EmployIndy has been awarded an $8,364,602 grant from the U.S. Department of Labor to invest in training for long-term unemployed individuals. The grant, which runs through 2018, will create Employ Up with the goal of equipping participants with STEM-related skills in technology and healthcare to reduce the need for area employers to rely on H-1B visas to fill local jobs with foreign workers.
As the Workforce Investment Board for Marion County, EmployIndy leverages public and private funding to develop training and employment programs ensuring residents are qualified to meet the needs of employers in the area.
This new grant, which comes from the nearly $170 million U.S. Department of Labor “Ready to Work Partnership” initiative, will target local residents who have exhausted unemployment benefits, which exceeds 27 weeks.
Last December, long-term unemployed made up 9.1 percent of the local unemployed population, including a large number of veterans.
Between 2012 and 2013 Central Indiana employers applied for 1,457 H-1B visas and 69 percent were for STEM-related occupations. These applications came mainly from local employers in the technology and healthcare industries, which account for 17.6 percent of the private sector jobs in Central Indiana, and are expected to grow by 21.5 percent over the next decade.
EmployIndy will use the $8.4 million awarded to fund the Employ Up program designed to reach the long-term unemployed population in Marion County, and provide them with the necessary skills required to do technical jobs in these industries.
“This investment is designed to provide local employers with the skilled, local workforce they need to continue to grow and thrive in our area. With 80 percent of STEM-related occupations requiring some form of post-secondary certification or degree, we cannot ask our area employers to hire local residents unless we have a pipeline to supply them with the qualified talent they require,” said Brooke Huntington, president and CEO of EmployIndy. The U.S. Department of Labor “Ready to Work Partnership” initiative provided 23 organizations nationwide with funding to support job training programs connecting ready-to-work Americans with ready-to-be-filled jobs. In addition to the focus on long-term unemployed individuals, grants funded will incorporate outreach, recruitment, training, support services and placement strategies. Grantees will also work with employers, industry groups and state agencies to strengthen public-private partnerships and increase awareness of effective workforce development strategies.
EmployIndy’s Employ Up program is scheduled to begin April 1, 2015 and plans to serve 800 residents with a combination of assessment, training and employment services. Services, outreach and employment partnerships will come in collaboration with local organizations including TechPoint, Apparatus, hc1.com, Interactive Intelligence, Ativio, IBM, RN/Allied Specialties and SmartIT.
For more information visit EmployIndy.org.
