Gov. Dannel P. Malloy proposed plans Monday to develop a $3.6 million statewide job readiness program he said would help unemployed workers find jobs.
Adopting the Platform to Employment model from The Workplace in Bridgeport, Malloy is proposing the legislature adopt plans to create an intensive readiness program involving a five-week course on interpersonal and computer-based skills, followed by an eight-week subsidized work experience.
In its first year, 500 people who have exhausted their unemployment benefits would be accepted into the program. The Workplace, which pioneered the program, has reported a 80 percent success rate for participants.
“We are making steady progress at growing our economy in a way that will create good paying jobs with good benefits for middle class families,” Malloy said in a press release. “While a decrease in the unemployment rate and the addition of thousands of private sector jobs over the last three years is clearly a step in the right direction, we still have more work to do.”
In addition to the readiness program, Malloy also proposed a $10 million funding increase for the state’s Step Up job program, which subsidizes employers’ training costs after hiring workers who were either unemployed or recent graduates. To date the $16 million program has helped 2,067 unemployed workers find jobs.
Malloy also proposed creating legislation prohibiting employers from screening applicants based on their employment status.
“Often, the longer someone is unemployed, the harder it gets to find employment, even when that person may have qualified skills to fill a certain position,” Malloy said. “Connecticut has some of the most talented and skilled workers in the nation. These initiatives help match our talented workforce with employers, grows jobs, and removes barriers to employment.”
