenever schools closed women have to go home and take care of the children, which is good because children need that attention, but it takes away that income from the home. You know when a family is used to that second income it’s going to be devastating to that family," said Ford
Tuesday, the CDLE is hosting a job fair geared towards women and women veterans. The state says it wants to provide Colorado women access to employers, financial strategies, and mental health resources.
"We do always want to try and help the underserved and sometimes women just don’t come out and say 'I need assistance' because of course we think we know it all and can do it all and sometimes we do but sometimes we need a little bit of help," said Monica Grand, a veteran employment specialist.
They'll officer help whether that is back to the office or working from home.
"Most of the time women are leaving the workforce 2 and 3 times faster than men and now with the COVID some of them aren’t willing to come back into the office. They want to work from home because they have their children, family members to take care of, so we’re trying to assist them in whatever their employment endeavors are," said Grand.
While the job fair is geared to women, organizers say anyone can attend.
Participating employers include, but are not limited to:
- Amazon
- Birdon
- Colorado Department of Transportation
- Denver Public Schools
- Los Alamos National Labs
- Pearl PIN Sourcing
- RK Mechanical
- Wilber-Ellis Company
The Women and Women Veterans Career Fair begins at 10 a.m. and runs until 3 p.m.
