San Diego boosts youth development for the workforce

Category: News
Published: 2022-06-13
San Diego boosts youth development for the workforce

SAN DIEGO, CA – The City of San Diego launched a new youth workforce training program called “Employ + Empower” that is specifically aimed at providing paid internships and job training opportunities to local youth.

“Thanks to the State of California’s investment in this important program, we will be able to employ and empower youth through public service jobs. Employ + Empower provides our youth with a career pathway while compensating them for their work. Our goal is to show San Diego’s youth the opportunities available to them while earning a paycheck and gaining skills they can ultimately use in their careers,” said Mayor Todd Gloria.

The youth workforce program is made possible by $18.5 million in state funding for #CaliforniansForAll Youth Jobs Corps. The plan will help approximately 1,000 young people ages 16 to 30 gain real-world work experience.

The goal is to increase youth employment and attract, employ and train the next generation of public servants through a robust internship and paid youth jobs program. It also aims to improve the recruitment, retention and diversity of the city’s more than 11,000 employees.

Employ + Empower is intended to serve youth who meet one or more of criteria such as difficulty finding employment; low income; unemployed and/or out of school; involved in the court system; transitioning from the foster care system; enmeshed in the mental health or substance abuse system.

The City will conduct targeted outreach and partner with historically underserved communities through events and career fairs to help spread the word to San Diego’s youth. It will also build on existing successful partnerships dedicated to creating opportunities for youth in the areas of workforce development, wraparound services that address housing and food insecurity, and other programs designed to remove barriers for youth to succeed.

The program aims to hire more than 1,000 youth and provide 581 student trainee positions, 351 management trainee positions, 68 management trainee positions, and 75 junior lifeguard scholarships. The management trainee positions provide a bridge between internships and entry-level employment, which is lacking in many departments and divisions, such as the Parks and Recreation Open Space Division, Human Resources, IT, Sustainability and Planning.

Source: MEXICO-NOW Staff