Youth Workforce Initiatives with MassHire North Shore 

Without a doubt, the coronavirus pandemic has turned the working world upside down. For the past year and a half many businesses have experienced shutdowns, layoffs, and financial fragility caused by the pandemic. While small businesses all over the North Shore have been impacted, one group that should not be overlooked when planning for our region’s future economy is the youth sector. 

Many young people, age 14-24 are actively looking for the skills, training, and job positions to help them forge their way into the working world. After more than a year of job losses, the youth of our area are making their way back and helping our economy recover. 

MassHire North Shore Career Center has been at the forefront of helping our youth find the skills and resources needed to find employment even in this shaky recovery phase. 

In a recent 104.9 radio broadcast of “North Shore Conversations” through the North Shore Alliance, we had the opportunity to speak with Mary Sarris, Executive Director of MassHire North Shore Workforce Board, Katie Crowder, Manager of Youth Workforce Initiatives, and Ann-Marie O’Keefe, Manager of North Shore Youth Career Center. They gave our listeners some great insights into the emerging workforce, youth initiatives, and resources available through the Career Center at MassHire North Shore in Salem, Massachusetts. 

Let’s take a closer look at some of the services available through MassHire to our younger workforce this summer, as well as year round. 

What is MassHire North Shore? 

The Career Center at MassHire North Shore is an invaluable resource when searching for careers on the North Shore of Massachusetts, including job search assistance, computer access to the state’s online system, and exploring multiple training and educational opportunities in the region, amongst other job seeker services. 

While MassHire North Shore offers a full range of career services for adults, it does an equally exceptionally good job preparing our youth for future employment through many different programs. 

Youth Initiatives & F1rstJobs Programs  

Young adults, 14-24 can access a wide range of services throughout the year through youth initiative programs and curriculum design for the younger workforce.

Starting with applications in the spring and job placement in the summer, MassHire offers a program called F1rst Jobs Employment Initiative. This program is described by Katie Crowder as, “providing first-time employment opportunities for teens during July and August.” 

This program, which began in 2014, is part of a 15 hour job readiness curriculum aimed at reinforcing job readiness skills for youth who are starting their first job.Therefore, this is not just a summer experience, but one that can help launch success in the working world for years to come. 

During the rest of the year, the MassHire North Shore Youth Career Center provides quality, comprehensive employment and career services such as: résumé writing, job search resources, job referrals, assistance with applications, interview prep, career planning and readiness workshops.

While the F1rst Jobs program is already underway for this year, it is a great program to keep in mind for next spring. Take a look at the services and programs that MassHire offers to our emerging workforce.