Monster and Job Corps Testify Before Congress on Importance of Bridging 'Skills Gap'

WASHINGTON, March 8, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Earlier today, former U.S. House of Representatives Labor, Health and Human Services and Education (Labor-HHS) Appropriations Subcommittee Chair Jack Kingston, along with Susan Fallon, Vice President of Global Strategy and Business Development for Monster Government Solutions, testified before the Labor-HHS Subcommittee during its annual public witness hearing. Kingston and Fallon reiterated the importance of Job Corps' career technical education services and the continued need to invest in job skills training in order to close the "skills gap."

"Job Corps is a critical lynchpin in closing the skills gap nationwide," Kingston said. "I strongly believe that the way toward sustainable job growth in these communities is to invest in the mechanisms like the Job Corps program to educate and develop necessary skills in an effort to create and maintain these jobs in a way that adapts to a changing economy."

According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, there are 5.6 million jobs that remain unfilled because employers cannot find workers with the right set of skills. According to some estimates, the skills gap costs our economy $160 billion annually. Job Corps is a comprehensive education and vocational training program administered by the U.S. Department of Labor that each year helps 50,000 underserved youth ages 16 through 24.

"We've learned over time that small and large businesses across the nation trust their Job Corps centers and Job Corps graduates to meet their talent needs as evidence by that fact that over 100 local chambers of commerce, from Oklahoma to Connecticut and Florida to Alaska, have signed letters of support for the program," Fallon said. "That is why Monster Government Solutions worked with the National Job Corps Foundation for Youth Opportunities to create and launch our Youth Opportunities portal, which provides students with online career tools and resources, and employers with tools to be matched to thousands of skilled young Americans, using Monster's award-winning technologies."

In 2016, Monster and the National Job Corps Foundation for Youth Opportunities announced a strategic partnership to help support current and future Job Corps students with career development training and job placement, as well as to provide local employers with a dependable source of highly skilled workers. The goal of the initiative is to have more than 5,000 students trained, ready and uploaded on a customized, easy-to-use web portal that matches job applicants with local Job Corps campus employer partners.

For Further information:
            www.njcaweb.org  
            www.foundationforyouthopportunities.org/index.html
            www.youthopps.monster.com  

About Job Corps
Job Corps is an education and vocational training program administered by the U.S. Department of Labor that helps young people ages 16 through 24 improve the quality of their lives through career technical education skills.  Funded by Congress, Job Corps has been training underserved young adults for meaningful careers since 1964.  Job Corps is committed to offering all students a safe, drug-free environment where they can take advantage a diverse and holistic mix of services, including counseling, contextualized learning, service learning and work-based learning and internships.  Each year, Job Corps serves over 50,000 youth each year at 125 local campuses in all 50 states, including the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

About Monster Worldwide
Monster Worldwide, Inc. is a global leader in connecting people to jobs, wherever they are. For more than 20 years, Monster has helped people improve their lives with better jobs, and employers find the best talent. Today, the company offers services in more than 40 countries, providing some of the broadest, most sophisticated job seeking, career management, recruitment and talent management capabilities. Monster continues its pioneering work of transforming the recruiting industry with advanced technology using intelligent digital, social and mobile solutions, including our flagship website monster.com® and a vast array of products and services. For more information, visit monster.com/about.

SOURCE Monster Worldwide, Inc.

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