Prince George's County public schools will hold a virtual job fair June 12 to hire teachers and other staff as they try to meet a need that existed before the coronavirus pandemic.
The county's school system was looking to hire 1,000 teachers before COVID-19. They are still paying employees that aren't working right now like bus drivers and are looking to hire more.
Even though it is uncertain what the next school year will look like, the school system said they need to bring on more people.
"One of the things we do know, is we will still be providing learning opportunities for our students, so, we still need staff," said Kristi Murphy, the chief of human resources for Prince George's County Public Schools.
Walter Simmons, the president of Employ Prince George's, said that the county has about 79,000 unemployment insurance claims. The need in the county's public schools presents new opportunities for people in other professions who are unemployed.
"Our food and beverage and hospitality people, I don't know how long they can stay unemployed. Especially if they can't receive unemployment benefits. I'm projecting a lot of those people to change career paths," Simmons said.
Higher salaries in neighboring communities and high turnover in workers have always been a challenge for Prince George's schools. School officials are hoping this time of employment uncertainty can be their time of opportunity.
Local
Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia local news, events and information
"While we know it was a challenge previously, it still continues to be a challenge," Murphy said. "We continue to recruit and hire and seek out opportunities to say hey, come work for Prince George's County public schools."
To find out what you need to be qualified for a job with the Prince George's County school system, you can go to their website.
