A Administração Baker-Polito lançou hoje um novo programa de contratação e treinamento para empregadores, o “HireNow”, que ajudará os empregadores a contratar e treinar rapidamente novos trabalhadores e levar mais pessoas de volta ao trabalho. O novo programa oferece aos empregadores elegíveis um subsídio de $4.000 por funcionário, que pode ser usado para cobrir custos de treinamento ou como bônus de assinatura para novos funcionários. Ao fornecer aos empregadores esses fundos flexíveis para facilitar a contratação rápida, o governo está se concentrando em enfrentar os desafios contínuos de contratação enfrentados pelos empregadores e aumentar a participação da força de trabalho. Os empregadores podem saber mais sobre o programa e se inscrever em commcorp.org/hirenow/ The program is open to all Massachusetts employers, including both for-profit and non-profit entities (excluding federal, state, and municipal governments). Governor Charlie Baker, Lt. Governor Karyn Polito and Labor and Workforce Development Secretary Rosalin Acosta announced the launch of the program today at LabCentral, a Cambridge non-profit that provides support and working space for start-ups in the biotech and life sciences sectors. LabCentral plans to hire lab operations and other technical and administrative staff this year and will use funds from HireNow to support training costs. “Our Administration is focused on supporting Massachusetts’ economic growth and getting more people back to work, and the HireNow program is one more tool at our disposal to meet employers’ workforce needs and grow our labor force,” disse o governador Charlie Baker. “The flexible funds from this program will be distributed to employers quickly to help them with training costs, tuition support and other needs. We are grateful to our partners in the Legislature for allocating the ARPA funds necessary to make this program happen.” “We know employers are ready to grow and expand by hiring new workers, and we’re excited to deploy flexible dollars as part of the HireNow program to jump-start those efforts,” disse o tenente-governador Karyn Polito. “Massachusetts’s economic recovery from the pandemic is off and running, but we know there are still persistent workforce challenges that we must address. To boost our local economies, it is critical that we help both for-profit and non-profit employers meet their workforce needs and get more people back to work. We appreciate the partnership of the employer community as we developed this program and look forward to putting these funds to work alongside our existing, proven job-training programs.” HireNow aims to address hiring challenges faced by employers that have been brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a recent analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data, there are over 85,000 workers not participating in the labor market compared to pre-pandemic levels. Meanwhile, employers’ need for workers has continued to increase, with unfilled job postings up 20% compared to pre-pandemic levels and approximately 200,000 open jobs available across the Commonwealth. The Administration is focused on addressing these challenges through a variety of efforts, including by expanding access and awareness to its existing, aprendizagens, programas de treinamento de trabalhadores incumbentes, a Iniciativa Técnica de Carreira and more. Local MassHire Workforce Boards are also expanding resources to match employers and workers with training programs, and regions are hiring new staff members to serve as regional “Market Makers” to connect companies to graduates of new education and training programs starting up in their areas funded by the American Rescue Plan Act.  These staff members will be regional points of contact to help match employers’ needs with both job-seekers and the skill-building programs needed to successfully fill open jobs.  In addition, MassHire Centers are adding staff to work directly with job seekers who want to enroll in new training programs to gain more skills. The HireNow program will build on these efforts by providing resources directly to employers that make it possible to immediately hire new employees and provide them with necessary training to fill open roles. The program will be supported by $50 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds. “We are excited to add HireNow to our growing number of grant programs that aim to close job and equity gaps across the Commonwealth,” disse a Secretária de Trabalho e Desenvolvimento da Força de Trabalho, Rosalin Acosta. “We hope these funds will encourage employers to expand their hiring strategy to include those with potential for learning and growing on the job, over a direct-skills match, as this will widen the candidate pool and help both jobseekers and businesses.” “Getting people back to work is a key element of our strategy for economic recovery and the ‘HireNow’ program allows us double down on these efforts,” disse o secretário de Habitação e Desenvolvimento Econômico, Mike Kennealy. “I look forward to this program’s success not just in enhancing access to employment opportunities, but accelerating it.” “HireNow will be an excellent complement to the Career Technical Initiative we launched two years ago which expands access to high-quality vocational programs for high school students and adults by creating three shifts, one during the regular school day for vocational students, one in the afternoons for students enrolled in their local high school, and one in the evening for adult learners looking to change careers or upgrade their skills,” disse o secretário de Educação James Peyser. “Os empregadores poderão recrutar alunos de programas do CTI e usar os subsídios da HireNow para oferecer treinamento mais profundo para seus funcionários.” Detalhes do programa:
  • Elegibilidade do Empregador: Qualquer empregador de Massachusetts que esteja em dia com as obrigações do Departamento de Assistência ao Desemprego e do Departamento de Receita e não esteja impedido pelo estado é elegível (excluindo os governos federal, estadual e municipal). As inscrições devem ser enviadas pelo empregador, não por um parceiro de educação ou treinamento.
  • Processo de aplicação: Os empregadores devem fazer o pré-registro on-line no Mass.Gov/HireNow fornecendo informações do empregador. Após a contratação do funcionário e o período de retenção de 60 dias, os empregadores apresentarão um pedido final de financiamento. A Commonwealth também aprovará o uso planejado dos fundos (custos de treinamento, bônus de assinatura, etc.) ao aprovar a inscrição.
  • Contratações elegíveis: As contratações devem ser feitas após 23 de março de 2022, ser retidas por um período mínimo de 60 dias e ser colocadas em empregos de pelo menos 30 horas semanais. Os novos contratados precisam ser residentes de Massachusetts empregados em Massachusetts. Há também limites de compensação:
    • Remuneração mínima elegível: $14,25 / h (salário mínimo)
    • Remuneração máxima elegível: $42,50 / h (~$85K anualizado)
  • Financiamento: até $4.000 para cada funcionário elegível contratado, com limite de $400.000 por empregador. Os fundos serão fornecidos por ordem de chegada.