DENVER -- They came by the thousands, some with high school educations and some with college degrees. They were seeking help finding jobs.

Thursday was open house day at Colorado's workforce centers.

"It's pretty much a show and tell day to show off the public workforce system at each of the 60 centers across the state," said Derek Woodbury, of the Denver Office of Economic Development.

Job seeker Lauren Kuczka was stunned by the large turnout at a job fair in Weld County.

"The number of people here is just phenomenal," Kuczka said. "It means there are a lot of people looking for jobs."

Among those hiring is the U.S. Census Bureau.

"Right now, the positions we're looking for are clerical, enumeration and recruiting assistants," recruiter Beto Loya told prospective hires. "We have 3,000 positions to fill in Northern Colorado."

Loya told them the jobs begin in January and will last five to 10 weeks.

Greeley based StarTek is also hiring.

"We do inbound customer service," said StarTek recruiter Holly Reed. "Whatever cell phone you carry, whatever phone you have at home, if you have a problem you call the 1-800 number. That's the job."

Not every job seeker found what they were looking for.

"I'm a little disappointed that there weren't more of the energy companies here," Kuczka said.

Kuczka added that she's looking for a position in marketing communications.

When asked if she was optimistic, she responded, "I'm a little discouraged right now. I'm concerned that there aren't many high paying jobs out there or that people are hiring entry level and are not considering people that are my age."

Two sisters from Greeley left the job fair feeling more upbeat.

"I'm very encouraged," said Wendy Beckel, a single mother of two. "I found three potential jobs. One of them seems pretty good right now and it's in my hometown."

Beckel's sister, Lisa Tavenner, said she already has a job but is looking for another one.

"I work in the auto industry,” Tavenner said. “If we lose our big auto dealerships, I'm going to be hurting for employment."

Tavenner has reason to worry.

According to the Colorado Automobile Dealer's Association, dealers statewide have shed 10 percent of their workforce, because of declining auto sales.