PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — Despite millions of jobs lost, career experts in Pinellas County tell ABC Action News, demand is growing to find reliable workers.
At some point, funding for people and businesses impacted by coronavirus will dry up. That’s why CareerSource Pinellas is taking a new approach using $2-million in aid to help job seekers affected by COVID-19 get free training.
The funds will be used for short term training and on the job training.
Dozens of businesses have already signed up for the program.
“What PinellasWorks is doing is it provides a 100% reimbursement of the costs for training new employees for employers. It also provides job seekers with the opportunity to learn a new skill and hopefully get back to work,” CEO of CareerSource Pinellas, Jennifer Brackney said. “It’s a very short term training program, and the training is offered at different vendors throughout Pinellas County. And, the training is really focused on the five major sectors healthcare, IT, construction, professional and financial services, and then some of the other retail and customer service types of occupations.”
Brackney said the most significant need in the community they’ve identified is making sure they can connect job seekers and employers.
“There are a lot of people out who want to get back to work, and there are a lot of employers looking for well-qualified employees, so one of the challenges is how do we make sure that good connection happens,” Brackney said.
Here are the requirements: businesses that would like to participate in providing on-the-job training opportunities must have experienced economic impact due to the COVID-19 outbreak and have been in operation for at least one year. On-the-job training placement opportunities for businesses and residents will last a minimum of 30 days and must be completed by December 15, 2020. Jobs eligible for this program will meet Florida’s minimum wage requirements, and the employee worksite location must be within Pinellas County.
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