Local workforce organizations are hosting an online career fair for former employees of Fayette County Public Schools who have been laid off amid budget issues.
The city of Lexington announced on Wednesday that WORK-Lexington and the Kentucky Career Center-Bluegrass/American Job Center are partnering to host a virtual job fair for those who lost their jobs from FCPS.
In April, FCPS announced it had discovered misreported finances back to at least 2008. In response to this discovery, the district announced that it would be reducing district-level staff and work days.
Earlier this month, FCPS said the next fiscal year’s budget would be $880 million and the district would take a $110 million loan to make up for the shortfall. The district eliminated 120 positions, which it estimates will save $11 million in its budget.
Miranda Scully, spokesperson for FCPS, said community partners reached out to see if they could help after the reductions were announced.
The virtual job fair will be on June 17 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Rolando Thacker is the business service manager with Bluegrass Area Development District.
“We just wanted to have an opportunity to have an event for individuals that are being impacted by layoffs that we can accommodate them where they don't have to travel to a certain location,” Thacker said. “They can just do it from the comfort of their home or the computer or wherever they may be at.”
Thacker is coordinating the event. He said the platform being used for this event has attendees create profiles with their resumes which allows businesses to see who’s in attendance and what skills they have. Businesses will have virtual booths that attendees can join and learn about the opportunities there.
Since the planning for this event just started, Thacker said he’s not sure what business will be there, but if groups want to participate, they can apply online or reach out to him via his email – rthacker@bgadd.org – and he will send them the registration link.
“There's plenty of employers out there to offer unique positions, so anyone who wants to participate, they're more than welcome to,” Thacker said.
WORK-Lexington is a city initiative to provide resources and referrals to people looking for employment. City of Lexington Director of Business Engagement Amy Glasscock said the event is virtual to allow for employers from across the state to meet with the laid-off employees.
“We're hoping that employers will look at that list and identify, based on those positions, that they would be a good fit for their company, and sign up based on those positions,” Glasscock said.
She said employers who might get these people to join their companies are hard working and they are a part of the area’s community,
“We want to make sure that we take care of them and that we help them the best we can through the process,” Glasscock said.
There’s no deadline for participants to register.
