What’s one challenge facing the workforce development ecosystem in Chicago and suburban Cook County? Reaching new employers!
Over the past few years, Origami Works Foundation has heard time and time again that many employers are completely unaware that there is a treasure trove of services available (often at no cost!) to help them with their various talent challenges.
Origami Works Foundation has spent the past few years interviewing employers who have successfully used workforce services. The hope is that these interviews can serve as an on-ramp for employers who are new to the concept of supported hiring, or for whom reading a success story about a real employer like them could be the deciding factor in starting a partnership.
Our (as of now unnamed!) book will aim to walk employers new to the system through the process step by step, as well as offering tools to help them identify their own goals and personalize their initial outreach and partnership. We believe that by using language that is familiar to employers and highlighting pragmatic solutions to their common concerns, more employers will benefit from all that Chicago and suburban Cook County has to offer.
Over the next few months, we will be sharing excerpts from our book as we complete it, and we hope it will start a conversation about how we can best reach employers where they are.
Stay tuned, and wish us luck!