NO ALGORITHM REQUIRED: Job Seekers Pack Dutch Square for Face-to-Face Shot at Work
By Javar Juarez | CUBNSC | September 9, 2026
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Dutch Square Center does not look much like the bustling shopping mall many longtime Columbia residents remember.
Large stretches of retail space sit quiet. National retailers that once helped make the mall a commercial center of the Midlands have disappeared.
But Wednesday morning, the mall was anything but empty.
Job seekers packed the corridors of Dutch Square as employers, recruiters, government agencies and workforce organizations filled tables for the Capital City Career Expo, bringing an old-fashioned employment strategy back to the Broad River District: putting people who need jobs directly in front of people who have them.
The Sept. 9 event ran from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Dutch Square Center, 421 Bush River Road, according to SC Works. SC Works
Employers and organizations represented industries ranging from banking and utilities to retail, manufacturing, public safety and government.
Among those visible at the event were Scout Motors, Dominion Energy, Publix, Palmetto Citizens Federal Credit Union, The Salvation Army, Charleston Police Department and Lexington County Sheriff's Department, along with colleges, workforce organizations and other employers.
For a community accustomed to hearing about labor shortages on one side and frustrated job seekers on the other, Wednesday provided a chance for the two groups to actually meet.
South Carolina Has Jobs
The timing was deliberate.
September is officially Workforce Development Month in South Carolina, an annual observance first declared by Gov. Henry McMaster in 2022. McMaster has again proclaimed September 2026 Workforce Development Month, with the state using the month to connect workers with employers, highlight training opportunities and promote South Carolina industries. SC Employment Workforce
And despite continued anxiety about the economy, South Carolina's latest employment numbers tell an important story.
The state's unemployment rate fell for the fifth consecutive month, reaching 4.2% in July, the lowest rate since February 2025. An estimated 2,560,443 South Carolinians were employed, another record high and more than 73,000 above the previous year.
South Carolina's non-farm employment grew 1.3% year over year, compared with approximately 0.2% nationally, according to the S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce. SC Employment Workforce
There is demand for more workers, too.
A 2026 state analysis estimates South Carolina has an annual workforce supply gap of roughly 73,000 jobs, including approximately 34,000 positions requiring a high school diploma. SC Employment Workforce
Just a month earlier, DEW reported more than 86,000 jobs available statewide through SC Works Online Services, the state's largest job database. SC Employment Workforce
Those numbers help explain what happened inside Dutch Square.
"It's Just You and an Employer"
For Yvette Stribling, a business consultant with the South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce, the massive career expo has become an annual undertaking.
Stribling said she has participated in organizing the event for six years, intentionally bringing together employers from different sectors rather than building a career fair around a single industry.
The idea is simple: someone looking for work should be able to walk through the doors and find options.
"There is something for everyone here," Stribling said. "If you're looking for work, this is the place to be."
She also sees Dutch Square itself as important.
Stribling remembered the mall as a once-booming commercial destination and described the Broad River, St. Andrews and Bush River area as a central and familiar part of Columbia. Even as online shopping has transformed retail, she said communities still need physical places where people can connect.
That physical connection may be becoming increasingly important for another reason: artificial intelligence.
Online job applications have made it possible to apply for dozens of jobs without leaving home. But applicants increasingly find themselves submitting resumes into automated systems without ever knowing whether another person saw them.
Stribling acknowledged that frustration.
"Dealing with AI is very tough. We're seeing that a lot," she said.
Her recommendation was considerably less complicated: show up.
At an event like Wednesday's expo, Stribling said applicants can get directly in front of employers and recruiters rather than wondering what happened to an online application.
"It's just you and an employer. It's you and a recruiter. That's the best thing."
22 Years Old, College Degree, Looking for His Start
Among the people walking those tables Wednesday was Miles Jefferson.
Jefferson is 22 years old and graduated from the University of South Carolina in May with a degree in Information Technology.
He came to Dutch Square looking for an opportunity to begin building his résumé and career.
But Jefferson also represents a generation entering the workforce at a strange moment.
He studied technology just as generative artificial intelligence began transforming the technology industry itself.
Asked whether AI would affect his career, Jefferson saw both sides.
"It could even make my career easier or worse for me," Jefferson said. "It could help a lot, but it could also replace me."
His university experience reflected that changing environment. Jefferson said students were encouraged to use AI as a tool to assist their work, rather than allowing the technology to perform the work for them.
Jefferson's concerns were not isolated.
Other job seekers who spoke with CUBN shared similar concerns. Some worried about how AI could affect their careers, while others said online applications make it difficult to get past automated systems and actually connect with a recruiter.
That makes what happened at Dutch Square consequential.
For three hours Wednesday, the algorithm wasn't the only gatekeeper.
Applicants could shake someone's hand, ask what positions were actually available, explain their experience and learn what an employer was looking for.
A High School Diploma and a $60,000 Career
One of the day's biggest surprises came from nearly 115 miles away.
Senior Police Officer Malinda Pfeif of the Charleston Police Department traveled to Columbia to recruit.
And she wasn't only looking for police officers.
Pfeif said Charleston has opportunities including duty officers, administrative assistants and NCIC operations positions, along with sworn law enforcement careers.
"We're recruiting for all positions within our agency and within the city," she said.
Then came the number that could get the attention of almost any job seeker.
Pfeif told CUBN that an applicant with only a high school diploma could enter the department at roughly $58,200, while someone entering with a bachelor's degree could approach $70,000 because the department pays according to education.
The opportunity may actually be even stronger than Pfeif described.
Charleston's published 2026 sworn pay scale currently lists Step 1 pay for a police officer with a high school diploma or GED at $61,110.40. A new officer with a bachelor's degree is listed at $69,950.40. City of Charleston, SC
And salary is only part of the compensation.
Pfeif said officers receive medical, vision and dental benefits, opportunities for overtime and a take-home vehicle, meaning the city also absorbs vehicle wear and fuel expenses associated with the job.
For someone without a four-year college degree, that means a potential career beginning above $60,000, with benefits and a path for advancement.
It is also a reminder of something easily missed in conversations about South Carolina's workforce: Not every good job requires a bachelor's degree.
The Jobs Are There. The Connection Matters.
Wednesday's expo did not solve every challenge facing South Carolina workers.
Artificial intelligence is changing occupations. Employers are changing how they screen applicants. College graduates like Jefferson are discovering that a degree does not automatically translate into an immediate job in their chosen field.
But the crowds inside Dutch Square demonstrated something else.
People still want to work. Employers still need people. And sometimes the missing piece is getting them into the same room.
SC Works Midlands exists specifically to make those connections, linking job seekers and employers through workforce programs and partnerships and offering resources for people seeking a new job or career. SC Works Midlands
For one morning, that mission transformed a relatively quiet mall in the heart of the Broad River District.
Tables replaced empty storefront traffic. Recruiters replaced algorithms. Job seekers carried résumés from employer to employer.
Conversations that might have been another unanswered online application instead happened face-to-face.
And Stribling's advice may have been the simplest lesson of the entire day:
Come out. Meet the employer. Let them see you.
Because for all the discussion about what artificial intelligence may eventually do, Wednesday's crowd at Dutch Square was evidence of something technology has not eliminated.
Humans still hire humans. And humans are still necessary to serve humans.
Javar Juarez is Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of the Columbia Urban Broadcast Network (CUBN), an independent investigative news outlet based in Columbia, South Carolina, and a member of the South Carolina Press Association. He is also President of the Capital City Chapter of the A. Philip Randolph Institute.
Comments