![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/JobMarket_CareerFairEvent_WorkforceSolutions_VeteransMilitaryServiceEmployment_08_11.13.2025_AmberEs.jpeg\")
Jobseekers flocked to Port San Antonio and Workforce Solutions Alamo\u2019s recent career fair at Tech Port\u2019s Boeing Center on Thursday. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\nUnemployment increased in Bexar County, but experts say San Antonio\u2019s health care, manufacturing and logistics sectors are still growing.<\/p>\n
Bexar County\u2019s unemployment rate grew slightly over the summer, rising from 3.8% in May and June to 4.4% in July. <\/p>\n
Because of the 43-day federal government shutdown that ended on Thursday, there is little data available for the fall.<\/p>\n
Many jobseekers in the city are sifting through the economic uncertainty and looking for stable, long-term career opportunities. This is what attracted Kyle Keilmann to a recent in-person recruiting event hosted by Goodwill.<\/p>\n
\u201cI need something to get into career-wise. If you\u2019re not really years into something, it\u2019s hard to get in, hard to get entry-level [positions],\u201d Keilmann said at the Mega Job Fair in September.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Some job hunters already have employment, but are worried about how an uncertain economy will affect their current positions. Claudia Hernandez attended the Red, White and You job fair Thursday put on by Workforce Solutions Alamo. <\/p>\n
She has a job at Navistar, she said, but she wanted to be ready to pivot, just in case.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything right now, anywhere you go, it\u2019s not stable,\u201d Hernandez said.<\/p>\n
Carlos Contreras, president of Goodwill of San Antonio and chair of the Community Advisory Council for the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, said shifting federal policies, cuts to the government\u2019s workforce and the impact of tariffs and immigration enforcement are all factors affecting the job market.<\/p>\n
Jobseekers flocked to Port San Antonio and Workforce Solutions Alamo\u2019s recent career fair at Tech Port\u2019s Boeing Center on Thursday. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we are seeing, it\u2019s a mirror of what\u2019s happening across the community,\u201d Contreras said. \u201cThere\u2019s an uptick of unemployment, there\u2019s a slowing of job growth.\u201d<\/p>\n
He says that\u2019s why many employers are in a \u201cno-hire, but no-fire mode\u201d as they wait to see what\u2019s going to happen at the federal level.<\/p>\n
Information Technology, or IT, jobs have been some of the hardest hit. According to the City of San Antonio\u2019s Workforce Development Director, Mike Ramsey, jobs in the IT sector have declined by 3.5% compared to last year.<\/p>\n
San Antonio is still growing, just not as quickly, experts say.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs our region grows, more jobs are being added and filled, which has strengthened our workforce,\u201d Ramsey said in an email.<\/p>\n
Contreras said that while the economy may be slowing, it\u2019s not in a recession. In other words, it\u2019s not shrinking. Certain industries are still looking for workers.<\/p>\n
San Antonio employers are hiring hundreds of workers<\/p>\n
Richard Delgado Jr., Boeing\u2019s senior community investor in San Antonio, was busy talking to jobseekers at Workforce Solutions Alamo\u2019s veteran job fair this week. <\/p>\n
The aerospace company, which operates a facility at Port San Antonio, has almost 400 open positions and is seeking mechanics and engineers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have plenty of positions and the Boeing Company, we\u2019re continuing to grow in San Antonio,\u201d he said. \u201cWe tend to lean in and keep talent grown in San Antonio in San Antonio.\u201d<\/p>\n
Delgado said Boeing can look beyond the national economy because it sells planes to global customers. The company has long-term contracts it has to fill, he added.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/JobMarket_CareerFairEvent_WorkforceSolutions_VeteransMilitaryServiceEmployment_03_11.13.2025_AmberEs.jpeg\")
Career fair attendees write down their contact information for potential employers at a hiring event on Thursday. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n
Workforce Solutions Alamo\u2019s CEO Adrian Lopez oversees the regional job network\u2019s efforts to help people get hired. He said health care, manufacturing and construction jobs are still in high demand.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are definitely jobs that have been created year over year,\u201d he said. \u201cThose industries are still strong.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tony Carrizales, who works for Christus Health on hiring and talent acquisition in the region, said the health care provider is looking to fill patient-facing roles, like nurses and other medical positions, but is also hiring cafeteria workers and security officers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe haven\u2019t slowed down at all, we\u2019re continuing to expand,\u201d Carrizales said. \u201cNothing has slowed down for us. If anything, it has intensified. We are getting a lot of people looking for administrative functions.\u201d<\/p>\n
In-person recruiting events were important for filling those roles, he added, surveying a job fair full of tables and resumes and bustling with hirers and inquirers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Recruiters say meeting someone face to face allows them to better understand a person. <\/p>\n
Christus Health can teach job skills, Carrizales said, but can\u2019t teach soft skills or cultural fit. \u201cIf they don\u2019t fit our culture, their qualifications are almost irrelevant,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Trying to ignite the in-person spark<\/p>\n
Would-be workers like Daniel Mu\u00f1oz are also looking for that cultural fit at in-person events. Mu\u00f1oz worked in data management and logistics, but was recently laid off. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s been 20 years since his last job search, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything seems to be over the internet,\u201d he said, adding that he came to the in-person event on Thursday because \u201cthere\u2019s more of a personal connection.\u201d<\/p>\n
Janelle Layden was looking for a similar connection at Goodwill\u2019s career fair in September. She works as a caregiver, but had seen her hours reduced recently and wanted something more stable. <\/p>\n
Layden said she had 140 applications out in September. <\/p>\n
\u201cCan I just get my foot in the door and show you who I am?\u201d Layden said.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/JobMarket_CareerFairEvent_WorkforceSolutions_VeteransMilitaryServiceEmployment_06_11.13.2025_AmberEs.jpeg\")
Dozens of recruiters met with jobseekers Thursday at Port San Antonio and Workforce Solutions Alamo\u2019s job fair. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n
Workforce Solutions Alamo usually draws between 700 to 1,000 prospective employees to its Red, White and You job fair. This year, it moved the event to the Boeing Center at Port San Antonio and projected 1,200 to 1,500 attendees. Goodwill\u2019s Mega Job Fair in September saw a similar boost in attendance. The event usually draws 300 to 500 people. This year\u2019s had around 700.<\/p>\n
Connecting people with opportunities<\/p>\n
Contreras acknowledged that there can be gaps between roles that companies are hiring for and the qualifications of many applicants.<\/p>\n
Workforce Solutions Alamo<\/a> and Goodwill<\/a> both have resources online and in-person career centers where people can get training or jobseeking assistance. They both collaborate with Ready to Work<\/a>, the City of San Antonio\u2019s employment program. <\/p>\n Resources include help with skill building, getting certifications or degrees in technical fields. Sometimes, though, simple resume and interview training do the trick, Lopez said. Some people just need a better opportunity to market themselves.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople here in this region, they have a skillset,\u201d Lopez said. \u201cLet\u2019s apply those skills and those competencies to those job applications.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Unemployment increased in Bexar County, but experts say San Antonio\u2019s health care, manufacturing and logistics sectors are still…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":383794,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5133],"tags":[183387,5229,7288,18819,183388,67569,5189,1597,29408,183389,1142,420,13660,748,7202,183390,7203,358,183391,7453,3187,766,67,586,132,5230,68,2969,7594,7987,183392],"class_list":{"0":"post-383793","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-antonio","8":"tag-adrian-lopez","9":"tag-america","10":"tag-bexar-county","11":"tag-boeing","12":"tag-carlos-contreras","13":"tag-christus-health","14":"tag-economic-uncertainty","15":"tag-federal-reserve","16":"tag-goodwill","17":"tag-goodwill-san-antonio","18":"tag-healthcare","19":"tag-jobs","20":"tag-logistics","21":"tag-manufacturing","22":"tag-san-antonio","23":"tag-san-antonio-jobs","24":"tag-sanantonio","25":"tag-texas","26":"tag-tony-carrizales","27":"tag-top-story","28":"tag-tx","29":"tag-unemployment","30":"tag-united-states","31":"tag-united-states-of-america","32":"tag-unitedstates","33":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","34":"tag-us","35":"tag-usa","36":"tag-wc-1000-1500","37":"tag-workforce","38":"tag-workforce-solutions-alamo"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115561492806939032","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383793","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=383793"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383793\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/383794"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=383793"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=383793"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=383793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}