From November, as recession blues started to hit more strongly, as many as 40 people walk in daily to be placed on its database, up from just 25 people before, its spokesman said on the sidelines of its job fair at Downtown East on Tuesday.

While the bulk of job-seekers were still blue collar workers, it was also seeing a small but significant increase in professionals, managers, and executives who wanted help too.

'They are either losing their jobs or have more concern that they will lose their jobs soon, and so are looking for other opportunities,' the spokesman said, referring to the group of executives.

This is North East CDC's third major job fair this year, and is focused on the service industry, which is still hiring, it said. Twelve employers took part, and were hunting for over 800 suitable people to fill the posts.