Community businesses seeking employees and residents looking to learn the skills needed to find employment are invited to take advantage of a new workplace-training program in the region.
Lindsay Taylor, an employment specialist with the Employment Placement and Support Services (EPSS) program, held a workshop at the Olds Municipal Library on Nov. 12 for members of the Olds Chamber of Commerce to introduce them to the program.
Through the program, an employer would agree to hire and train a person for a specific position and then retain them upon successful completion of the training.
Alberta Works will then reimburse the employer for the costs of the training at a maximum of $390 a week to a maximum of 26 weeks with an additional $1,500 available for supplemental training completed before the end of a training contract.
Or, a person seeking employment can undertake a paid work experience term where they can demonstrate their ability to do a certain job while the employer receives reimbursement for up to three weeks to a maximum of $1,440 based on 40 hours of work per week at a rate of $12 an hour.
An employer would also receive a maximum of $1,500 in reimbursement for supplemental training.
Taylor said EPSS acts as the bridge that connects businesses, potential employees and the provincial government.
“We just do the negotiations and the management part of it. We help build the connection and ensure that the contract is successful,” she said, adding if a business agrees to participate in the program, it signs a contract with the province and Alberta Works.
“When an employer is thinking about hiring somebody, they can either contact us to fill that position or, if they're interested in hiring somebody but they're lacking some of the skills that they would normally hire for, they can use this program to be reimbursed while they train that person.”
Many employers are willing to hire people who have a “skill gap,” Taylor added.
“But they just needed that extra little incentive to actually do it.”
The Olds Chamber of Commerce organized the workshop and invited EPSS to present to community businesses.
While staff from Careers for Everyone attended the morning workshop, no local businesses came out to hear Taylor's presentation.
Chamber president Doug Rieberger said it is difficult for local business representatives to attend such a session at this time of year as they prepare for the busy Christmas season and another workshop would be necessary.
Taylor said there is a possibility of another workshop in February.
Rieberger also said the chamber invited Taylor to town because it believed the program would be a good “fit” for the local business community.
“It's another tool in the tool chest for our local businesses. I think it's a very important program in the aspect that some of the smaller businesses may be on the cusp of being able to bring on new people and this might be able to allow them to facilitate that.”
For more information about the program, contact EPSS toll-free at 1-877-643-6249, by email at [email protected] or visit www.epssreddeer.com.
