Costco draws 500 N.B. job seekers

More than500 people packed inside a soon-to-be-opened Costco store in Saint John on Friday hoping to snap up one of many jobs the warehouse store is offering.

The long queues of people at the entrance of the store on Friday weren't shoppers eager to get a deal, but people hoping to land a job.

Saint John has been hit by bad economic news in the last year as Fort Reliance has opted against building a new $30-million headquarters and Irving Oil Ltd.has decided against building a second oil refinery in the southern New Brunswick city.

So the prospect of landing a Costco job brought people out early to the job fair.

"I was like, 'Oh we should get there at 10 a.m., so we're the first ones there,'" said Jacqueline Guptill said.

"We're like the 150th people here. We've been waiting for an hour and a half."

Despite their long wait, Guptill and her friends were still near the front of the line to get job applications as hundreds of people snaked around makeshift lines andstreamed out the doors of the still empty warehouse.

The throng of job seekers got so long that by 1 p.m. Costco management began turning people away and asking them to return on Saturday.

'The response has been fantastic. The people are showing us we made the right decision coming here.' Gary Swindells

About 100 positions are up for grabs over the three-day job fair everything from stockers to cashiers.

It isn't just the jobs that are drawing people to the store, it's also the potential pay scale.

Workers will start earning $11 an hour and the pay scale hits $22 for some employees.

"The pay is a lot higher than minimum wage. It makes a big difference for a lot of people," said Michelle Keating, who had a job interview Friday.

New Brunswick's minimum wage will increase to $8.50 an hour on April 1.

Gary Swindells, the vice-president for Costco in the region, said management couldn't be more pleased by the turnout.

"The response has been fantastic. The people are showing us we made the right decision coming here," Swindells said.

"We've had a good turnout here this morning, and I'm sure it's going to be like this all weekend."

Swindells said company officialswill interview 1,500 to 2,000 people in total.

Most employees will start just before the store's May 27 opening.