PV Jobs
News and Announcements
PVJOBS has been awarded a grant to serve veterans. The PVJOBS Vets Program will target recently separated veterans, assisting them with starting a career in green industries. Clients will receive Occupational Safety and Health Administration certification and offered training toward a career in Energy Auditing or a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Green Associate certification prior to job placement. For more information, please call our Program Coordinator, Pat Atitebi, at (323) 432-3972.
Our Women Apprenticeship in Nontraditional Occupations (WANTO) Program remains active in finding apprenticeships for women. For more information, please contact our WANTO Program Coordinator, Jeff Henderson, at (323) 432-3961.
Also, our Construction Talent Transfer Program (CTTP) is still placing displaced construction workers in new construction craft positions. Please contact Juan Alvarado at (323) 432-3971 for more information about this program.
Local construction continues to lag, causing a depressed need for construction workers. Estimates are that as many as 40% of union construction workers are “on-the-bench” waiting for dispatch. This excess supply of construction workers is lowering our ability to move our clients into the start of construction careers. Yet, we are still getting some placements, and estimate 200 to 300 placement opportunities in construction and construction-related trades through the end of the year. We expect infrastructure building to pick up by the end of 2011 as more American Recovery and Reinvestment Act money stimulates project development.
Newsletter Highlight
Jesus Escobar, a 22-year-old who has been on and off of probation since he was 15 for tagging buses, is now a paid intern at PVJOBS while attending USC. Escobar’s vast transformation is a result of his participation in the Day Reporting Center, a new probation program that aims to help reduce California’s alarming recidivism rates and prevent probationers—ages 18 to 25—from entering the prison system.
“It’s a drastic change to work in an office,” says Escobar, who aspires to go to law school one day. “Working here is preparing me for my future career.”
PVJOBS partnered with the center last year to provide subsidized employment to the center’s graduates. Since forming the partnership, PVJOBS has placed 16 participants in paid internships and expect to hire another 10 individuals by August.
The primary goal of the center’s employment program is to provide probationers with paid on-the-job training and permanent employment, enabling them to build a job history for themselves. The program pays participants $11.55 per hour, much higher than minimum wage. “One of the keys to this population is money,” says Erick Cerda, the center’s employment resource coordinator. “If we only offered them minimum wage, they wouldn’t give us a chance because they figure they can make that on the streets.”
