Wipro Technologies, an IT and consulting firm, is looking for hundreds of employees for its new Canadian headquarters in Brantford.
Chris Lord, Wipro vice-president for Canada, says "We're going to be hiring 500 individuals right out of the gate over the next 12 months."
The company got its start in India but now has facilities around the world.
Operations in Brantford will begin in April, in what was once a call center in the Market Square building.
The new office will handle technical support for companies like financial institutions and energy providers, but there is no sales element.
Wipro is looking for employees with various skills and levels of experience, Lord says.
"Including good with interaction skills, customer voice skills, empathy, deep technical support skills, people that are comfortable working with computers and IT operations."
It's great news for a city with an 8.1 per cent unemployment rate, and there is a lot of interest.
Brantford resident Eva Blenkinslip filled out an application on Tuesday.
She says "I've been looking for four or five months off and on…it's tough, there's not a lot out there."
At the job fair being held on Tuesday, an estimated 400 people went through the doors in the first three hours.
The jobs are full time, include benefits and are above minimum wage, all factors that are a big draw for job seekers.
Frank Homick says that's what attracted him, because he's had enough of temporary jobs.
"The temp agencies in this country have ruined the jobs. Like, everywhere you look, temp agency, temp agency, temp agency, and I feel they've just killed the jobs in this country."
The job fair at Market Square continues on Wednesday, and online applications are also welcome. More information is available at: http://www.wipro.com/Pages/Index.aspx
