The job fair, which was jointly organized by the Bureau of Employment and Vocational Training of the Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) and the Chiayi City Government, was the biggest ever held in the city, according to the local government.

Among the employers were handset camera lens-maker Largan Precision Co. Ltd.; rival Canon Inc., Taiwan; IC testing and packaging service provider Siliconware Precision Industries Co. Ltd.; and machine tool producer Hiwin Technologies Corp.

President Chain Store Corp., which operates the 7-Eleven convenience store chain, and Taiwan FamilyMart Co, which runs the FamilyMart chain, were also seeking new employees.

CLA Minister Wang Ju-hsuan said at the fair that with the strong rebound of the Taiwan economy from the 2008 global financial meltdown, the country's jobless rate fell to 4.35 percent in June from a peak of 6.13 percent in August 2009.

The number of employed people in the job market increased by 240,000 in the period August 2009 to June 2011, she said. The government hopes to see the unemployment rate fall further to below 3 percent by the end of this year, she added.

The job fair secured the services of five professional baby sitters to take of children whose parents were being interviewed for jobs. In addition, the organizers also arranged for experts to give advice to jobseekers on matters such as personal appearance and resume writing.

Wang said these arrangements showed that the government was doing its best to help the unemployed perform well during job interviews and thus secure jobs.

Chiayi City Mayor Huang Ming-hui suggested that as the local economy is improving, jobseekers should take advantage of the fair to find not just any job, but the ideal job.

Huang said she hoped the fair would result in greater prosperity for Chiayi City.