Posted by: By Eric Kuznacic, SWWDB Business and Employer Services Manager
As the nation’s economy plummeted to depths not seen since the Great Depression, much of the focus deservedly centered on factory shutdowns and massive job losses. Somewhat lost in the shuffle of countless media stories about layoffs and unemployment rates was the fact that those employers who were hiring — whether it be for one position or 1,000 — were faced with an unprecedented number of job-seekers, many of whom were well-trained, motivated and ready to return to the workforce.
There are few places where this fact was more evident than in the Janesville/Beloit, Wisconsin area, where the loss of major employers such as General Motors, Lear Corp., LSI Inc., Freedom Plastics, Bourns Automotive and Alcoa Wheels left thousands of skilled tradesmen without the jobs many had held for decades. Knowing these people needed a connection to other area employers, Monster.com and the Southwest Wisconsin Workforce Development Board (SWWDB) entered into a unique agreement.
The Hire a Neighbor program, Monster’s first partnership with a workforce investment board, allows employers within a 100-mile radius of Janesville the ability to connect with those who have registered with and submitted resumes to Monster.com. Offered as a free service, an employer contacts and provides a job description to SWWDB’s Business and Employer Services Manager who, in turn, searches Monster’s database and forwards matching resumes to the employer. It’s that simple, and the program has proven popular and effective.
More than a dozen local employers have used the program since it was launched this past summer, ranging from manufacturers to nonprofits organizations to higher-education institutions. While the program has not yielded a hire in every case, it has provided employers with a sample of who is out there. Many employers are reluctant to place ads in local newspapers or online, for fears of being deluged with applications that overwhelm their human resources departments.
I would like to share one local employer’s recent experience with the Hire a Neighbor program. Tures and Associates, a small accounting firm with two locations in the Rockford, Illinois area, contacted me after having problems finding a part-time accountant. According to Patricia Boyles, Tures and Associates’ office manager (click here to view entire letter):
“For many months, we had diligently tried to hire quality staff to no avail. Being a small business, we could never afford the high fees charged by the major online employment services. This program offered us a chance to search locally and specifically for the type of staff we needed to take our company to the next level.
“We hired Lindsey approximately two weeks after (an SWWDB staff member) was kind enough to come on-site and assist in the screening process. She has been a valuable addition to our staff, and we are so grateful to … the Southwest Wisconsin Workforce Development Board.
“The Hire a Neighbor program was a booming success for us, and words cannot express the heartfelt appreciation of both me and our owner, Jim Tures.”
As the economy recovers and employers begin to hire on a larger scale, we expect to help them find the qualified workforce they need to succeed. The Hire a Neighbor program is a win-win situation for everyone involved.
Mon, Nov 9, 2009
Community