Several hundred immigrants and first-generation Danes walked away from a job fair yesterday with the promise of work Abdikariim Houssein Yacin finally saw hope. He has been out of a job for nearly four years, but as he stood amongst the hundreds of other non-ethnic Danes inside Børsen, the chances looked good.
'If I get a job, I'll be happy. Nothing special - maybe Post Danmark, Bilka, or whatever.'
Yacin hoped that the job fair at the old Danish stock exchange building would find him employment like it did for 200 others that very afternoon. The fair targeted non-ethnic Danes - those with roots in Arab, African or other Islamic countries - to help ease the high rate of unemployment within that group.
The event was sponsored by the Danish Chamber of Commerce in cooperation with the the Ministry of Integration, the Democratic Muslims, and the Association for the Integration of New Danes into the Labour Market (HTSI). All parties agreed the fair was a huge success.
'We didn't know how many people to expect, but this was fantastic,' said HTSI's Anette Overby, who conceived of the event.
The 21 employers at the job fair presented 500 vacancies, focusing primarily on unskilled labour, such as drivers, postal workers and cleaning personnel. Globally recognised companies like McDonald's were some of the biggest names at the job fair.
'The event has definitely been a success for us. We've had a lot of interest,' said David Tøttrup, who works as a human resources consultant for McDonald's.
Due to the positive results from the Børsen fair, organisers are now planning several more job fairs around the country.
Source: Jyllands Posten (English)
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