Employer to Employee Connections

How might we help employers looking for low skilled workers to find the right fit?

Raising awareness about current services available to employers and prototype a screening tool that helps employers assess and identify their hiring needs, and match them with appropriate resources and support.

STATUS: Learning incorporated into government program

UPDATE: For employers, awareness and support through the immigration recruitment process was found to be critical to success; and for government, they needed better avenues to get key information regarding immigration recruitment to the businesses in need. To achieve these goals, this team decided to prototype two ideas. The first was an informational video to demonstrate to employers the benefits of hiring immigrants and the support that is available through the Government of New Brunswick. The second piece was a screening tool that employers can fill out to further narrow-down what needs they have for immigration support and then be matched with newcomers with those skills.

The work and progress that occurred throughout the lab aligned with work that was already underway in the immigration department and was bolstered by the ability of participants to get human-centric data through interviews. The work is now being carried on by Jake Arbuckle in his work with the Population Growth Division at the Government of New Brunswick. In particular, some of the ideas developed in the lab have been incorporated into a new process the Department of Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour is currently piloting across its various regional offices to better assess employers needs and develop strategies to help them meet these needs.

The first trial of the prototype failed in the sense that it did not continue on beyond the lab, but it validated actions that are happening in the government, and exemplified the effectiveness of a multi sectoral approach. After the lab a second iteration of the employer screener was implemented internally, by PETL’s population growth division.

TEAM MEMBERS:

• Andrée Caissie Savoie - VP Customer Service and Corporate Affairs - Imperial Manufacturing Group

• Jake Arbuckle - Team Leader - Immigration, Settlement and Multiculturalism, Population Growth Division (GNB)

• Marie Thibeault - Economic Development Officer - ACOA

• Patrick Richard - Workforce Strategist - ONB

• Stephen Alexander - Consultant - Enterprise Saint John