Libro Credit Union & Workforce WindsorEssex Launch Career Investment Tools, Supporting Jobseekers Impacted by Pandemic

New online Training Board and Career Calculator provides clear training, education, and career pathways, helping community pivot out of the pandemic

For Immediate Release
July 16, 2021

Windsor, ON – Today, Libro Credit Union and Workforce WindsorEssex launched two new online Career Investment tools for the community to simplify the way people search for training and education services locally: Training Board and Career Calculator.

These Career Investment Tools are game-changers in the job-seeking industry. The Training Board and Career Calculator, are both focused on coordinating local training opportunities, and will help alleviate the pressures currently experienced by laid-off workers and business owners.

Windsor-Essex’s local economy has been disrupted by widespread lay-offs in multiple industries. Accommodation and Food Services; Retail Trade; and Information, Culture and Recreation sectors have been particularly hard-hit over the past 15 months due to the pandemic. With the current unemployment rate at 11.8% and the participation rate at 60.7%, jobseekers and those considering rejoining the workforce need the right information that is easy to access and up-to-date.

The Training Board promotes locally-available training-related opportunities that are less than one year in duration. This makes searching for training opportunities in Windsor-Essex easier. Both for-profit and not-for-profit organizations can post training programs on the website, so learners can search through programs based on cost, location, duration, and occupation preferences.

The Career Calculator helps individuals investigate careers using local labour market information such as wages, education programs, costs, and current hiring demand to make informed decisions about their career. This helps people understand the return on investment for entering a specific career, or going back to school to pursue a second career, while sharing real-time labour market information about the demand for workers in different occupations and sectors. Using the Career Calculator, the current and future workforce will be able to make informed career decisions that will lessen the skills gap locally, improve employment outcomes of local post-secondary graduates, and increase the number of qualified jobseekers gaining meaningful employment.

These Career Investment Tools also support other organizations in our community, including local educational institutions, training organizations, and businesses, by simplifying how their graduates/students, clients, and employees can find training and education opportunities.

Libro Credit Union is a living-wage employer and employs over 700 people as the largest credit union in southwestern Ontario. Employment is one of the biggest challenges facing our region, and one of Libro’s key focus areas, making Workforce WindsorEssex a well-aligned partner.  

 

QUOTES:

“These new Career Investment Tools simplify the process of looking for and finding training opportunities. These online tools work together to help jobseekers gain fulfilling employment opportunities and can help individuals plan their career paths, while helping to build a stronger community.”

  • Justin Falconer, CEO, Workforce WindsorEssex

“We know many people have experienced job loss and job insecurity over the course of the last year and more, and we know many are reflecting on what the future may hold. These career investment tools could not have come at a better time. Now, more than ever before, it is important that we empower people with the tools and resources to find meaningful and sustainable work. Libro is passionate about supporting our key area of Employment – increasing productive employment and decent work for all. We seek out opportunities to support southwestern Ontario initiatives providing training and skills development, and we feel that supporting programs like Workforce WindsorEssex’s Career Investment Tools contributes to financial resilience in our communities.”

  • Lori Atkinson, Regional Manager, Libro Credit Union

“South Essex Community Council works with jobseekers every day. Staff are always looking for resources that can assist our clients and provide helpful, timely, and easy to understand labour market information. The Training Board will help us support clients who want to retrain or upskill in order to improve their access to the labour market in Windsor-Essex. The Career Choice Calculator is a great tool not just for jobseekers who want to retrain, but for our youth planning their careers right here in Windsor-Essex. This is so important, especially now, as we know that young people have been adversely affected by the pandemic and have been squeezed out of the labour market. These tools will help in the post-COVID economic recovery by giving jobseekers useful local labour market information that will improve employment outcomes and reduce the skills gap.”

  • Carolyn Warkentin, Executive Director, South Essex Community Council

 

QUICK LINKS:

 

 

MEDIA CONTACT:

Lindsey Rivait
Executive Assistant & Researcher
Workforce WindsorEssex
lrivait@workforcewindsoressex.com

 

About Workforce WindsorEssex

Workforce WindsorEssex is a workforce and community development board whose mission is to lead regional employment and community planning for the development of a strong and sustainable workforce.

Workforce WindsorEssex is an experienced leader in the development of regional labour market tools, research, guides, and events that create positive change in the local labour market while saving others time and effort. These resources, created in close coordination with employment, education, and industry partners, are designed to help jobseekers, employers, students, and educators, as well as the community, make more informed labour market decisions using locally-responsive, data-rich, and unbiased resources. To learn more about Workforce WindsorEssex and view our tools and resources, visit www.workforcewindsoressex.com.

About Libro Credit Union

The biggest credit union in southwestern Ontario, Libro Credit Union is a full-service financial institution serving more than 108,000 member-Owners through a network of digital service and 36 physical locations. Libro exists to grow prosperity in southwestern Ontario by transforming banking. We are locally owned and operated and have been a trusted financial partner for more than 75 years, that invests 100 per cent of profits back into the people, businesses and communities we serve. Libro is also proudly committed to making positive social and environmental impact as a certified B Corporation®, as an associate member of the Responsible Investment Association, and as a Living Wage employer. To learn about becoming an Owner and what it means to bank with purpose, visit libro.ca.

 

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Language Identifier: EN Libro Credit Union & Workforce WindsorEssex Launch Career Investment Tools, Supporting Jobseekers Impacted by Pandemic