HOWARD COUNTY, Md. — Federal workers in Howard County rushed to find jobs amidst mass layoffs and uncertainty.

Dozens of current and former employees filed into Howard Community College for a career fair Tuesday night.

The event included over 50 businesses, resume checks, professional headshots, and more for federal employees like Rachel Kazmierski.

“I’ve only been out of work for the past week. I’ve probably applied to over 40, 50 jobs,” Kazmierski said.

Rachel is one of more than a thousand people who were laid off from the National Institutes of Health on February 14th.

She got emotional as she thought back to that day.

“I feel like we work really hard, and it just was very—I was very blindsided by everything because I love my department. I love the work that I do, and I feel like I was forced out of my position.”

Charlene Day, another federal worker, told WMAR 2 News even though she still has a job, she’s nervous every day thinking about what could happen.

“Just in case, we don’t know what’s gonna happen. We can’t just sit around and hope and, you know, fumble with our fingers like, I hope everything’s gonna be alright,” Charlene said.

Howard County Executive Calvin Ball said he had to do something after seeing community members in need.

“We wanted to have this career fair to give them hope for tomorrow,” Ball said. “The American people appreciate that you’ve been there for us, and we’re gonna be there for you.”

Charlene and Rachel told WMAR 2 News the event gave them a bit of hope during such a difficult time.

“They’re open, they’re friendly, they’re informative,” Charlene said, speaking of the businesses at the career fair.

“It’s nice that we have a whole community coming together to support federal employees going through hard times like this to really support each other,” Rachel said.

And if you missed the career fair, you can email hocohelp@howardcountymd.gov for help getting the same resources.

Morgan State University will also hold a career fair for federal workers on March 20th.