Employer Engagement Program
Employers are already challenged to find and keep employees. This is not a passing challenge; data from a 2023 report released by Pennslvania’s Independent Fiscal Office (IFO) describes the problem in a stark way. Pennsylvania’s employers will need to look to newcomers to fill jobs and stay competitive.
Refugees and immigrants play an increasingly larger role in the region’s workforce, having served on the frontlines during Covid-19 in industries such as healthcare, food service, and childcare. IU13 Community Education has partnered with Church World Service (CWS) and the Literacy Council of Lancaster-Lebanon to implement a new Employer Engagement Program (EEP) to support employers who want to hire refugees.
“The Employer Engagement Program presents a unique opportunity to assist our new community memebers in building a meaningful career and, at the same time, developing a skilled workforce.”
– Katy Brady, Chief Human Resource Officer at Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health
How the RCP Employer Engagement Program Can Help
The EEP will connect refugee job seekers to pipelines into jobs. Working in partnership with employers, the program will support refugee job seekers in attaining the skills needed to successfully get and keep jobs. This includes English language acquisition, job and skill training support, and understanding the American workplace’s culture.
The EEP will support employers in articulating career paths into and upward, providing onsite professional development and training to managers and employees that contributes to talent retention. The goal is getting and keeping a quality workforce.
This program is built around the needs of each employer. Using an individualized approach with a standardized process, we will help employers:
- Assess the education and training needs of the existing foreign-born workforce (with a special focus on refugee workers).
- Support employers in the development of training plans to address those needs.
- Support employers in the delivery of workplace education and training programs to support the success of refugee workers.
- Help employers connect to refugees seeking jobs.
Learn More
Click this flyer to learn more about the Employer Engagement Program.
Contact us to learn how this program can benefit your business!
Lancaster-Lebanon IU13 and its partners received $350,000 through competitive funding through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Grant #90ZN0017. The program is financed 100 percent with federal funds. The contents of this web page are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families.
