A new program to help youth land jobs is in the works after RBC donated $40,000 to the Skills Centre in Trail.
The donated funds are from The RBC Future Launch program, a program that focuses on helping youth get work experience, grow their networks, and gain new skills.
This is a relatively new initiative for RBC and this is the first time this funding has been provided in our local area. The funding is targeted to allow the Skills Centre to develop a Youth Employment Boot Camp – a two-part curriculum that improves successful transition and integration of young adults into the workplace.
Content for the new program is built on feedback gathered from local employers regarding issues with hiring and retaining young adult employees. The boot camp is anticipated to be starting in the spring of 2019.
This is a new project based on the employment needs and wants of area youth, determined through community consultation. In the spring and summer of 2018, the Skills Centre reached out to young adults (ages 16-30) in a series of online and in-person surveys as well as through interviewing numerous local employers to uncover the barriers that young adults face in seeking employment in the Lower Columbia Region. Young adults and employers were given the opportunity to share ideas of services and supports needed to increase employment among young adults.
The Youth Employment Boot Camp will be a two-part curriculum that include materials for young adults on obtaining, maintaining, and retaining employment. The curricula are aimed at ensuring successful transition and integration of young adults into the workplace.
Part One of the curriculum will be specifically for unemployed young adults and students.
Part Two of the curriculum will be specifically for employers who have hired young adults with both groups being given the opportunity to provide further feedback on the curricula and delivery of the program at its completion. After the project is completed, the curricula will be available for six months as a pilot project for employers, secondary schools, and unemployed young adults to test while we evaluate for feasibility, time, cost, and improvements.
After the six-month no cost period it is intended that a nominal fee will be charged for the curricula in order to make it financially feasible to maintain it on an ongoing basis