(Washington D.C., Tuesday, May 5, 2020) – Despite skyrocketing unemployment due to COVID-19, some of America’s leading companies are hiring for thousands of open positions. 100,000 Opportunities Initiative and Get Schooled are partnering to host National Youth Hiring Day on Thursday, May 7 to connect unemployed youth with more than 150,000 job opportunities and career supports.

National Youth Hiring Day will be one of the nation’s largest online job fairs and feature some of America’s leading companies. Many jobs are entry-level or require limited previous experience. With social distancing in place, the online job fair will help employers safely connect to young people who are ready to work and meet a vital business need.

National Youth Hiring Day will use virtual hiring strategies to connect young job seekers to employers. National Youth Hiring Day will help young people find employment or strengthen their future employment prospects while maintaining current safety and health guidelines.  This will be the third annual National Youth Hiring Day, but the first time for the event has offered an interactive online job fair and career prep platform.

Despite the economic turmoil, many companies do have openings and need them filled immediately. The healthcare, e-commerce, grocery, food delivery, accounting, connectivity, and distance learning sectors must hire thousands of employees to meet the current demand. Many of these jobs are entry level or require limited previous experience. With social distancing in full effect, the virtual hiring fair will help these employers safely connect to young people who are ready to work.

100,000 Opportunities Initiative is a coalition of more than 50 national employers, private sector, and nonprofit partners dedicated to employing young people, ages 16-24, who are out of school or unemployed. The initiative works to connect these youth to jobs, apprenticeships, and internships while helping the businesses build their talent pipelines so they can thrive. Since 2015, the initiative has helped more than 200,000 young people find employment. For more information, visit https://100kopportunities.org/.