Moving Forward Together As A Community

2020 has certainly brought a lot of “new” with it – a new year, a new decade, and a new way of doing things.  With the appearance of COVID-19, the entire world has had to make changes and adjust.  Here at employU, our staff worked hard to continue to assist and support our clients throughout this time.  We incorporated new procedures and made use of the technology available at our fingertips. 

As our staff worked virtually from home, they stayed in contact with clients to reassure and guide them through this new territory. Video and phone calls replaced in–person meetings and Virtual Pre-Employment Training Workshops, as well as Virtual Self-Advocacy Classes, were launched in order to continue to prepare employU customers for future career success.  

When the state and businesses began to reopen, employU developed new procedures to keep our staff, clients, and community safe while continuing to be there for our clients.  These procedures include staff working from home when possible and staying home if they experience any symptoms. employU offices are stocked with cleaning supplies and equipment is being sanitized before and after each use. When working in the field or office, all staff members are also required to wear a face-covering and practice social distancing of 6 feet apart when possible. employU holds safety and health as the top priority for not only our staff and clients, but our community as a whole.  

Moving forward, employU will continue to offer more classes virtually to support our clients from a home environment. employU is also focused on working together to support the hospitality, restaurant, retail, construction, manufacturing, and trade industries during this new era.  Through our industry immersion programs, employU is able to not only provide on-the-job training and valuable work experience to our clients, but we are also able to save our business partners money at no risk to them. employU covers all employee payroll for clients participating in on the job training. Liability insurance and worker’s compensation are also covered, taking some of the pressure off our business partners during this time.  

One great example of our industry immersion programs is our partnership with United Space Coast Cables (USCC), which began in the summer of 2019. Due to manufacturing contributing to 21% of the GDP on the Space Coast, there is a significant need for skilled employees in the manufacturing industry. employU’s summer internship program with USCC offered an opportunity for high school students to explore a wide array of manufacturing positions from assembly to high-tech product testing and specialized product development. After the summer program ended, USCC was contracted for a major project. They once again turned to employU, this time to set up a weekend-based work experience opportunity for students. The students learned first-hand that teamwork was key to the success of the project. USCC benefited as well. During a case study of this program, it was discovered that the 12 students who participated in the project-based work opportunity contributed 2,304 hours of labor.  This, in turn, equaled a $25,344 savings in labor cost for USCC.  

When it comes to supporting the retail industry, employU is committed to doing our part. Since 2016, we have maintained a partnership with the TJX family. We’ve been able to develop close relationships with many of the stores, managers, and staff in that time. During a six-month case study, we tracked 178 on-the-job trainings.  We found that not only did employU customers provide a total of 7,120 work hours for these stores, but the stores also experienced a $69,420 reduction in labor costs through the on-the-job-training program.  

employU looks forward to continuing to offer these industry immersion work experiences to set-up our clients for success and help fill a need in these industries in our community. This summer we are expanding our programs by launching into the hospitality industry through a partnership with PRM Group in Volusia County and expanding our trades program by partnering with Volusia Building Industry Association. It is sure to be an exciting summer for our customers and community partners!