WESTFIELD, Mass. (WWLP)– Everywhere you look, employers are in need of workers, as a national labor shortage continues to leave restaurants and other businesses empty-handed.

It’s a situation that doesn’t come around often. Rather than not being enough jobs, employers are desperate to find employees.

“This is definitely a different environment, it’s also because we usually never have issues bringing candidates in,” Peter Letendre, plant manager at Mestek said.

At Mestek in Westfield, they have 60 open positions that they’re hoping to fill fast. They start employees at $15.50 an hour, but many have worked their way into higher salaries, making it their career of choice.

“We have several employees that will start to make $19 to $20 an hour in a couple years, but they have to have incentive, good attendance and have that drive to learn new things,” Letendre said.

Past applicants have turned jobs into careers at other companies featured at the job fair too.

“There is a career path in the boy scouts of America, I’ve worked here for 30 years,” Art Lobdell, Assistant Council Executive for the Western Massachusetts Council for the Boy Scouts of America said.

You could see just how many businesses are trying to find labor, showing this labor shortage has affected so many different sectors. Their message was all the same, they have well-paying jobs, and even with federal unemployment benefits still going, now is the time to apply.

“Its a buyers market right? I think if you’re in the market for a position now is the time to look for a great role,” Tiffany Tranghese, Director of Recruitment at Northwestern Mutual said. “I think when the federal unemployment benefits run out in September, we will see a surge in applicants.”

Among the applicants who came, many were just excited about the prospect of getting a job close to home.

“I like my hometown, its a nice place to live, its quiet, I want to keep it in the area,” Noah Kantor of Westfield said. “Mestek was definitely an interest of mine.”

If you missed out on Saturday’s job fair, check out the website of the company you’re interested in applying to for more information.