BINGHAMTON, NY (WIVT/WBGH) – On the national level, the amount of unemployed Americans has dropped significantly, but here locally, the demand is still prevalent.

On Friday, the Binghamton Black Bears continued a 23-year-old partnership between Broome Tioga Workforce New York and local hockey by staging a career fair at the Visions Veterans Memorial Arena.

Throughout the concourse were job seekers with resumes in hand, and employers eager to speak with them.

Every job seeker who brought a resume was also given a free ticket to that evening’s game against the Danbury Hat Tricks.

Contract specialist Rebecca Harris, says that despite what is happening nationally, local employers are still hurting after the pandemic.

Contract Specialist at Broome Tioga Workforce New York Rebecca Harris says, “We are still experiencing employers being very hungry for job seekers. That has not stopped, even though you may see numbers showing different. It’s not what we’re seeing on a daily basis at Workforce. We’re getting calls every day with employers needing more people.”

Harris expected over 100 job seekers to show up on Friday.

She says there was over 35 companies represented, including Imperium 3 New York, the DOT, Amphenol Aerospace, Guthrie, Willow Run Foods and many more.

Broome Tioga Workforce is hosting a skilled trades job fair this Thursday from 1 to 3 p.m. at their Oakdale Commons facility.