Airserv Coordinates Hirings Through Union County’S Workforce Innovation Business Center As Part Of Chairman Jalloh’S 2015 Initiatives
UNION COUNTY—For AirServ, it started last fall with a phone call inquiry to the Union County Workforce Innovation Business Center: how can we collaborate with Union County to hire residents for full-time jobs at Liberty International Airport in Newark?
Fortunately, the call resulted in the hiring of 66 residents for new jobs last year, and just a few weeks ago it continued with another commitment from the airport services company to hire 150 more County residents for jobs in cargo, cleaning, ground transportation, passenger services, ramp handling and security sectors at the airport.
The Workforce Innovation Business Center, a program of the Union County Freeholder Board through the Union County Workforce Investment Board and Union County College, held a successful job fair to screen applicants this past Thursday and Friday at Union County College in Elizabeth.
“We’re excited to partner with AirServ in helping place Union County residents in jobs at the airport and we thank them for their consideration,” said Freeholder Chairman Mohamed S. Jalloh, who as part of his “Investing in Union County” initiatives for 2015 announced an expansion of the County’s Workforce Investment operations to facilitate increased employment opportunities and training for its residents.“Overall, the economy is picking up steam, and the Freeholder Board’s focus on workforce investment is timed to maximize this expansion into jobs for County residents.”
The Innovation Business Center not only coordinated the job fair and screening for the latest round of jobs, but will also provide subsequent training to the new hires through Union County College’s Employability Skills Curriculum, a 40-day program.
Designed with demands of today’s business environment in mind, the terms “Employability skills” refer to a cluster of personal qualities, habits and attitudes that constitute a good employee at all levels of the workforce, and include skills such as work ethics, time management, attention to detail, written and oral communication skills, teamwork, decision-making and problem solving.
This state-of-art Employability Skills Curriculum is a critical component of Chairman Jalloh’s announcement. The curriculum has been developed to ensure successful entry and retention within a very competitive economy.
Freeholder Sergio Granados, a resident of Elizabeth who also serves as a liaison to the Workforce Investment Board, thanked AirServ for their partnership and hailed the creation of new jobs.
“One of our highest priorities is providing jobs for residents and this is an outstanding example of how the public sector can work with the private sector in not only coordinating job placements but also providing the proper training,” Granados said. “We certainly urge businesses looking to hire residents to coordinate their efforts through the Workforce Investment Board.”
Businesses looking to hire should contact Antonio Rivera, Director of the Union County Workforce Investment Board, at 908-527-4195 or email arivera@ucnj.org. and/or visit the website: https://ucnj.org/wib
AirServ, whose 8,000-plus employees support the world’s leading airlines and freight companies at airports throughout the United States and United Kingdom, announced the hirings as part of a plan creating 500 new positions.
“We had a very positive experience and outcome with coordinating our first round of hirings through the County, and we are pleased to continue this partnership,” said Martin C. Blake, Jr., Senior Vice President for AirServ. “The Union County Workforce Innovation Business Center acted quickly, efficiently and effectively in fulfilling our requirements.”
Once the latest round of Union County employees are hired, AirServ will realize another benefit through the Innovation Business Center’s On-The-Job (OJT) program, which allows for employers to have the wages of the new hires subsidized up to 50% during the first six months on the job. Under the OJT program, this can go on for up to 26 weeks to help defray the costs of their employment training. The goal is simple – to allow workers to earn while they learn. The OJT initiative is funded by the Freeholder Board through the Workforce Investment Board.