WAUPACA, Wis. — The pandemic has changed a lot about workplaces around Wisconsin — including how they recruit.

In-person job fairs went out the window about a year ago, other creative ways to hold these events have cropped up in their place.

One of the latest incarnations is a Click Thru Job Fair hosted by seven of the state’s 11 workforce development boards Wednesday. It builds on a pair of Drive Thru job fairs held this summer.

“We have collected 75 recruitment flyers from 75 different companies,” said Bobbi Miller, the business solutions manager with the Fox Valley Workforce Development Board. ”We have bundled those into a PDF and starting Wednesday morning that will be available on our website.”  

Seven other boards — from Racine and Kenosha to Ashland and Madison — are doing the same thing.

“We still have a very tight labor market and we are hearing this from our companies we’re working with,” Miller said. ”When we put out this announcement about this click thru job fair, we sold out in just a few days. Companies are still trying to find the talent they need.”

That includes Waupaca Foundry which is looking for about 50 people ranging from mechanical and electrical maintenance to general labor.

“The biggest thing we’re really looking for right now is your general production,” said Brian Kaminske, Waupaca Foundry’s Plant 2 and 3 Human Resource Manager. “When I say general production it’s really coming in and having the ability to work hard, the ability and the willingness to learn and the willingness to be dependable. Those are the types of general manufacturing jobs, mill room jobs, machine operator jobs we have.“

He hopes the job fair generates solid leads.

“I would love to get 10 hires out of it. And better yet, get some word of mouth to get some others talking and feed us into the future,” he said. “If I had my magic wish button, that’s what I’d get.”