Workforce Developement

Workforce development was a major focus in our most recent legislative session.  We passed several bills which will help to ensure that our workers have the skills they need for a rapidly changing business environment.

This week we received word that we will be able to extend even more services to put more Arkansans to work through a grant from the U.S. Department of Labor.
The U.S. Department of Labor announced that it will award the Arkansas Department of Workforce Services with $537,758 to fund Arkansas’s Reemployment Services Eligibility Assessment (RESEA) program.  This is expected to benefit more than 8,000 Arkansans looking for work.
  Currently, the Department of Workforce Services offers Arkansas Reemployment Services (RES) to those collecting Unemployment Insurance but are at risk of exhausting benefits before finding employment.

Through the Arkansas Workforce Centers the department provides additional assistance to these participants and requires completion of a job search workshop to maintain their UI benefits.
A job search workshop that lasts four to six hours is held once per month in each of the workforce centers that handle UI claims.  The workshop provides labor market information, job search assistance, resume preparation and interview skills training.

       The grant awarded to our state this week will create the Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessment (RESEA) Program.  The RESEA program include the RES processes, but will also require select claimants to participate in additional services in order to maintain benefits. Additional services include the Career Readiness Certificate, an occupational skills assessment and an individual reemployment plan contract.  The RESEA program will also provide one on one appointments and help our veterans returning home to find work. Initially, these services will be provided at Arkansas Workforce Centers located in and serving the areas of Helena, Hope, Benton, Searcy, Forrest City and Little Rock.

The goal of the RESEA program is not only to keep claimants from exhausting their benefits before moving on to employment, but also to reduce the number of weeks claimed and to reduce the total benefits paid to result in savings for the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund.

 Currently Arkansas’s unemployment rate is at 5.7%.  It is slightly higher than the national rate which stands at 5.5%
Although in recent years we have seen the number of unemployed decline significantly, our efforts will continue as long as there are Arkansans who do not have a job and want to work.
There are over 30 workforce centers across the state.  To find one near you visit www.dws.arkansas.gov