Oklahoma CareerTech’s Rapid Response program works to help people who have been laid off from their jobs, but it also aims to help companies avoid layoffs in the first place.
The program, which launched earlier this year, is a partnership between Oklahoma CareerTech and the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission. The funding comes from Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Title 1 Dislocated Worker grants.
The program has three roles, said Gerrod Walker, Oklahoma CareerTech Rapid Response regional coordinator: to help businesses considered at risk for layoffs or shut-downs; to help workers who have been laid off; and to use CareerTech’s business and industry connections to bring employers to job fairs presented by Rapid Response coordinators.
Walker called layoff aversion an “exciting prospect,” explaining that the Rapid Response program provides training assistance at no cost to businesses at risk of laying off more employees or shutting down altogether.
“This is the state of Oklahoma and Department of Labor’s way of providing whatever resources we can to companies that are struggling, in the hopes of reducing or eliminating further reduction in force layoffs and helping them become viable,” he said.
The program is exploring options with two companies to help them increase efficiency and profits through collaboration with CareerTech technology centers, he said.
The program helps workers who have been laid off through no fault of their own by providing tuition assistance for CareerTech programs.
“Dislocated workers, through Rapid Response events, are provided information about the program and an ability to sign up for the program through a link or QR code. These workers are already at verified reduction-in-force events, so they pretty much qualify in most cases,” he said.
Rapid response will send worker contact information to the tech center assigned to that business, and staff from the tech center will reach out to them. Through the tech centers, the workers can learn which industries and businesses are hiring so they can make smart decisions about which training programs to enroll in.
Approximately 90 people from companies around Oklahoma have expressed interest in the Rapid Response program and have been referred to several tech centers including Southern Tech and Francis Tuttle Tech, Walker said.
Layoff aversion funding has also been allocated for customized training through Northwest Tech, and the program is working with Metro Tech to provide training assistance through layoff aversion funding, he said.
“The use of those funds has been approved to help the companies increase efficiencies and profits through collaboration with our CareerTech technology centers,” he said. “These funds can be used to receive training that could be transformative and impactful and result in helping these businesses to succeed, eliminating the need to lay off or close.”
Oklahoma CareerTech: Oklahoma’s Workforce Leader
The Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education provides leadership and resources and assures standards of excellence for a comprehensive statewide system of career and technology education. The system offers programs and services in 29 technology center districts operating on 63 campuses, 395 PK-12 school districts, 16 Skills Centers campuses that include three juvenile facilities and 32 adult education and family literacy providers.
The agency is governed by the State Board of Career and Technology Education and works closely with the State Department of Education and the State Regents for Higher Education to provide a seamless educational system for all Oklahomans.
