Clark County commissioners are encouraging Nevadans to take advantage of a hiring rush, warning that the high demand for workers could fizzle out once $300 weekly federal unemployment benefits expire Sept. 4.

Commissioners Tick Segerblom and Jim Gibson on Tuesday promoted Las Vegas’s first large-scale, in-person job fair since the start of the pandemic in a press conference at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

“People have to be accountable for themselves,” Gibson said. “It’s not like these jobs will be around forever.”

May numbers showed the unemployment rate at 8.9 percent in Clark County and 7.8 percent in Nevada, both higher than the nationwide rate of 5.8 percent. Some employers across the state have blamed extended unemployment benefits for a difficult rehiring process with fewer prospects, while some recipients of the extra cash credited it for keeping them and their families afloat. Just under 194,000 Nevadans remained on unemployment benefits as of June 26. 

Gibson noted that employers are finding it hard to rebuild their teams and are eager to hire qualified applicants, meaning Nevada workers may be more empowered in their job hunts to get higher level jobs with higher salaries. 

The free event will be held at the Las Vegas Convention Center on Friday, and will include more than 100 employers with more than 12,000 open positions. Amazon, Tesla, CVS Health, Caesars Entertainment and MGM Resorts will be among the employers attending with available jobs. Gibson said that some companies could even make new hires that day. 

The Southern Nevada Health District will also be administering coronavirus vaccines to attendees, some of whom would need to be vaccinated in order to become employed by certain companies.

Gibson and Segerblom said that the jobs expected to be available at the fair are not minimum-wage jobs and that several of them will provide opportunity for upward mobility.

“These companies understand the value of their employees,” Gibson said. “This is an opportunity to upgrade.”

But Gibson and Segerblom warned that job-seekers need to act fast to get the positions they want. 

"The reality is that replacing the $300 [in unemployment] is really going to be consequential to families and individuals who need those dollars," Gibson said.