A government-funded on-the-job training program is helping some Las Vegas businesses cover the cost of training new employees, an effort Acting U.S. Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling highlighted Tuesday during a visit to the Vegas Chamber.
Sonderling toured the EmployNV Business Hub, an American Job Center housed inside the chamber’s downtown Las Vegas office, and spoke with local employers who have used its hiring and training programs.
He said getting employers more involved in workforce programs can better match training with the jobs businesses are trying to fill.
“As employers are creating these jobs, they know the exact skills and what the job descriptions are,” he said.
The hub connects employers with government-funded workforce services, including On-the-Job Training, or OJT, which can reimburse businesses for a portion of the wages paid to workers while they are being trained.
Among the business owners that Sonderling met with was Gritz Café owner Trina Jiles, a retired firefighter. The Las Vegas native currently has two employees in an on-the-job training program that subsidizes wages while allowing her to tailor training to the needs of her restaurant.
The employees, a hostess and a cashier, are middle-aged adults entering the hospitality industry. Jiles said they are learning customer service, communication and how to use the restaurant’s point-of-sale system.
For Jiles who has used local workforce programs since opening her restaurant in 2008, the assistance helps absorb some of the cost that comes with hiring employees who need training.
It doesn’t “matter how long it takes for us to train them,” Jiles said. “It allows us not to have to take on that burden ourselves.”
A first-of-its-kind workforce hub
In 2020, the Vegas Chamber became the first chamber of commerce in the country to host an employer-focused American Job Center, giving businesses access to hiring and workforce services at no cost.
Sonderling said having the job center inside the chamber makes it easier to connect employers with workers and introduces businesses to government workforce programs they might not otherwise know about.
“Normally, the American Job Centers are in federal buildings or other areas that are separate from private sector buildings,” he said.
He added: “There’s literally not a wall separating the two. And that’s very special.”
Sonderling said the Las Vegas approach could be replicated elsewhere.
“I think it will be a great model for the rest of the country,”Sonderling said.
