BATON ROUGE – Louisiana’s Not Seasonally Adjusted Unemployment Rate which was released last week, showed an over-the-month drop of 0.5 percentage points and an over-the-year drop of 0.7 percentage points.
The Louisiana Workforce Commission (LWC), the state’s labor department, points to a variety of support programs that are assisting business and job-seekers move Louisiana’s employment trajectory in the right direction.
“Each and every day, we are committed to putting Louisianans to work in a variety of family-sustaining careers,” said LWC Secretary Ava Dejoie.
One such avenue in that of Registered Apprenticeship, a federally funded “earn while you learn” program that provides both in-classroom teachings coupled with on-the-job training, has helped numerous individuals change lives for the better, while providing a direct pathway to prosperity. For example, the Apprenti Partnership in Baton Rouge is impacting the Information Technology (IT) and Cybersecurity employment sectors.
Additionally, the LWC is partnering with businesses through industry partnerships, companies such as Entergy and other Louisiana Energy Workforce Consortium partners, joined efforts to create the first-ever Certified Utility Line Worker training program. With an investment of more than $600,000 from the LWC, service partners and LWC local office support, this program has enabled graduates who complete the training, the opportunity to earn more than six in-demand industry-recognized credentials.
Since its inception, 100% of Utility Line Worker program graduates have received job placements in a variety of south and central-based Louisiana companies. Starting annual salaries range from $44,000 – 49,000, with benefits including but not limited to, 401K, health, dental and overtime work-options.
“The Certified Line Worker Training Program is just one of many current and on-going initiatives the LWC is proactively spearheading to provide direct pathways for individuals who are seeking to make a better life for themselves and their community,” said LWC Secretary Ava Dejoie. “The LWC is constantly working with a variety of industry-certified partners across Louisiana to provide training avenues and opportunities for those in search of a family-sustaining career.”
The LWC not only provides no-cost training for prospective job-seekers, the LWC is also proud to administer the Incumbent Worker Training Program (IWTP) and Small Business Employee Training Program (SBET). These training programs allow businesses to train and retain employees – at no cost to their bottom line.
Customized to the employer’s particular needs, both training programs, enable their employers to further their professional skill development, and increase their earning potential in the process.
Approximately 188 employers across Louisiana took advantage of the LWC-offered IWTP training resource from Fiscal Year(s) 2018-2019 (July 1 – June 30). In the process, approximately 26,531 workers were trained, and saw an average wage increase of 5.9%.
As it pertains to SBET, which takes a more personal approach for businesses under 50 employees to receive training for personnel, the LWC provided over 3.8 million dollars to Louisiana-based businesses, which trained 7,618 employees for Fiscal Year(s) 2018-2019. SBET allows small employers to receive up to $3000 per employee to upgrade the skills their existing workforce, maintain market competitiveness, and grow their market share.
While the LWC takes pride in providing training dollars for employer-based training and specialized in-demand programs, the LWC also provides services to workers who have been impacted by circumstances outside their control.
The LWC’s Rapid Response team serve as “first responders” when individuals have been laid off from a company. Some of the services the Rapid Response team provides include but are not limited to:
· Job Placement Assistance;
· Labor Market Information;
The LWC will continue to assist all Louisiana job-seekers in search of a family-sustaining career. As a reminder, the LWC has a statewide network of 62 American Job Centers (AJC) ready to assist both employers and job-seekers in their specific needs. For an updated list of the LWC’s AJC network, please visit http://www.laworks.net/Downloads/WFD/B&CSC_Contacts.pdf.
To find out more about the LWC and all that it is available to Louisiana job-seekers or employers, please visit www.laworks.net,
