Suburban Employers Seek Urban Workers; Job Fair Matches Supply, Demand
So many job seekers are like Myra Walker, living in the city without a car. So many employers are like Frank Hearl Jr. of the Dulles Airport Marriott, based in a suburb where nearly everybody already has a job.</br></br>A job fair yesterday in the Reeves Center, at 14th and U streets NW, brought together people like Walker and Hearl in an attempt to solve a problem faced by the region for decades: Most new jobs are in the suburbs, while most of the unemployed are in the city.</br></br>More than 650 applicants from the city, where unemployment is 6 percent, showed up for about 500 jobs in the Dulles corridor, where unemployment is less than 1.5 percent.</br></br>Putting city job seekers in touch with suburban recruiters was only part of the plan, since even when District residents know of work outside the Capital Beltway, many have no way of getting there. So the job fair was timed to coincide with Monday's start of a Metro bus route between L'Enfant Plaza and Dulles International Airport. The buses are to run hourly from 5:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., seven days a week, with fares of $1.10 each way.</br></br>"I just felt like it was a blessing," said Walker, 38, who lives in Petworth and was looking for a customer service position. "If the jobs are in Virginia, it's a good thing they come here to recruit."